Making a couple of tools

Well I've been sick for a couple of weeks so I haven't made any progress on the lute.  I hope to carve up the neck block over the next week so I can begin on the body soon after.  In the mean time I've worked on putting together a couple of the tools I'll need for the next steps.  I figured I'd post some pics of these home made tools for anyone curious.

First, some sort of holding device for the mold makes working much more convenient so a universal joint that allows it to be positioned at any angle was constructed.  The plans for creating this are part of the kit obtained at the website listed in the initial post.

DISCLAIMER:  If you aren't comfortable or knowledgeable about working with electricity do not attempt this but instead buy an already assembled bending iron.

For bending the ribs to conform to the shape of the mold a bending iron is needed to get the wood hot enough to break down.  I built this from an electric charcoal starter with the element squashed down enough to fit inside of a 2" steel pipe very tightly.  I then mounted this onto a fence post with spacers so the pipe wasn't resting on the wood.  I added a sliding dimmer switch so I could control the temperature and that's it.  This thing takes a long time to cool off after use so be careful to give plenty of cool off time before handling.