Pre Bent Sides - Source?

Hello to all -

I have built a couple of cigar box ukes, and they have turned out pretty good. I am interested in building a more traditional uke, however, and I have a question. Does anyone know of a good source for pre-bent sides? I'd like to build a traditional shaped tenor uke, and would like to acquire of set of good quality pre-bent sides to work from. Any / all advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,
Will

You can do this! Make up a hot pipe using a butane/propane torch, heat gun or even a curling iron as one member here did. There are lots of youtube vids that show how it's done and lots of plans available. Hana Lima 'Ia has plans and a guide book too. One of the hardest things may be getting the wood to a proper thickness but there are lots of instrument wood suppliers on ebay and some of them will thickness to your specs.
You can do this.

resoman said:

You can do this! Make up a hot pipe using a butane/propane torch, heat gun or even a curling iron as one member here did. There are lots of youtube vids that show how it's done and lots of plans available. Hana Lima 'Ia has plans and a guide book too. One of the hardest things may be getting the wood to a proper thickness but there are lots of instrument wood suppliers on ebay and some of them will thickness to your specs.
You can do this.

Click to expand...

Yes you can! It's not that big of a deal and it's fun. I still do some bending on my $5 pipe/torch bender. Choose some non figured wood for your first bending session. Get over your fear. You'll feel a great sense of accomplishment after you've bent your first set of sides. Ya got nutting' to lose.

As someone who has gone a ways up this learning curve in the recent past, I also encourage you to give bending a try. It's one of those things that sounds a lot more tricky than it actually is. Start out with a wood that bends easily without a lot of springback, like walnut.

Keep in mind, also, that having a set of bent sides doesn't necessarily solve as many problems as you might think. While there are lots of ways to build ukes, it's safe to say that most builders, including those who are at the low-volume hobby end of the scale, use some sort of form to make sure that everything goes together as desired. Here is a source of quality molds for ukes:

http://www.bluescreekguitars.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=51_16

If you can make one, so much the better. The point is that the mold gives you a shape to bend to and then a means of holding the various pieces in place and in the right shape while gluing in the end blocks and linings and attaching the top and back.

What the others said.

Problem with buying pre bent sides is that they will want to relax and start to straighten out with changes in temperature and humidity. So while they were good to start with, by the time you get them it's anyones guess as to how accurate the shape will be once in your hands.

I was in the same boat and built a kit from stew mac. was pretty happy with the kit.
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Kits/Ukulele_Kits/Tenor_Ukulele_Kit.html

now I'm looking to figure out side bending as part of my next project...

I keep saying it... Waverly Street plans and Videos. No mystery. The bender is a piece of pipe with a 100W lightbulb inside. I got a cutoff from the local muffler shop.

Go for it!

Allen,

If you double heat your sides in a bender they will move little or not at all and will not return to straight regardless of the humidity or temperature. ( double heat = allow to cool naturally first time then re-heat to a slightly higher temperature and hold for at least 10-15 minutes then allow to cool naturally ) If your using a iron I'd agree there can be a lot of movement if not used soon and not double heated ...... We've been building kits and place them up when we are slow and and we have several that have not been sold for various instruments that have been on the shelves some for at least 7 years....( includes, guitars, mandolin,double bass, violin and many others ) Before we did musical instruments we built reproduction furniture for 35+ years and have done a lot of heat / steam / bending with chairs etc. ...... Secret to success is double heat

Blessings,

Kevin