Hi All
I thought that I would share this as I've being experimenting all afternoon with getting some 4mm dowelling bent to 90 degrees. I soon discovered that dowels of this diameter don't take too kindly to being bent without cracking!
I tried steaming for about 45 minutes with no success - then I tried partially submerging them in boiling water with the same poor results
In the end I boiled them for about an hour fully submerged which made them just supple enough to get the 90 degree bend I required. It still took some persuasion though and a few clamps to get the result
The picture is not very clear but hopefully the dowel is visible around the mugs after being bent. Anyway I hope that this helps someone in the future
Mark
