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| Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=22150 |
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| Author: | JRE Productions [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
Aloha! I just got back from a productive trip to the islands. It was great and I got to see many handmade Ukes of great quality. So I (like so many) now have been bitten by the Uke bug. I want to build a few ukes. It appears some builders make the sides out of one continuious piece of wood and others our of two pieces. Does anyone have a picture of there bending jigs for ukes? I use a fox bender for my archtops, but obviously its way to big for a uke. So I will probably need to build a smaller jig of some sort. Anyone? Thanks, Joe D |
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| Author: | Glenn LaSalle [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 2:42 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
Hi Joe, I, too, recently returned from a trip to Hawaii, and was bitten by the Ukulele bug. However, being a guitar-building newbie, and not wanting to tool up at this point, I ordered a tenor kit from Tim at Australian Tonewoods (as well as a mold). Sorry I didn't have a response, but I do look forward to any  Glenn |
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| Author: | LuthierSupplier [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:07 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
Joe, I've built a few of them. I basically built it just like a guitar. The first one was a concert uke, and I used a butt joint with one bolt. The second is a soprano uke, and just a mortise and tenon glued. My mold is actually the side bender. when you cut the mold out, just do it very carefully , and use the inside cut out of the mold as the press to bend the sides. I just soaked the sides for 20 min, then made a sandwich of metal slat/blanket/side/metal and had wrapped the sides in brown craft paper, then let them heat until it started to steam. I then just pushed the inside mold piece against the outside mold piece and used a few quick grips to hold it tight. Unplugged the blanket and let it cool. No spring back at all. Below is a pic of the outside mold. Here I just trim what it sticking out on my bandsaw, then glue in the blocks. I don't have pics of the bend process with me, but can post some later. Forgot to mention that I offer Radius Dishes for Ukulele backs here: http://www.luthiersuppliers.com/products/p4.html Attachment: DSCN0071 (Medium).JPG
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| Author: | Dave Higham [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 3:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
This is how David Hurd did it: http://www.ukuleles.com/BuildingHowTo/sidebend.html |
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| Author: | Doug Powdrell [ Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
I completed 4 tenors last year...martin plans, Hanalima for tuners, strings, misc. side bending?-I used my standard guitar homemade 'fox bender' but needed to cut a few corners off to accomodate the smalller plan of the uku.... bracing?-modified.... neck?- butt joint w/dowel woods- one piece front and back (makes the centerline a bit more of a challenge..there is no reference line), 2 piece sides. Very similar to steel string guitar construction and methods for me...binding, rosette, purfling, end graft, etc.etc. Ricardo may have some tips.... |
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| Author: | HippetyHop [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:19 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
Hi fellas. I browse here a bit, but don't say a lot. This was my first uke bending jig. I don't like the shape anymore, so I won't use it again. I'll let the spiders have it now.  I've made 2 others similar that don't have all the dowels and filler in them. I can smell that epoxy putty from just thinking about it. I reckon I spent an hour digging out each of those triangular holes with a 3/4" chisel. Now I use a spade bit drill and make a round hole, and my latest jigs have just one caul on the lower bout, two on the upper and two at the waist. Cheers Hip. |
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| Author: | Ricardo [ Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Bending Uke sides? Anyone have pics or tutes? |
Here's a pic of a bender roughly patterned after the Hanalima one. You can get a plan for it from hamalima. Attachment: bender.jpg
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