Bending Iron

I bought this mostly to make mandolin ribs. I had the same problems like the rest, Like the extension piece and having to screw backing the bolts at the core. I worked slowly with the heat low. You gotta craw before you walk.

This bending iron is great. It takes about 20 minutes to heat up but once it is fully heated, it keeps a constant temperature. Proper planing to uniform thickness on sides and pre soaking in hot water is pivotal for proper bending. The iron itself is not cylindrical, but rather an upside down teardrop. This allows for tighter bending on aggressive curves.

The only issue I have with this is that the mounting holes are circular, which is difficult to clamp. When attaching it to my workbench, I really had to crank down with some C Clamps to be able to get it stabilized on the bench.

Overall, I would recommend this item to someone who wants a consistent and reliable means to manually bend sides.

The heat and control work fine but the tapped hole for the small mandolin component was not properly threaded. The hole was full of metal chips and the thread edges were bent indicating that a bottom tap was not used to clean up the threads. The bolt provided was cheap Chinese junk with very poor threads. I expected better.

I ordered a bending iron from Stewmac because it looked slightly better than the alternative I was looking at from another company. I was planning on purchasing my bending iron and a couple of other small items from Stewmac and the rest of my gear from somewhere else.

However when my bending iron arrived, there was slight damage to thread on the mandolin attachment. I could have used the iron as it was but was worried that I might have problems in the future if I keep screwing on and removing the mandolin attachment when I need it. I contacted Stewmac about various options. Without hesitation they sent me another iron that arrived in less than a week. They always answered my emails within a day or two and kept me well informed of progress.

When the bender arrived, I found it really easy to use and for my first bend, I successfully created a very nice cutaway. I found the iron doesn't stay at a constant temperature as well as I expected and took too long to heat up but I am pleased I bought it. In hindsight, I should have bought the temperature gauge at the same time as the iron. I bought the temperature gauge later and also bought the bending strap.

Because of Stewmac's fantastic customer service skills, I bought all the rest of my gear off them too.

This is a very useful and versatile tool, not just for bending guitar sides, but for making novelty items such as a back-scratcher anything else you can dream up. Very easy to use but can get very hot.

Fantstic piece of kit, i could have bought the same iron in the u.k but buying from Stewmac made so much sense, i saved at least £50.00 buying from you guys compared with the u.k and that's including shipping and custom duty... just wish i could stop burning myself though, lol... :o)

This bending iron is perfect for my needs. I have successfully bent guitar sides for the very first time. The instructions that came with the tool has been very helpful. My sides are of east indian rosewood. I am very happy with this tool. And, i must add that my shipment was received after only 22 hours i have placed the order. Great service!

I'm delighted with my bending iron, which is a vital tool in my violin making workshop - the first one was faulty but Stewmac replaced it immediately and refunded my return carriage costs. The temperature reached when it's set at 6 is ideal for rib bending and the screw-in extension makes the iron more versatile. Many thanks!

1- the iron does not get hot enough for the toughest woods and take very long to heat. It's good for maple but it's practically impossible to achieve consistent good results working with brazilian rosewood or african blackwood.
2- Only practical regulations are the two highest temperature. Others are useless.
3- Mass is not enough to keep temperature constant when working with very wet woods.
4- the 3 radiuses are most of the times too big or too small for the work. I would rather like a really drop shaped radius continually and gradually changing from mild curve to sharp curve.

I think you guys should really work on this to bring it at the same high quality level of the other stuff you sell.

I spent many frustrating hours trying to bend European curly maple to shape for a single cutaway (Benedetto Style) jazz archtop with little success.
I came to the conclusion that the iron was just not getting hot enough.
An email to StewMacs had a new one on its way to Australia, which arrived 6 days later.
I've yet to try this one but I'm sure it will be fine.
Great service guys-Thanks!