Bending the sides

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Hey everyone. I'm an aspiring luthier ( I geuss you would call it that) and am trying to figure out how people bend the sides for the ukulele. Ive seen how the get put in the jig I think its called, to make the shape. But what has to be done in order for the sides to bend? Im sure you cant just start bending it right away, the wood would snap then right? Im a little confused on this if anyone would like to help clear this up!

Thanks, Mitch
 
I like your forms, Dave. Nice and simple. Do you find those kinds of forms are easier than the full forms (do you know what I mean by full forms?) to work with?
 
bender.jpg
 
you guys think I could use a (possibly modified) clothing iron for this? I figure, if you could use that male half-form as like a "workbench" so I'm pressing the board, using the iron, into the shape of the form, just an idea, I think it might make it a bit quicker.

edit: sorry I'm bad at wording things, I mean like, you clamp the male half-form level, either to a table, or with a bench-mounted clamp (don't know the exact name, but we all have 'em) then place the board onto said form, perhaps clamping in to one side, then using the clothing iron (again possibly modified, so as to accomodate the curves of the body) to heat, and press the wood into the form, then moving it onto that doweled-board form for drying.

was that better?
 
Last edited:
pie_man_25 said:
you guys think I could use a (possibly modified) clothing iron for this? I figure, if you could use that male half-form as like a "workbench" so I'm pressing the board, using the iron, into the shape of the form, just an idea, I think it might make it a bit quicker.

edit: sorry I'm bad at wording things, I mean like, you clamp the male half-form level, either to a table, or with a bench-mounted clamp (don't know the exact name, but we all have 'em) then place the board onto said form, perhaps clamping in to one side, then using the clothing iron (again possibly modified, so as to accomodate the curves of the body) to heat, and press the wood into the form, then moving it onto that doweled-board form for drying.

was that better?
Click to expand...

Caveat: I'm a nube who hasn't tried bending yet. BUT, using a form like that, you're asking the wood to bend over the entire width of a curve all at once, so you need to spread the heat out over the entire curve being bent while bending it. A flat iron wouldn't do that (it would at first, but when the wood starts bending, flat wouldn't cover the entire bent area evenly). What you're describing is a poor man's Fox style bender. You might want to look into building one of those. With light bulbs instead of the flat iron, that is.
 
Wow, what a wonderful video. Thanks for finding that. I'm not quite ready to try that bending method yet however, maybe Pete will. How supple that wood must be! I love that sanding method. Looks like they're building a guitar a minute.
Just goes to show, as has been said before, there is no one right way of doing things.
 
mattclara said:
Great vid, Dave. I'm putting together a bending pipe using a bulb, much the same as yours, and I'm curious if you simply stick the bulb in the end, or do you try to get it right down to where you're actually doing the bending. Also, do you suspend the bulb in there, or do you just lay it on its side?
Click to expand...

Matt, I'm just guessing here, but don't you think the light bulb is going to heat up the whole pipe, especially if you close the end. To some degree, it probably depends on what the pipe is made of and how thick it is - like a frying pan.

Anyway, side bending and finishing are two parts of the whole instrument building process that we really haven't mastered yet, and this is one question I've been wanting to ask for a while. So thanks.

:cheers: Erich
 
erich@muttcrew.net said:
Matt, I'm just guessing here, but don't you think the light bulb is going to heat up the whole pipe, especially if you close the end. To some degree, it probably depends on what the pipe is made of and how thick it is - like a frying pan.

Anyway, side bending and finishing are two parts of the whole instrument building process that we really haven't mastered yet, and this is one question I've been wanting to ask for a while. So thanks.

:cheers: Erich
Click to expand...

That is what I think, but I didn't want to spend a bunch a time bending unsuccessfully only to find out I just have to slide the bulb down to the other end. And, I should mention, my pipe is a full 12 inches long, where Dave's appears shorter, but bigger around, [insert tasteless joke about Mrs. G's preferences here]. ;)
 
mattclara said:
Caveat: I'm a nube who hasn't tried bending yet. BUT, using a form like that, you're asking the wood to bend over the entire width of a curve all at once, so you need to spread the heat out over the entire curve being bent while bending it. A flat iron wouldn't do that (it would at first, but when the wood starts bending, flat wouldn't cover the entire bent area evenly). What you're describing is a poor man's Fox style bender. You might want to look into building one of those. With light bulbs instead of the flat iron, that is.
Click to expand...

you make some sense, about the flat surface of the iron, that's why I was going to modify the flat bending iron, to accomodate the curves. thanks a lot for the info, this has helped me figure out a lot about different side-bending methods, I'm just trying to find out as much as I can, BEFORE trying it out, so that I can minimise first-time mistakes
 
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