I've been getting on with the yurt between the downpours and gales. I made a box to steam the wood for the roof slats so it's soft enough to bend into a nice curve.
The box has room for nine slats, steam supplied by an Argos wallpaper stripper (thanks for the suggestion Mark!) Two or three hours in there and they are well cooked. I suppose the box will also be handy if I ever grow any of those giant carrots you see.
Anyway, out of the box and swiftly into blocks laid out in a curve on the bench...
It takes twenty nerve-racking seconds or so to bend the wood into shape with firm steady pressure, pushing it into the blocks as I go...
...and that's it!
I let them cool down for half an hour or so. Once they're out of the blocks they spring back a bit but keep a good curve; I cracked a couple of them but there's still plenty to do the roof.
I've made the door and it's frame so the next job is making the circular crown for the top of the roof and cutting the joints in it. After that it's time for sewing a lot of canvas - which I've never done in my life, never mind ... live and learn.
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