Built this side bender from a picture that I found of one on a website. pretty easy to make, and works great.
The heat source is three light bulbs wired together in sequence with a timer to keep from overheating if you forget that it is on. The light bases are mounted to pieces of wood that can be slid in and out of the box and installed at different levels for different size side molds.
The mold is made from a pattern of whatever size guitar you are working on. In this case a Martin dreadnaught was used for the mold.
1/2" galvanized threaded pipe rod was used for the spacers making the width 6" overall.All thread, nuts, and eye bolts were used for the 2"x 4" clamps. The top clamp block was shaped to fit the waist bend. Wing nuts were used for tightening down, but I have seen some press mechanisms that would be easier. Galvanized sheet metal makes the heating "sandwich" that the sides go into to cook while being bent.
The first finished side after about twenty minutes is bent and ready to go.
Side in the solera waiting for its partner to start the build.
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