Bending the Sides

Over the weekend I worked on my bending iron. If I was to buy one from a luthier supply company, I would spend up to $200 so I tried to build one myself. Those that don't use an electric bending iron, use a piece of steel pipe and a propane torch. I thought about doing it that way but I thought it would be hard to get the pipe to the correct temperature and keep it there. I have been checking out a lot of books lately from the library about woodworking and I found one called "Makin' your own country instruments." In that book, I found plans for building your own bending iron. I modified it a little to accommodate the materials I had. Basically it is three pieces of 2X4's glued together with a piece of 1 1/4 pipe filled with sand mounted to the 2x4's. Inside the pipe is a hot water heater element that is wired to a light dimmer switch. The sand helps dissipate the heat evenly along the pipe and the dimmer allows me to control the temperature. I got the pipe to 375 degrees which was too hot and scorched my piece of practice wood.

I also worked on my rim fixture over the weekend. The rim fixture is what is used to form the sides of the instrument. I cut it out of 3/4" plywood and was not too happy with it. I just couldn't get it right so I rigged it and quit. I will probably make another later.

This afternoon during lunch, I grew impatient because I haven't made any progress since I prepped my sides for bending. I figured I would just heat up the pipe and try bending a piece for fun. Once I got started I couldn't quit. I used the rim fixture that I wasn't happy with and before I knew it I had two of the three side pieces bent. Basically, you take the piece of side wood you are going to use and spritz some water on it. Then you let the water soak in the wood for a little bit, maybe 30 seconds, and then you bend the wood across the hot pipe. The hot pipe turns the water to steam and makes the wood pliable for a brief moment. You continue to spray the wood with water and check your progress on the rim fixture. Once you get it the way you want it, you clamp it to your fixture and let it set for at least 24 hours. I only used the scrap piece of wood to make the two sides. If they turn out good, I will use them. I have the more difficult long side left to bend and I might need the other two pieces if I break one of them during the bending process.

Here is my version of an electric bending iron that costs less than $20 and my rim fixture holding the two sides.