Hand planed sides

The experiment continues! I planed the sides for the zero sanding ukes, and I was a bit impressed with myself - over 600 mm of length the thickness varied no more than 0.05 - 0.08 mm here and there. The surfaces were good with only miniscule areas of reversing grain causing some trouble. I went ahead to the bending iron. 

And bending them went alright! Two revelations; they actually seemed easier and more compliant than sides thicknessed in the drum sander. Could be the extra thickness I left them at, 1.85 rather than my usual 1.7, who knows. I'd rather let the planing take the credit of course. 

The other thing - remember those minor variations in thickness? Well they were much more noticeable on the iron than they were on the bench. But when bending by hand it's easy to adjust pressure and speed so it went well. 

Here they are, next to my original Slayer playlist from August 2013.