Looking for some help with the build
First of all there are few different designs out there available . As far as I can see the major difference in between them is , that you can easily or easier adjust the radius needed .
Apart from that , there will be for sure better fittings ( tolerances etc ) and materials , parts used for it.
Anyway , I am seriously considering making one that is of a quality and would work perfectly without already known flows.
At this stage I want to gather some more information , especially from you guys that use them often to pinpoint the weak areas ( If there are any that is ) and maybe fix it in my build .
Having look at the most desired ( so it seems ) stewmac bender , that model ticks most of the boxes .
But ... apparently some people are saying that the bottom 2 bearings are too far apart causing too much of a wire waste ( not being bent to set radius ).
If that the case , then what distance in between bearings would work best ?
Other question I have is to what diameter the big wheel is and particularly I'd like to know what witdh and depth the slot is that fret wire goes in .
Any suggestions for the build are welcomed too as well
Comments
I would really appreciate if someone could share dimensions for groove in the big wheel .
I have the Elmer bender and the groove width is about 1.13mm according to my digital callipers. Depth is 2.21mm.
hope that helps !
cheers
Top wheel is 31.5mm diameter and the groove is 2mm deep by 1mm wide.
Lower bearings are 19mm diameter. LHS is 31mm from the large wheel centre to centre, RHS can be varied from 31 to 29mm away to adjust the curve.
That helps a lot .
As for spacing I have gone for 40mm in between bottom bearings and top wheel will be around 34mm .
We will see if that is going to work nicely or not .
It probably won't be built till next month . I'll update the thread though if I have something to show
The bigger the wheel the faster a wire would feed through , so 34mm shouldn't be the slowest out there
You might get all the bearings perfectly sized & spaced, but if it's a pain (in the hand) to operate, people won't be so keen to use it,
What do you think a good handle should be like , short , long ,chunky etc ?
Ridiculously, when I made my own home-made bender, finding a decent handle was more of a challenge than anything else!
You need something that's long enough to grip (100mm min?), chunky enough so that a man's (no sexism intended!) hand can hold it comfortably. And something detachable so that the jig can be stored more easily, and you can sell replacements when we lose them.
I need to sit down and make some theoretical drawing of it .
Handle length ( that part of it you grip on ) shouldn't be a problem and I can make short and long one .
If you guys come up with some handle design do let me know . Hand drawings welcomed
At the moment I have hit a hard wall with scrap metal supply so I'll have some time to draw other parts i need to machine for it .
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Originally , I thought it won't take too long to design and make the fret bender .
Well ... It's still not quite finished .
I am making small changes as well as experimenting with different parts .
Small changes mean adding a lot of work and sometimes the results aren't great .
At the moment , the fret bender actually works as intended , though it's not totally put together at this stage .
There is also a chance I might add straightening option to it , if I can .
I will update the thread again , when I have finished it
Hi guys
I thought , I have finally finished my fret bender build .
But , today whilst bending gold Evo wire I noticed , this wire require more pressure to be applied to achieve the same radius as for nickel silver one .
Therefore I will need to re-machine top of the slot to allow for more radius to squeeze in .
Anyway , it's time to share my project with you .
Feel free to comment
And some photos ...
Front , rear and side view
Close up of main drive wheel
And on this photo , two wheels fitted for straightening .
I’m guessing that you put the f-holes into the main wheel?
And the whole front body has perfectly machined 12" radius and obviously can be use as a reference point for those fretboards
Yes , the f holes have been machined by me , with little help of my mate , who did software side of it .
If I remember correctly , I got that pdf file from you , no?