Super soft 2 -- veneer softener

[ken cierp]

5 watts blankets work fine --

I would suggest that you spend time learning to spritz and move and bend on your pipe without damaging the surface. Even with a full form bender its best to pre-bend the tight curves on a pipe. Yes it can be and is done all the time. But being a supplier of pre-bent sets I can tell you from experience the bends will be better with less spring back plus less damage and material waste overall. The number one issue for those bending their own sides is not thinning the them enough -- Martin sides are .075" thick ----

[Tom West]

Ken: Thanks for this. I use Super Soft in all bending now but have some previously bent sets that have quite a wavy cross section. Never thought of shooting them with Super Soft and reheating......................project for this week. Thanks again.
Tom

[johnnyg]

So has this developed into a consensus on Super Soft? Those who have used it, are you still happy with the results? I am still a newbie and although I don't want to sidestep developing bending skills, I am interested in if this product actually does help achieve better results.

[John Parchem]

So has this developed into a consensus on Super Soft? Those who have used it, are you still happy with the results? I am still a newbie and although I don't want to sidestep developing bending skills, I am interested in if this product actually does help achieve better results.

I use it. I just used it to bend a side with a tight cutaway:http://acousticguitarconstructionforum. ... =30&t=2611.

Turned out great. I describe it in my build thread linked above.

[ken cierp]

Getting the sides thinned to .075" is by far the most important bending concern. 2nd bending the waist curve on a pipe using a back up slat. SS is not the do all cure all because once the heat is applied to the thin wood it dries out and all bets are off since the wood (ribbon and figured) may still decide to cup and ripple. Many of the common woods we use bend perfectly without SS -- so for me its a last resort measure (which at times does nothing) not a standard procedure.

When working with figure woods I use the side profile cut offs for practice bends on the waist curve bender to get a feel for water misting and bend pressure.