More Steam

My first attempt to use steam to correct the warped pot had melted the glue from it and let the pot sides detach from the base and straighten out. However the project hadn't died on the table just yet. Using a ratchet strap I was able to pull the sides almost back into shape and a few wood clamps held the overlapping edge together. I put a piece of plywood to protect the end of the outer edge of the pot because it tapers off and the tight strap cut into it.

When tension was released it would straighten out again. The wood glue I'll be using should handle a joint under tension but the less tension the better. I decided to put it back into my steamer again. This time with the ratchet strap attached, soften the wood with steam then let it cool held in shape by the strap.

I put the wood complete with ratchet strap into the steamer and left it for nearly an hour. That was probably longer than it needed. The wood is only 5mm thick so it would've probably been okay with half that time really, although the paint probably reduced the steams ability to penetrate it.

Once I'd had my coffee -er timed an hour I mean, I removed it from the steamer and added some wood clamps to hold the tapered ends of the wood together and as the pot wasn't properly round I used a large wood clamp push the widest part of the oval in to make it round. The whole thing is about 17.5cm across from outer edge to outer edge. I did a few checks with the tape measure to check it was round then left it to cool for 24 hours.

Removing the clamps and ratchet strap I was half expecting the wood to spring open again but it held it's shape. I've learnt something new there.