Violin Forum/Message Board

[willym]

I am new to the forum and am finding it very informative while building my first instrument. This is a retirement project for me while I spend my winter down south. My discovery may not be new to some, but I have not seen on the forum in my searches.

Rather than fork out several dollars for a purpose built bending iron, I decided to look for alternatives. I finally settled on hair curling irons. They come in different diameters, so I purchased two - one is 3/4", the other 1.5". One was $10, the other $12. I made a rudimentary stand for them from some 2X lumber and removed the hinged cover that you would use on your hair. Result - they worked well, I was successful in bending my ribs. You do need to set them at the highest setting, and be patient especially with more figured material. I also found that the 3/4" iron (a Conair model with "turbo boost") worked best. I haven't done my linings yet, but foresee no problems.

Bill M

[Geemac]

Good for you. When I first began, I made my own non-working steam chamber. It was slow as the dickens and didn't do too well. I finally ended up boiling the pieces, which worked great. After saving a bit from each pension cheque, I bought myself a real bending iron. It works well, but boiling worked better.

Keep having fun and enjoy that southern sun.
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GeeMac

[waynebergman]

did you glue up layers of veener after hot iron bending or did you have a thicker piece of maple and then bent that? .....wayne

[Andres Sender]

The normal procedure is to make the ribs from around 1 mm thick wood, no lamination.

The Ossman book is full of shortcuts and does not represent normal violin making practice.

[Dave Chandler]

I've been using a piece of aluminum pipe about 2' long and the same size as the tighter of the two bends needed (that means I've got it put away and can't get to it to tell you exactly what diameter it is). I clamp it in a vice about half way up and set a propane soldering torch so that the end of the flame goes into the end of the pipe. I soak my wood for about 30 seconds, and adjust the area I work with depending on how hot it is getting, watching not to scorch the wood. So far, its worked for me, gotta sort of go slow and watch that you're keeping the rib square etc. I resoak and go again if it gets too dry and I still haven't gotten it where I want it. Its slow go, especally with very figured wood, but cost effective for someone that has all the time in the world.
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Dave in the Blue Ridge
Southern Violin Association

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

"I took the road less travelled, and now I don't know where I am." Marco Polo

[ViolinAcolyte]

Hah that's an interesting idea. Might have been cheaper than what I did. I took a 1 1/2 inch diameter pipe from home depot, and stuck an electric charcoal lighter in it. It worked pretty good, however the diameter was a little too wide for the corners. I was able to get around that by clamping a small cylinder against the corner blocks when I glued down the sides... Being my first violin, the sides have burn marks from the bender.. Maybe I can sand some of it off. Ah well. Good luck with your stuff.