Removing the Warp

Three of the staves had a small (3-4mm) warp. My options were to tough it out (wedge something into the drum, to counter the warped pieces, while the glue dried) which would probably have worked, get some more timber (I only had just enough for the drum) and remake those pieces, or remove the warp.

I decided to have a go at removing the warp.

	To do this I would need a heat source, and a simple bending jig. I didn't have a steam generator (or a steamer cabinet) so I opted for hot water to heat the wood. I constructed a simple bath out of an old plastic planter trough. The trough had large drain holes, so I lined it with a plastic (from a plastic shopping bag -- which unfortunately had a small hole in it anyway). I emptied a kettle of boiling water into the bath and soaked a stave for about 45 minutes. To keep the heat in, I later covered the bath with several folded newspapers.
	I then removed the stave and put it in the simple bending jig. The jig is just a base board with two 19mm dowels sticking out of it. The dowels are to hold the stave while making minimal contact to allow the stave to dry evenly. The stave (lower light colored timber in the image) is clamped to a sturdy piece of scrap that sits on the other side of the dowel. The clamp is tightened until the upper edge of the stave is in line with a scribe line between the lower edges of the dowels. I left the stave in the jig until quite dry. It worked!

To do this I would need a heat source, and a simple bending jig.

I didn't have a steam generator (or a steamer cabinet) so I opted for hot water to heat the wood.

I constructed a simple bath out of an old plastic planter trough. The trough had large drain holes, so I lined it with a plastic (from a plastic shopping bag -- which unfortunately had a small hole in it anyway).

I emptied a kettle of boiling water into the bath and soaked a stave for about 45 minutes.

To keep the heat in, I later covered the bath with several folded newspapers.

I then removed the stave and put it in the simple bending jig.

The jig is just a base board with two 19mm dowels sticking out of it. The dowels are to hold the stave while making minimal contact to allow the stave to dry evenly.

The stave (lower light colored timber in the image) is clamped to a sturdy piece of scrap that sits on the other side of the dowel. The clamp is tightened until the upper edge of the stave is in line with a scribe line between the lower edges of the dowels. I left the stave in the jig until quite dry.

It worked!