Warped wood

[DoubleLung]

I recently picked up a really nice piece of zebrawood from a local woodcraft. The guy assured me it was kiln dried and not having a moisture meter I didn't check it. I laid it on a work desk and when I checked it today it's moved and cupped a lot in only a few weeks.

Lesson learned to check moisture level before buying but what can I do now to try to straighten and dry out the lumber?

[Eric Krewson]

On the same vein but a different craft; I spent a year building an English fowler flintlock, spent a pile of money on a figured walnut stock blank. All the parts were carefully inletted into the wood, my best work to date.

To my horror, 6 months after completion I noticed all the metal parts sitting proud of the wood, the lock was in so tight it broke a chip out of the moulding when I pulled it out of the stock.
The so called seasoned wood wasn't and shrunk while drying to the ambient MC for my area. This was supposed to be very well seasoned wood.

I complained on a M/L building forum about a top notch stock wood supplier sending me partially seasoned wood and was told by the members that my experience wasn't uncommon. They said they often bought a blank and let it sit for a year to stabilize to avoid what I had experienced.

[BigJim]

Unlikely you purchased Zebra that wasn't kiln dried. Not too sure it even comes in the country before being kiln dried....most of that stuff is done in some very special kilns in Germany.

Just because something is kiln dried, doesn't mean it is still dry. Wood is orthoscopic and will absorb moisture or expel it according to the environment it is stored in. Other than jointing it, couldn't imagine how to straighten it.

BIgJIm

[DoubleLung]

We have got some rain the past few days so I'm sure the humidity is up a bit. Normally in this area it's not much of a concern. If I stack some weight on it will that help flatten it out?

[mikkekeswick]

No - it is what it is now. Run it through a thicknesser or over a jointer.
It you bend it back flat....you have hidden stresses in the wood, which is not a good thing.
BigJim is dead on in what he says.
The best thing to do is to store all your wood in a controlled environment eg. humidity AND temperature until your wood reaches EMC.
You can't fight it! It just takes time.
I've learnt the hard way how much wood can and does move.
If you want to minimize it then buy quarter sawn boards.

[DoubleLung]

Thanks for the responses guys. I think I'll still be able to salvage a few risers out of it. Lucky for me a piece of Bolivian Rosewood that I bought hasn't moved yet. I brought it all in the house where it's controlled.

I guess, I'll just chalk this up to lessons learned.

[LittleBen]

Bought a nice piece of claro walnut from woodcraft a while back ... seemed dry ... cut into it, and it was literally completely green .... won't make that mistake again.

[BigJim]

When I sell wood, most all of it has been in a controlled environment for 6 months to 5 years depending on species...many of witch are also kiln dried.
If what I have to sell is wet, I will let you know up front....but that doesn't help if you receive it and change the environment for extended periods of time.

Also, just because a piece "crawls" when it is being cut doesn't mean it is wet, but more often than not it has internal stress created by how it was dried.
Thanks, bigjim

[fujimo]

or how it grew- compression and tension stresses can move a lot when a log is bust open, and when every subsequent board is cut!
north or s facing, prevailing winds, slope etc etc. all have a strong influence