Side bending at the De Jonges employs a traditional hot pipe on which the presoaked sides are manually bent and checked for fit in a corresponding mould.Sergei's bending pipe was handmade using a bent heating element housed in a galvanized pipe and attached to a thermostat for heat regulation.

Watching Sergei at work demonstrating his bending technique is simply amazing..oh did I mention that while working with Jean Laravee, it was Sergei who bent all the sides? Suffice it to say that Sergei has this technique wired. Sergei starts at one end..upper or lower bout and simply overbends at the waist until the sides look like a pretzel... he then underbends to follow the mould outline and he does all the bending in a few minutes. No flat spots..no gaps in the mould.. jes a snug and solid fit. Guess I should mention that after 3 stress filled hours my sides were finally completed.

Yup... I did long for my Charles Fox bender but a manually bent side will bring an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment... ok ok I personally still bend with a modified Fox type bender with a thermal heat blanket..but now I always have my traditional hot pipe bender plugged in and at the ready for touch ups.....

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