Khai great idea! You could get a piece of 2 inch Stainless or Aluminum pipe and insert the Curling iron inside it. It should still do the job. I made one with 3 inch pipe and a light bulb and it works well but a 2 inch would be better for tighter curves. You could also use a heat gun which has heat settings on it and a pipe.
I chose to go maple binding instead of white plastic binding and did not want to spend hundreds of dollars. I sold my LMI bending iron years ago thinking I was done working on guitars. This is a fantastic idea.
Great that you've shared this idea! I already made my bending iron the way Pablo Requena shows in his video: How to make your own bending iron. Maybe another idea to have a larger diameter of the bending iron itself.
Genius. I made one recently with a tin can and a light bulb and it just works but doesn't get massively hot, but this sounds like a great idea especially as regular light bulbs are disappearing fast for obvious reasons.
Nice idea. Have you considered using a heat gun to blow through pipe of any diameter that you want? A bell reducer at the inlet will help you control airflow. Just have the heat gun blow into the big end. Sinse pipe is pretty thick, it could take a while to heat up. You could put an elbow at the outlet if you don't want hot air going straight out the end, like if that's where you prefer to stand.
+Ron Yerke Yes, I've considered that. But I'll be building a proper bender with a lightbulb as the heat source soon as I find some aluminum pipe large enough to accommodate the bulb.
I found that I could just find a metal piece with a small hole in it and setup a light bulb under it. It would make enough heat if everything is tight. I'll just buy an old lamp and some carved wood to fit the bottom to install the metal piece over it. Just have to find the metal piece in question now.
Make a stubby lamp that you can clamp down with a metal (can or pipe) shade and wire it with a rheostat. Some ventilation might be good and start with a 60 watt bulb, perhaps finding that 200 is better. You shouldn't have to bear down; it will bend when it's ready so the structure doesn't have to be industrial strength. Peace.
I've used it to bend the cuttaway on my guitar build after I messed it up on the bending form. It was slow but I felt I had more control. Give it a shot, you might just be surprised just how well it works!
I've done 2.5 mm cutaway (the guitar Im building in my other videos.. I had bent it on my bender with the wrong side out so when I flatted it out and bent it the other way it broke. Lesson learned.) So I cut the broken part out and bent the pieces on that curling iron. Would I consider the curling iron a replacement for a better bender? No, but it worked in this situation. I would recommend trying it out on some scrap wood of the same thickness and species to get a feel for: amount of moisture, how long to heat, when the wood wants to bend.
Whoa that don't look like a curling iron hahaha. Just kidding, great idea man I need to bend some wood around a les paul body that I cut the binding channel to deep on so this should work perfect.
Thanks heaps, man! Did you consider sticking it into a larger pipe with foil, to increase the size? Also, how much was your curling iron? I see them sell for up to $250, same as proper bendig iron. Just want to know what's the price for the one that will work.
+George Korovytsky I paid something like 14$ at Marshalls. I guess I could take out the heating cartridge and insert it in a larger pipe with foil, but you could just get the cartridge from eBay much cheaper. I just need something quick and it turned out working better than expected.
Great idea. I'm looking into using a 110v water heater element. Just need a medium in the pipe as those elements don't like running in open air. but the curling iron is inspiring.
+coffcraft I think you could get a heater cartridge from eBay for cheaper and then use aluminum foil like the guy from highline Guitar. Good luck on your build. Post a video... Would like to see what you come up with.
coffcraft, does the heater element you plan to use screw in, or utilize an o-ring and a keeper? A screw-in type would work great with sand and/or water filled pipe, but you'll still need some sort of vent to allow air or steam to vent when the heat expands it.
Khai great idea! You could get a piece of 2 inch Stainless or Aluminum pipe and insert the Curling iron inside it. It should still do the job. I made one with 3 inch pipe and a light bulb and it works well but a 2 inch would be better for tighter curves. You could also use a heat gun which has heat settings on it and a pipe.
I chose to go maple binding instead of white plastic binding and did not want to spend hundreds of dollars. I sold my LMI bending iron years ago thinking I was done working on guitars. This is a fantastic idea.
This is absolute genius!!! Thanks so much for posting! I've ordered mine already on Amazon.
Great that you've shared this idea! I already made my bending iron the way Pablo Requena shows in his video:
How to make your own bending iron. Maybe another idea to have a larger diameter of the bending iron itself.
This is a really helpful, down to earth video...thanks
This is genius. I'm going to buy one today. You just saved me a tone of money and time.
+ColorWash Music Fantastic, glad it helped. Hope it works out for you.
Genius. I made one recently with a tin can and a light bulb and it just works but doesn't get massively hot, but this sounds like a great idea especially as regular light bulbs are disappearing fast for obvious reasons.
