Sorry to ask such a newbie question... but I'm a newbie!
I have recently starting woodworking and am more commonly working with
natural birch. I am purchasing birch in 9in wide (or so) by 3/4in thick by
8foot lengths, but they always have some amount of moisture in them and as
they dry in my garage (Southern California) they tend to warp. Any ideas on
how to prevent this?
Also once the wood is warped, is there any way to straighten it out again?
Thanks
Russell McGinnis
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/TMU/publications.htm
Slide on down to lumber drying, storage....
R Bruce Hoadley _ Understanding Wood _ is the second-best piece of reading
material to put on your nightstand.
"The McGinnis's" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Sorry to ask such a newbie question... but I'm a newbie!
>
> I have recently starting woodworking and am more commonly working with
> natural birch. I am purchasing birch in 9in wide (or so) by 3/4in thick by
> 8foot lengths, but they always have some amount of moisture in them and as
> they dry in my garage (Southern California) they tend to warp. Any ideas
on
> how to prevent this?
>
> Also once the wood is warped, is there any way to straighten it out again?
>
> Thanks
>
> Russell McGinnis
>
>
I use quite a lot of birch and usually buy it oversize but with one true
edge. I then stack it, alternating the grain direction and growth rings
and clamp the stacks at roughly 2 ft intervals along their length.
After sitting for a year in my basement I will unclamp it and plane it
to whatever dimension I need, as needed. I've done this with several
thousand board feet and haven't had any difficulty. I forgot and left
some 2" stock unclamped and it could now be used for cork screws though.
RB
The McGinnis's wrote:
> Sorry to ask such a newbie question... but I'm a newbie!
>
> I have recently starting woodworking and am more commonly working with
> natural birch. I am purchasing birch in 9in wide (or so) by 3/4in thick by
> 8foot lengths, but they always have some amount of moisture in them and as
> they dry in my garage (Southern California) they tend to warp. Any ideas on
> how to prevent this?
>
> Also once the wood is warped, is there any way to straighten it out again?
>
> Thanks
>
> Russell McGinnis
>
>
On Mon, 09 Feb 2004 02:20:41 GMT, "The McGinnis's"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Sorry to ask such a newbie question... but I'm a newbie!
>
>I have recently starting woodworking and am more commonly working with
>natural birch. I am purchasing birch in 9in wide (or so) by 3/4in thick by
>8foot lengths, but they always have some amount of moisture in them and as
>they dry in my garage (Southern California) they tend to warp. Any ideas on
>how to prevent this?
Buy it oversize, mill it to slightly oversize, let it rest for a day
or two, then mill it to final size.
>Also once the wood is warped, is there any way to straighten it out again?
With a jointer and planer, or hand planes. However, if the wood is
purchased at final thickness, you have nothing to remove, so you're
kind of out of luck. Cutting the board to slightly wider and longer
than the final size before flattening will require you to remove less
thickness.
Barry