Please help me ASAP.
I bought some 1/4″ Koa wood from Hawaii and when I brought it home I noticed it was slightly cupped. It’s very expensive as you know, what can I do to save it!? Wet one side and put heavy bricks on it?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Gary
Replies
Yup.
I had some wide Rimu for a bookcase do that once. I put a damp cloth on it and weighted it. Worked to a certain extent, but certainly didnt make it flat again.
I ended up using it with the slight bow and making the dadoes in the sides to suit. The ends of the shelves had a small radius planed into them to fit the cupped sides. It wasnt noticable unless you were looking for it. It bothered me as I knew, but I also figgured that even if made flat, those boards would likely have cupped anyway due to grain configuration etc.
Whatever it was.................I didnt do it.
You might just try laying in down on a concrete floor crown up. overnight the moisture in the floor is enough to relax that side. If this does the trick , make sure and keep it properly stickered for the duration of the job
there's a market for thin koa??? I've got piles of it off the resaw....
Hitai,Thanks for the reply, I'll try it tonight.Do you want to sell the thin Koa?
How thin is it? Regular of curly Koa?
Aloha,
I don't know where you are on the mainland but your problem was caused by taking a piece of wood from a tropical island with high relative humidity to an area with a different RH, most likely lower. One side of the wood dried out faster than the other, again most likely because air could only get to one side of it. It may adjust by itself if stored so that air can get to both sides. I doubt that it cupped so much that it distorted the cellular structure. Tai's method will probably work, but this will put moisture back into the piece, so pay particular attention to his advice to store it so that air can get to both sides. It will continue to adjust to the RH in your area until it reaches equilibrium moisture content. If it was flat here, it should be flat there.Mistakes are but an opportunity for fresh design!
Dan,Thanks for the good explanation, it makes a lot of sense.
Should I have packed it in plastic? I'll let it air out first and try the wet towel method if I have to later. And the best way to store solid wood, flat with spacers in between?
Aloha,
I don't think I would have gone so far as to wrap it in plastic. Seems that when I leave here and go to the mainland, our clothes feel damp inside the suitcase when we reach our destination. I would guess that making sure it gets good air circulation once you take it out would be good enough.
As far as storage, I 've seen large quantities of wood stored flat with sticking btween. For the small quantities I have, I normally store it on end. Making sure that the down end is not directly on concrete, of course.Mistakes are but an opportunity for fresh design!
Seems like it might be a losing battle. Why not veneer it? Sounds like a situation that veneer was made for: expensive wood with desirable appearance but suboptimal dynamic property.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Aloha,
Sorry, I don't understand your response. Did you post to the wrong thread? This was about cupped 1/4" koa board.Mistakes are but an opportunity for fresh design!
Perhaps I am off target, but what would be the use of this 1/4 wood? Other than making small boxes, I would think it would work best as a decorative surface. While it is possible that the wood might be coaxed back to near flatness, I'd always worry that it might again cup with the change of seasons or weather. Since the wood is expensive and thin, thickness planing isn't much of an option.
One alternative would be to do as you suggest to flatten it, and then glue it on to a more stable substrate. For example, you could cut and dovetail a drawer from maple, and then "veneer" the koa on the drawer front. You could also do the same onto plywood for a table top. If you roll the glue on (like a veneer) and clamp properly from the center out, you would prevent voids and probably end up with a good result. I've not used koa, but if it is not too oily and will take glue, this might be a good option.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Aloha,
Ah, now I understand where you're coming from but you got the wrong guy. You need to go up to message 1 and reply to 'webdesigner', he's the one with the 1/4" koa. I don't have any idea what he intends to do with that board.
However, you've got a good idea to use it for a veneer. I wouldn't put it on maple though since their dimensional change/humidity is too far apart. I'd use mahagony.
I have a post in the gallery in which I made extensive use of bandsawn koa veneer over substandard koa, you might want to take a look at it.Mistakes are but an opportunity for fresh design!
Got it. Still, koa must be mondo expensive if you paln to use mahogany as your "secondary" wood(!)Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Aloha,
Yes, koa is expensive, even here where it is native. Anywhere from about $15 to $40 BF depending on curl. I've even seen some advertised for $80 for extreme curl suitable for musical instruments. But then again even mahagony is expensive here, about $7.50.
Oh well, that's what we get for living on an island 2000 miles from the nearest land mass in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We call it 'paradise tax'.Mistakes are but an opportunity for fresh design!
There's a market for hin Koa?
"There's a market for think koa?"
Yes. Ukulele parts.
Sides are 1/8'-3/16" thick depending on how tight the bend is at the waist, 2" thick and 24" long
Back/Tops are 1/8"-3/16" thick, 5" wide, 18" long
Head plates are 1/8" x 3" x 5"
I'd be intersted in purchasing scraps that are anywhere close to those dimentions.
Thanks!
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