bending, finally

later today i’ll (hopefully) bend my fork blades. i’ve got an 8″ and a 6″ plywood bender ready to groove with the v-groove router bit i just got. the hold-down/bit assembly worked well on a test bend with brake line. the plan is to first put an 8″ bend in both blades, then switch to the 6″ if need be to add a tighter curve to the dropout ends.
the only missing piece is a cheater bar. last time i used a partially ovalized piece of black pipe, a la the Henry James instructions, with poor results–the blade de-ovalized somewhat. this time i’ll scrounge around for some solid bar that will fit inside the blade. i might even forge a blade-specific cheater bar if i can’t find something suitable.
i had really wanted to use sand to help prevent kinks while bending. the problem is, i can’t think of a way to plug the blade at the dropout end while still allowing the hold-down bit to fit in. maybe melted wax dripped in from the crown end? i’d need some kind of stop to prevent it from dripping out the dropout end.