Deflexing a Stave

[backtowood B2W]

Nice experiment !
To get a good fit, why not steam the handle and the plug and then squeeze together?
nice idea simk!

[dratera]

DC, I have never tried this but to get a nice fit maybe take some kind of moldable hard clay, shove it in the gap, take it out and saw it to a thin slat, then put the slat on your plug wood and paint an outline

[DC]

Nice experiment !
To get a good fit, why not steam the handle and the plug and then squeeze together?
nice idea simk!

I believe steam makes wood flexible across the grain but not along the grain so I don't think it would help the fit at the ends of the plug.

[DC]

DC, I have never tried this but to get a nice fit maybe take some kind of moldable hard clay, shove it in the gap, take it out and saw it to a thin slat, then put the slat on your plug wood and paint an outline

You can really do the same thing just by tracing the gap on your plug wood. I think the problem I was having was just slight differences in the curves (maybe misalignment of the holesaw holes)  that makes one side of the plug a different shape than the other. Getting a plug that will "fit" is not hard, getting a good glue line all around is a PITA.