Is this price right?

[deema]

Heat pipes only normally need an end welded on if your using a burner / heat gun so you have a 'safe' side to work from and avoid the agony of getting burnt. With a light bulb your not in such peril.

Have you thought of a flexible electric heat mat (at least the same size as the wooden side) sandwiched between two very flexible metal plates which is first heated up with your guitar side and whist the low voltage heat Matt is still on placed on a wooden former and clamped to the right shape?

The main advanteges are you have almost no danger of scorching the wood and you get a consistent shape for both sides / subsequent instruments. There are videos on uTube of this technique.

 

[Michelle_K]

I have thought of the heat blanket but I don't really have the space or skill to make a side mould for it. A bending iron would be a lot easier. I have thought about just getting a bit of pipe maybe I will reconsider that until I can afford a bending iron.

 

[profchris]

Bending on a pipe is quite easy after the first few attempts - it's a matter of feel, so you'll crease some wood and scorch other bits before you get it right.

I suggest buying some 1.5mm ply cheaply from eBay to practice getting the feel. 2 inch strips are just like ukulele sides. I use a wet/damp rag on the pipe to provide some steam, which helps get the heat into the wood quicker (but some species hate steam, so I usually start dry if I don't know and see how it goes).

The other thing about bending sides is runout - if your wood has appreciable runout it *will* start to disintegrate on bends. Flat sawn with little runout is better than vertical grain with runout, though flat sawn tends to cup. Once you've bent a few failures, you will learn rapidly about wood selection! Using a metal backing strip helps - I have a piece of aluminium rescued from a dead caravan.

And if you're making ukes, sign up for Ukulele Cosmos (where you'll find a lot from me and from better builders) and Ukulele Underground - both have luthiers sections full of useful tips and ideas.

 

[chaoticbob]

Michelle, I think the answer to your 'is this price right' question is probably no. 20 quid is too cheap for a fabricator earning his crust from his trade! 150 on the other hand is taking the mick.
Looking at the vids you linked to (interesting stuff - I know nowt about bending wood, but something about metal) I'm not convinced that the end cap needs to be welded. The guy in the second vid openly confesses that he is a pro welder by day, so naturally that's the way he'd go. But as there's no stress on the part, and it doesn't seem that it's going to get red hot, maybe you should think about other ways of keeping the heat in - perhaps a wooden plug on the end of the tube would do?
Robin.

 

[t8hants]

As a fabricator welder I think £20 is spot on for a small job.
I spent 25 years in a small workshop that was plagued by walk in small jobs.
There I am working on something large and complicated, in comes the punter with his small job, I immediately loose 10 minutes plus while he explains what he wants often with unnecessary background which I don't need to know.
A price is quoted - he walks away - I have lost at least 10 minutes for no reward, I then loose further time trying to recapture my train of thought - worse still - I make a mistake because my thought train was derailed, which eventually costs me even more time and materials to correct.
Even if the quote is accepted, all of the above can and has happened, at the same time I have had two phone calls, one of which was for PPI, another waste of time.
In fact I worked out it cost the little firm I worked for £5, for me just to pick up the phone.