Caleb, I do not use a heating blanket for bending the uke sides. It was just too much for me to invest in for this project. I steam the sides and then place them in the bender. I use a heat gun to heat the sides as I bend them. I make a sandwich of galvanized steel, wet paper towel, side, wet paper towel, and galvanized steel. The first bend went well. I'll see how the rest do; especially when I change from mahogany to rosewood.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Do you use a heating blanket for bending sides?
Work on my 00 size guitar is stalled as my friend who is helping me with it is renovating his home. The renovation is taking most of his time, so we do not find time to get together. So I looked through my shop and discovered that I have lots of scraps waiting to be used on other projects. When my son was here from California in June, I asked him if he would be interested in a soprano size ukulele for himself and one for his son. He replied in the affirmative, so I decided to go ahead with the project. I am now making six ukuleles; three from mahogany and spruce and three from rosewood, spruce, and mahogany. I spent the last few weeks thickness sanding wood, making forms, and other prep work. Today I bent the first set of mahogany sides. I have one neck roughed out. Here are a couple of photos of the bending.
