Examining the pot sides there were a few hairline cracks visible so I put a little wood glue into them to hopefully stop them spreading. Hardly surprising to find a few cracks really.
Once the glue was dry I worked a little woodfiller into the crack and also used a bit more to tidy up the join on the pot side and fill another crack. I kept the filler to a minimum.
The base wasn't flat so I gave it a soak in boiling water and clamped it to a piece of aluminium. so it'd dry flat. It didn't work though. The disc cracked across the middle so I wound up soaking it and clamping it again as two different halves. Looking at the grain I'm pretty sure it's made up from two pieces of wood glued together.
In the end I got it flat as two separate halves and tested the fit.
Gluing the sides to the three parts of the base (two halves and a tiny piece) proved tricky because the wet glue was so slippery. eventually using a few clamps and a piece of wood below the pot for them to press against I got the thing in place although the edges of the split down the middle weren't married up
as close as I'd've liked. I used a bit much glue so once again there was a lot of run off. I figure it's better to scrape off the excess later than have a joint that starved.
I left the glue till the next day to reach full strength. As the halves of the pot base were flush to each other there were areas where it protruded beyond the pot sides. The holes where there had been nails from a previous repair were also clearly visible.
I pushed some wood filler into the cracks and nail holes and also right around the edge of the sides inside and outside of the pot. I suspect the white stuff I'd originally found below the black paint was some sort of filler rather than a primer.
As well as pushing the filler into the gaps I applied so it was proud of the wood surface. After giving it a couple of hours to dry I then set about filing the edges of the pot base so they were level with the sides and sanded the filler down to the level of the wood -or as close as I could get it anyway. This meant removing most of the filler visible from the picture above. Using the file and sandpaper I also rounded off the new edge of the pot base as it'd been rounded originally.
I wasn't so worried about finishing the inside as it'd been pretty poorly finished originally and would be hidden under the vellum. Using a few different grades of sand paper I once again removed most of the wood filler. Whilst the outside of the pot is curved the inside is actually flat.
In the middle of the back of the pot there's a metal stud. I'm not sure what it's for. Suggestions on Banjo Hangout have suggested on a regular banjo a stud may be in the back to hold a resonator although on a zither banjo the pot is the resonator. It may be for protection or possibly just for decoration. Anyway rather than try whacking a nail through the pot I'd just repaired, pulling it out and inserting the stud again I located the centre of the pot and drilled a small hole to put the stud back in once the pot is painted.
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