Thank you for this video. I purchased a $15 curling iron and built a jig like you did so it would fit in my vice.
Dude, thank you for uploading this
Inginuity! Super clever repurpose and excellent demo.
Dude this is really a cool idea, with a little bit of tweaking it will be perfect. Thank you so much. Cool channel!
Alto Pretorius I'm glad you found it useful. Happy building!
You referenced my video at the beginning, but I have to say, your idea looks waaaay better. I have to try this for sure.
Awesome! I've also tried out your spherical fret end technique with really great results. Thanks for sharing that nugget.
This is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
Nice idea. Have you considered using a heat gun to blow through pipe of any diameter that you want? A bell reducer at the inlet will help you control airflow. Just have the heat gun blow into the big end. Sinse pipe is pretty thick, it could take a while to heat up. You could put an elbow at the outlet if you don't want hot air going straight out the end, like if that's where you prefer to stand.
+Ron Yerke Yes, I've considered that. But I'll be building a proper bender with a lightbulb as the heat source soon as I find some aluminum pipe large enough to accommodate the bulb.
A really helpful video ...great idea thanks Khai.
Cool! Pay it forward.
Awesome!
I found that I could just find a metal piece with a small hole in it and setup a light bulb under it. It would make enough heat if everything is tight. I'll just buy an old lamp and some carved wood to fit the bottom to install the metal piece over it. Just have to find the metal piece in question now.
Make a stubby lamp that you can clamp down with a metal (can or pipe) shade and wire it with a rheostat. Some ventilation might be good and start with a 60 watt bulb, perhaps finding that 200 is better. You shouldn't have to bear down; it will bend when it's ready so the structure doesn't have to be industrial strength. Peace.
Sounds simple enough. Can you bend dreadnaught cutaway style sides with it?
I've used it to bend the cuttaway on my guitar build after I messed it up on the bending form. It was slow but I felt I had more control. Give it a shot, you might just be surprised just how well it works!
Thanks for replying! I will try that.
How thick can you bend ?...totally new to this
I've done 2.5 mm cutaway (the guitar Im building in my other videos.. I had bent it on my bender with the wrong side out so when I flatted it out and bent it the other way it broke. Lesson learned.) So I cut the broken part out and bent the pieces on that curling iron. Would I consider the curling iron a replacement for a better bender? No, but it worked in this situation. I would recommend trying it out on some scrap wood of the same thickness and species to get a feel for: amount of moisture, how long to heat, when the wood wants to bend.
Brilliant! Stealing this idea. 😉
Fabulous!!!
I had this same thought! Brilliant! Thank you and good video
+Tyler Moore your very welcome and thanks for watching.
Can you bend the body sides with this?
Great idea man... Super simple!
+SkyScraper Guitars Simple and effective... Love it when things just work!
Whoa that don't look like a curling iron hahaha. Just kidding, great idea man I need to bend some wood around a les paul body that I cut the binding channel to deep on so this should work perfect.
awesome idea! Thanks for sharing.
+kevin wilson your welcome, thanks.
Nice one Khai.
+Neil Robert Turner Guitars Thanks! Neil... Cheers!
Thanks heaps, man! Did you consider sticking it into a larger pipe with foil, to increase the size? Also, how much was your curling iron? I see them sell for up to $250, same as proper bendig iron. Just want to know what's the price for the one that will work.
+George Korovytsky I paid something like 14$ at Marshalls. I guess I could take out the heating cartridge and insert it in a larger pipe with foil, but you could just get the cartridge from eBay much cheaper. I just need something quick and it turned out working better than expected.
Cool, thanks!
thank you for sharing .
Great idea. I'm looking into using a 110v water heater element. Just need a medium in the pipe as those elements don't like running in open air. but the curling iron is inspiring.
+coffcraft I think you could get a heater cartridge from eBay for cheaper and then use aluminum foil like the guy from highline Guitar. Good luck on your build. Post a video... Would like to see what you come up with.
coffcraft, does the heater element you plan to use screw in, or utilize an o-ring and a keeper? A screw-in type would work great with sand and/or water filled pipe, but you'll still need some sort of vent to allow air or steam to vent when the heat expands it.
Use sand
This is a great video. thank you for sharing
Very welcome! Hope it works out for you.
What about a soldering iron? Get a soup can and fill it with tinfoil.. I’m going to go try now. Thanks
I don't know if the heat from a soldering iron is enough to heat up a whole soup can since most of the heat is concentrated at the tip.
Good That's Good
Hey thats my dad
Would you like open guitar factory in VietNam with me? I understand VietNam market
There are many similar projects in Woodglut's plans.
"womens" curling iron lol