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Wood science experiment

Bruce Page

Bruce Page

Member
Messages
1,099
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
If you wanted to coax a slightly out of flat board straight(er) using water only, which side would you dampen, side A or B?
 

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Jason Beam said:
Yup, B

If it's crooked, it's gonna stay crooked, though, like Jim said. It'll just go back to crooked once it dries.
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Would depend on why it got crooked. If you went to BORC an got it, tossed it into the back of your truck on one of these hot days, it will form into a perfect boat keel, these you can minipulate back to the norm. but like you say if it was in a pile for a long while and it decided to get bent, you can coax it straight for a while but old habits are hard to break. Best to make shorts or heat a cold shop with it.

Along those lines. This time of year (hot/humid) when we are getting wood from establishments that are AC and such and carry back home in the backs of our trucks or toss into a well warmed garage shop, we need to consider the climate changes this piece is about to face and prepare a place for it to acclimate to its new surroundings or you too might be asking which side to wet...
 
Thanks guys,
My problem is with the lower left corner of the right door. The doors were dead flat when I made them earlier this year but now the lower left corner of the right door has warped out about 3/32”. The door is pretty big so it takes very little pressure to straighten it out. I can probably install a latch or something to hold it in position but it still frosts my butt! :bang:

I was hoping that I could coax it straight again but I guess not…. :(
 

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Bruce - sorry to be flip. I can imagine your frustration. But this is wood. The 3/32" are proof that its real wood, not some plastic covered facsimilie. I hope that one of the clever guys can give you some real help but I'm afraid I can't. In my world (outdoor furniture) I know that if it gets outta line its likely to stay outta line. That is why anything "lively" gets burned or cut into shorts.
 
I just ordered one of these from Lee Valley, it should do the trick.

Ian, LOL, there have been a few times that I have been tempted to stoke the fireplace!
 

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Bruce Page said:
Thanks guys,
My problem is with the lower left corner of the right door. The doors were dead flat when I made them earlier this year but now the lower left corner of the right door has warped out about 3/32”. The door is pretty big so it takes very little pressure to straighten it out. I can probably install a latch or something to hold it in position but it still frosts my butt! :bang:

I was hoping that I could coax it straight again but I guess not…. :(
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I'm glad I kept reading because my first instinct was to be a 'smarty pants' [<== CoC approved term :wave:]. I have had that experience and it is disheartening. I believe your latch solution is the right one. I also had to install a barely noticeable little stop to keep the other corner from flexing out whilst I latched the offending corner.
 
a cabinet maker i used to work for had a trick to fix warped doors on site. if a door was so bad he couldn't adjust it out using the hinge (talking overlay doors not inset) he would use this trick. let's say the bottom corner of the door sticks out too far, he would place a 1/2" thick block between the upper corner and the face frame, then clamp the lower corner to the face frame, then leave it there overnight, this would force the door to over compensate in the opposite direction. it actually worked. not sure if it stayed that way, as he would finish the install and never go back unless the homeowner called to complain about something.

but i guess that latch system looks like it would well pretty well.

i know some of the "high end" cabinet makers on the net that do nothing but inset doors use those magnetic latches on top and bottom of the door openings.

good luck with the latches.
chris
 
Chris Mire said:
a cabinet maker i used to work for had a trick to fix warped doors on site. if a door was so bad he couldn't adjust it out using the hinge (talking overlay doors not inset) he would use this trick. let's say the bottom corner of the door sticks out too far, he would place a 1/2" thick block between the upper corner and the face frame, then clamp the lower corner to the face frame, then leave it there overnight, this would force the door to over compensate in the opposite direction. it actually worked. not sure if it stayed that way, as he would finish the install and never go back unless the homeowner called to complain about something.

but i guess that latch system looks like it would well pretty well.

i know some of the "high end" cabinet makers on the net that do nothing but inset doors use those magnetic latches on top and bottom of the door openings.

good luck with the latches.
chris
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Chris, I already gave that a try. I left it clamped for almost 2 weeks, when I unclamped it, it sprang into perfect position! But 2 days later it wasn’t… :(

When I made the original post I was planning on clamping it again and then wetting one side of the stile, coaxing it into position. :dunno:
 
Ian Barley said:
Bruce - sorry to be flip. I can imagine your frustration. But this is wood. The 3/32" are proof that its real wood, not some plastic covered facsimilie. I hope that one of the clever guys can give you some real help but I'm afraid I can't. In my world (outdoor furniture) I know that if it gets outta line its likely to stay outta line. That is why anything "lively" gets burned or cut into shorts.
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bruce, ian said it better than i coulda:eek:
 
How about a couple of them super strong rare earth magnets?

Good luck, and even with the door out of whack, nice work! :thumb:

besides, maybe in the winter it will go back to the right shape?

Cheers!
 
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