Acoustic Guitar Construction

I have 7 of ken's templates and planned on making my own bending forms, so far I made a 000 12 fret form but needed a blanket. I will try the 6 buy 36 in. one, it should save me 50.00 bucks, thanks Ken...I almost bought one for XMAS for 130.00 ,......So you have to put your own cord and plug on to use it...right ?

Yes you'll need to connect a plug -- I added a bit of an extension as well to add flexibility to my installation. I really prefer the bulb heated enclosed configuration which mimics the factory units. Seen here is the extension I soldered to the blanket that is used on our cutaway bender. Also note that I do not use a thermostat control but rather a gizmo called a "killawatt" so happens that there is a corollary with the 2.5 watt per sq. in. 6x36 blanket where watts equal degrees -- pretty neat. So the current goes through the dimmer then through the "killawatt" unit then to the blanket.

That's cool Ken. If I didn't have my current set up, I would be emailing Omega and ordering the Killawatt right now!

Nobody has been emailing me asking about blanket wattage, but I felt it was a topic other people might be interested in. Some people will say you need a 5 watt per inch blanket because of "thermal load" but those people are dead wrong. With the thin material we are heating up, there should be little, if any, loss of heat to the wood being bent. Transfer of heat to a large block of metal on the other hand, would be an issue if we were say, heating up large blocks of metal, or using a solid metal bending form. Since we are only interested in heating up slices of wood about .90" thick or less, and since the wooden forms we bend our sides around are notoriously poor conductors or heat, there should be no issue with the temperature of the blanket dropping precipitously as you bend the side around the form. Now, if anyone is in a big rush, you can certainly use a 5 watts per inch blanket and you can problably sped up the bending process by a few seconds. Bending should be done by feeling the wood give way, not by quickly heating the bajeezus out of your blankets and rushing the bend. Go slow and feel the wood relax and you will be fine. Trust me, once someone ruins $1000 worth of curly Koa for you, you will be glad you decided to bend the wood yourself.....whether your blanket has 2.5 or 5 watts per inch.

TonyinNYC wrote:Nobody has been emailing me asking about blanket wattage, but I felt it was a topic other people might be interested in. Some people will say you need a 5 watt per inch blanket because of "thermal load" but those people are dead wrong. With the thin material we are heating up, there should be little, if any, loss of heat to the wood being bent. Transfer of heat to a large block of metal on the other hand, would be an issue if we were say, heating up large blocks of metal, or using a solid metal bending form. Since we are only interested in heating up slices of wood about .90" thick or less, and since the wooden forms we bend our sides around are notoriously poor conductors or heat, there should be no issue with the temperature of the blanket dropping precipitously as you bend the side around the form. Now, if anyone is in a big rush, you can certainly use a 5 watts per inch blanket and you can probably sped up the bending process by a few seconds. Bending should be done by feeling the wood give way, not by quickly heating the bajeezus out of your blankets and rushing the bend. Go slow and feel the wood relax and you will be fine. Trust me, once someone ruins $1000 worth of curly Koa for you, you will be glad you decided to bend the wood yourself.....whether your blanket has 2.5 or 5 watts per inch.

Yeah Tony, that "SOMEONE" you know got to me too, but at this point, unless something else, jumps up, I feel I got out CHEAP compared to your loss...dang!
To be fair, everybody makes mistakes, but it's how they handle it that counts. When people accept absolutely NO responsibility for their screw ups and lack of knowledge it can get nasty pretty quick. Then there are those who do things intentionally, I still wonder... ??
I'd like to know how many OTHERS have had the same experience and simply gave up because they couldn't afford to continue. (I know a couple) it's pretty sad really!
It's OK for me, I got my money back and then some in word to mouth advertising, more than one way to skin a cat! IF it's any consolation, I covered your loss too! :) :)

Thanks Ray! I covered us both as well!

TonyinNYC wrote:Thanks Ray! I covered us both as well!

COOL! ):0)0>