Bending Sides - Steam Box or Bending Iron

Jerryc41

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My only experience bending sides for a uke is with making a uke based on a tennis racket, and that was one smooth curve. A regular uke is more complex. For the tennis uke, I used a pipe heated by a torch - not very elegant.

I saw the Earlex steamer online, and that looks good. The traditional bending iron, at about $250, isn't worth it for making one or two ukes, so it would be back to the torch and the pipe.

I also bought an electric charcoal charger, based on recommendations here, but I'd have to find a larger pipe. I realize that I'll have to build a form, too.

Speaking of the Earlex, prices range from $40 on eBay to $80 elsewhere. I'm leery of the one on eBay for $40.

So, if you have any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them.

EDIT: I just checked, and that eBay seller has only three Feedbacks, all negative. :D
 
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Making steam is not Rocket science...I use a foxy bender but I wet the wood first so I make steam ,if I wrap the wet wood in foil first then I am making pressurised steam.
Most wood contains moisture anyway.
 
Making steam is not Rocket science...I use a foxy bender but I wet the wood first so I make steam ,if I wrap the wet wood in foil first then I am making pressurised steam.
Most wood contains moisture anyway.

Thanks. Didn't early rockets use steam? :D
 
I'm still thinking. I can use a torch with my 2" pipe, or I can use the Earlex steamer for $70. I looked at heating strips, and they begin at about $100. Compare that with a full-size heating blanket for a bed at $40. The pipe I have has too small a diameter for the charcoal starter.
 
I'm still thinking. I can use a torch with my 2" pipe, or I can use the Earlex steamer for $70. I looked at heating strips, and they begin at about $100. Compare that with a full-size heating blanket for a bed at $40. The pipe I have has too small a diameter for the charcoal starter.

A lot of us start out on a pipe with a light bulb stuck inside to heat it. I put a 75 watt halogen in mine and it almost gets too hot. The halogen is smaller than a traditional incandescent, so you can get a hot bulb in a small tube. My pipe is aluminum and I got someone to weld the end shut and put a mounting flange on it that I can clamp it to the work bench without fear of setting it on fire. And you can bend the charcoal starter, but only so much.
 
A lot of us start out on a pipe with a light bulb stuck inside to heat it. I put a 75 watt halogen in mine and it almost gets too hot. The halogen is smaller than a traditional incandescent, so you can get a hot bulb in a small tube. My pipe is aluminum and I got someone to weld the end shut and put a mounting flange on it that I can clamp it to the work bench without fear of setting it on fire. And you can bend the charcoal starter, but only so much.

Thanks. If I had a pipe with a larger diameter, I could bend the charcoal lighter, but I don't feel like going into town and looking for a 3" pipe. I like the idea of the Earlex steamer, but $70? I might use it for two ukes.
 
Speaking from experience steam bending lots of wood for non-instrument projects, steam bending uke sides will be a challenge. They're very thin, the bends are tight, and steam tends to swell wood fibers in a way that can be very destructive when bending thinner pieces to tight curves. Steam also doesn't tend to get hot enough to set the piece well so you will get a ton of spring back in a thinner piece.

Bending with a hot iron will avoid those issues Stick with a pipe, heated by whichever (safe and controllable) method you prefer. You can always add water if you need it for a given species.
 
Steam bending has and is being done for instrument making. I always wanted to build a steam box powered by a wallpaper stripper, but alas I never got round to it.
 
Speaking from experience steam bending lots of wood for non-instrument projects, steam bending uke sides will be a challenge. They're very thin, the bends are tight, and steam tends to swell wood fibers in a way that can be very destructive when bending thinner pieces to tight curves. Steam also doesn't tend to get hot enough to set the piece well so you will get a ton of spring back in a thinner piece.

Bending with a hot iron will avoid those issues Stick with a pipe, heated by whichever (safe and controllable) method you prefer. You can always add water if you need it for a given species.

Thanks. I'll stick with the pipe and the propane torch.
 
I use a pipe with a heater in it. It does get hot enough to 'sizzle' or bead water off it, I drape a wet rag over it and it steams off until dry. It is enough heat bending over the rag while it steams (I move it over to the next wet section once the steam stops) and I never have to worry about scorching the wood. It does take about 30% longer to do though.
 
I use a pipe with a heater in it. It does get hot enough to 'sizzle' or bead water off it, I drape a wet rag over it and it steams off until dry. It is enough heat bending over the rag while it steams (I move it over to the next wet section once the steam stops) and I never have to worry about scorching the wood. It does take about 30% longer to do though.

That sounds good.
 
I’ve heated the bending pipe with a propane torch, but I didn’t like having an open flame in the shop. I heated it with a paint stripping gun, but I didn’t like the noise. This rig worked fine for a recent tenor build. An 8” piece of scrap pipe from the local muffler shop, a couple of muffler clamps, and the cheap ($15 or so) hot knife did the job.
 

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I also have experience in steam bending, but with larget pieces of wood that uke sides - ribs for a boat, for instance, but found this to be *much* better than steaming for ukulele sides:

There are other ones out there, both fancier and simpler. This one is $99 at Amazon but it can also be found on Ebay.
 
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