Bending touch up

I dug out a piccolo rim that I bent some time ago, but there was a spot on it where the curve was a bit uneven. It takes a while to heat the bending iron, so I tried this crude method - clamping the wood in the heating blanket and reworking the curve before the heat burned through the glove. It worked, but it hurt.

Bending sides, my method pt 2

So here is the last half of my bending documentation.

In the first pic the wood is hot and has started to yield. The waist caul is down to the bottom and I've started on the lower bout.

In the next pic both bouts are done. Then I turn the heat off for some minutes.

I release the blanket and remove the foil from the outside of the piece. At least from both bouts. Then I put the blanket back and cook it for a few minutes more. This last step is to dry the wood.

 In the last pic, the side rests in a holding form. No springback, no hassle.

Also, as you may have noticed, I don't use spring steel slats and I don't use a thermometer. This is easy and fast, I spend around 15 minutes from start to finish on each side.

But I really like one piece sides, those I make on the bending iron.

Bending sides, my method pt 1

When I make two piece soprano sides, I whip out ye olde bending machine. There are scattered pics around this blog but tonight I'll make two posts with some pics of the different steps.

First pic is of how I wet the piece of koa. I don't soak it, just give it a quick rinse.

Then I wrap it in aluminium foil, keeping the neck end marked with an N, and the inside with an I. 

Third pic shows the ready package. The I is replaced with a U, for outside (in Swedish). The line is the waist location.

I bend with a heating blanket I got made for this bender. First the side is clamped gently with the waist caul.

The last pic in this post shows the very nice control unit my father in law made for me. He explained how it works but I didn't understand. But when I slide the thing on top of the other thing, it controls the heat.