Ukulele sides Bender

[Petecane]

What is an efficient way of bend Uke sides so they are uniform?
At the mo I use a violin rib bending iron.
It works but i am after something like a steam chest?...
Or heated bendind jig?
Any ideas please?
Pete

[kiwigeo]

With a bit of practice and patience you should be able to get sides fairly uniform on a bending iron but if slaving over a hot iron is not your game then the other option is sandwiching the wood with a silicon heating blanket and heating up the blanket while pulling the sandwich tight around an appropriate wooden form. I used a blanket for a bit but I ended up going back to hand bending my sides in a bending iron.

What is an efficient way of bend Uke sides so they are uniform?
At the mo I use a violin rib bending iron.
It works but i am after something like a steam chest?...
Or heated bendind jig?
Any ideas please?
Pete

[Petecane]

Thanks Martin.
Perhaps I need more practice and patience then.
I have read about the "Fox" bender and other similar wooden constructions here on the forum.
I have to bow in shame and ignorance as I have no clue how to make a blanket or even heat it up.
I have read that some are heated to 100C.
Thats boiling point so pretty hot wot?
How is this heat applied?
How do I make the blanket?
Will the wooden structure not warp with the heat?
If I make one it will be quite small as it will be for UKE sides.
I can see how they are constructed and how they work but ignorant as to how the heat is applied.
Pete

[Allen]

Pretty much most pro uke builders I know will use both the iron and a silicon heat blanket. The shape of my ukes have a couple very tight bends that are very prone to fracturing if just done with a Fox style bender.

I hand bend all my sides to close to shape and set the bend on a solid form with the heat blanket.

[Petecane]

My Ukes also have tight bends.
Figured Queensland maple doesnt want to know.
The shape is Martin Soprano 0 series.
I can still use the iron but can you please advise me how a heat blanket works?
How is it heated?
Pete

[Steve]

I can still use the iron but can you please advise me how a heat blanket works?
How is it heated?
Pete

It’s one of these electric jobs...
https://www.michaelsenterprises.com/index.html

[Allen]

I have blankets from Michaels Enterprises and a couple of small ones from Keveno that you can get on eBay. You purchase them by size and wattage. I built a custom controler to control the heat. Much like the one you can get from LMI.

You absolutely never leave a heat blank unattended as they can get very hot very quickly with fire the likely outcome.

[Petecane]

Crikey Allen.
With me, Murphy's law will apply.
If it can go wrong it will mate!
I can see me ordering the wrong size and Wattage.
I can forcast the controller going wrong or blowing up!
I think I will stick with the old Heated iron.
I had visions of steam chests but when I stand back and take a look.....
I am not into production here on a big scale.
Yes...I want to make Ukuleles but for me it will be a past time.
I just need to make enough to buy nice tools and carry on the love!
Pete