Bending Sides

Looking to make a setup for bending the sides of my next project. I have not bent any sides yet but I have read that you can use a watlow silicone heater over a form with some clamps to bend the sides of a uke. Does anyone have info on what exact type of watlow heater (or other less expensive heater) to use? I am looking to order one soon and wanted some info from someone who has used them before.

I'm presuming that you are talking about a silicone heat blanket. I use one by MEI, and I'd hazard a guess that most all the pro luthiers here use one of these blankets or a few will use a hot pipe.

The heat blanket is my bending medium of choice, though I do have a hot pipe and use it on almost every build for one thing or another. If you do a search on making your own hot pipe you will find all kinds of info. Some recent threads hear have featured ones that others have built. It will most likely be the least expensive option for you. A propane torch and a copper or aluminium pipe is all you really need.

Hi Pono---In setting up for ukes I bought a 3x15 Watlow blanket (officially called flexible heaters). It was about $30. I just bought 3 more 3x20s (the minimum order from the supplier) for about $40 each after shipping, and sold two of them to uke buddies. Watlow lists all their sizes on their web page, along with dealers since they don't sell direct. The first dealer I dealt with (in Baltimore) had the 3x15 in stock and was happy to sell me just one. I went to a different dealer (in Pennsylvania) for the 3x20s, and they had to order from Watlow and made me buy three. The 3x20s work for both sopranos and tenors, just let it hang out5" from the rest of the sandwich when when bending. I'd say $30-40 is pretty cheap for the convenience you get. With care, the heaters are good for several hundred sides. You'll also do well to get a contact thermometer. Uke sides are small enough to dry out in a hurry, and once they dry, they crack. I got my thermometer from Stew-Mac, but the magnetic one from LMI looks like the catsass to me. Don't step on it and it should last a lifetime. Again, $30-40 for either of them. In a bit I'll go out to the shop and take a pic of my bender for you. I've already built an improved one for a friend, but I have to save the pix for a magazine story, (Sorry). Allen is right, though. If you want a perfect fit in the mold you'll have to touch up some woods that tend to spring back. But I haven't used a hot pipe for almost 20 years.

Thank you for the response. I am definitely looking for a silicone heat blanket. I am trying to decide which one to purchase. Does anyone have any suggestions brand and model number? I know that Watlow and MEI make them but which model? I have also seen some places where people use a bend pipe but I think that I would like to start with the heat blanket.

Thank you that is very helpful. I am planning on making Tenor ukes so it looks like the 3X20 will work. I will check out a contact thermometer as well. Thanks for taking the picture as well.

Here's my old soprano side bender. There's an improved version, but I have to sit on the pix till the story is published. Like Rick's, it's based on the Doolin bender (Mike's a very sharp guy), only even lower tech.
The sandwich (without wood here) is spring steel/foil/craft paper/wood/craft paper/foil/spring steel. Both the wood and the paper get sprayed with water, though SuperSoft2 is a big help.
There's a little shelf out of sight on the butt end of the bender. The sandwich is assembled, then placed on the shelf and the clamp tightened. The sandwich will stick straight up, so the rig is stood on its nose, the contact thermometer placed on the sandwich, and the blanket plugged in. As the temp approaches 250 the wood is encouraged to bend, using the waist caul, and the bender is set flat again as the lower bout is bent. Keep bending by feel until the waist is clamped down. Immediately wrap the upper bout caul onto the bender in front of the waist caul and proceed to bend the upper bout cautiously, but firmly. The whole process takes a couple minutes. Take too long and the upper bout will dry out and crack. I hope to be done by the time the temp reaches 275, and always turn off/unplug if the temp goes over that.
Once the bending is done, I cycle up to 325 and back to 275 three times to dry out the side. The big rubber bands on the upper bout caul are from Stew-Mac. The pic with the loaded sandwich should have this clamp removed before bending proceeds. I use the blanket plugged straight into an outlet with an extension chord, so all this happens very quickly. Don't even think about walking away with the heater plugged in.