A day later, and I have taken the wood off of the bending form. Very eggy, don't you think? It isn't eggzactly round.
A Very Eggy Hoop
The wood didn't split or anything, so other than the pointy bit at the top it was a pretty good bend. I suppose I could try to make a banjo out of this one, but it would have a pretty funky shape. It is 13" across, just the right size.
The Hoop is 13" Across the Width
Here is a closeup. Pretty close to 13".
Closeup
I think I have an idea of what is going on here making that egg. If you scroll back up to the top image, you can see that the pointy part of the bend comes at the center of the wood. That is where the steam tube dumps the steam into the steam box. I wonder if the steam is being sprayed directly onto the wood at that point and heating that location just a bit hotter than the rest of the wood. Then, that part of the board bends just a little bit more than the rest, thus creating the point.
I think I might need to put a baffle in the steam box over the hole where the tube comes in to distribute the steam over the whole length of the board better.
That sounds like as good a plan as any others I have come up with, so next time I will take a look at making a baffle. This has been a baffling project so far.
