Bending sides

After a really nice weekend at the summer house I decided to bend the sides for the ash resonator. Li helped me to take pictures. 

The ash bends easily. I keep the wood moist but not soaked. I find the moisture helps me bend, but I'm not really sure if it's the better distribution of heat or if it is the moisture in itself. But who cares as long as it works, right?

I don't use a mold or form since the skeleton is enough for checking progress. A two piece rim is easier to fit than a one piece, but the joint at the lower end is a bit tricky. We'll get back to that. 

When both halves were done I clamped them to the skeleton with a rubber tube. I might use that for the glueing as well but I need to cut the sides down to height first otherwise the tube will crack the overhanging bits. 

Piccolos, bending sides

I've got a bit too much to post so I'd better get started. I have had two inquiries for piccolos and since it was a while since I made any of my stock model I accepted them as orders. 

I have loads of good cherry wood, some of which I resawed by hand this summer. Last week I sanded it all down to thickness in the drum sander, remember this is my stock model not zero sanding specials. 

And then I bent the sides. First I mark out the crucial points on the pieces, then soaked them quickly under the tap. 

And away I bent. This was the first one. On the second I bent both waist bends first, then the lower bout and the upper last. That was easier to get symmetrical. 

The sides relax in the mold for a couple of days. 

And this morning they got their neck blocks. I don't use end blocks on these. 

Resonator sides

Do you remember the post from just after summer, where I started all those ukes at once? Well things are moving along. The concert is done, the tenor an the piccolo need only a final rubbing and bits like nuts and tuners. The koa soprano is actually well under way and also spoken for. 

But what of those resos. It's a wee bit annoying; I have gotten so much praise for them and so many enquiries from people who saw or heard one. Yet I build them sort of reluctantly. Get me right, I love how they turn out and I'm awfully proud of them. The truth is they sound a lot better than most resos. But I depend heavily on the hardware that I have to import, and that's both expensive and cumbersome. 

And then it's my method of building them, an improvised way from the start but one I don't dare to stray from now. Building the skeletons take forever. 

But the worst task is bending a one piece rim to a snug fit around the skeleton! Drives me mad. I also make two piece bookmatched sides but today was one of each. 

First out was the one piece rim, of mahogany. I can't remember sanding this piece but today I found it was on the thick side of ideal. 

It took me two hours! Then I clamped it using no fewer than 666 clamps. 

Then I turned to the two pieces of ash for the other one. They bent easier than masking tape. Took me all of five minutes to bend both. I put brown paper tape at the joint and did a dry run, which you can see in the pic. 

Last pic is of the koa soprano, top and bottom cut flush to the sides, then the whoke assembly was sanded and scraped. I remember slotting the fretboard for this one. Hopefully I can find it.