Lou,
I've seen the "ripple" effect on fork blades before, but it's not real common. It does happen during the bending process but I don't know what causes it; but certainly a too sharp of radius on the bending mandrel or too thin of fork blade would contribute to the likelyhood of this happening. A gentle bend to the fork blade is the best way to prevent fork blade rippleing. Also a deep channel properly radiused for the blade to follow while bending also helps.
BTW, nothing will make the ripples go away once they're present. My Hetchins Millinium had a similar deformation on one fork blade which I tried to make disappear with bondo before painting, but in the process the fork blade also tends to flatten somewhat as opposed to staying round. The dent is still visible if one looks real close. Not likely to effect the performance of the fork, but it is a little annoying.
Hope that explains a bit.
Brian Baylis
LaMesa, CA