HI,
I need to make a 5 foot tall by 2 foot wide cabinet door. It needs to be 1/4 sawn white oak. The rails and stiles must match existing cabinets which have 2 1/2″ wide rails and stiles. Each door also has 2 panels of 1/4″ solid wood.
The stock I have available is rough sawn and left out in the elements. It mills down niceley for small work but I can’t get it to work for the 5 foot door, it warps too much.
I started on it last week and the stock I have quickley warped, twisted.
I’ve considered tracking down some kiln dried. Using thicker stock etc…
I’m already over budget and won’t see a penny more. I’d like to make it work with the 3/4″ stock as it’s bought and paid for.
Any ideas???
Thanks,
Notrix
Replies
It sounds like the stock you have isn't dry enough.
When you mill it, you're exposing new surfaces to the air, and the internal stresses are going screwy. The only solution for that, is TIME. You should check the moisture content, and if it's higher than about 8%, it has to dry more.
If the wood is "reasonably" dry you should be able to mill it oversize (1/8 in thickness; 1/4 to 1/2" in width), sticker (pile) it, and let it sit for a week or two. That ought to let it work itself out.
Worst case scenario (if you can't wait, or the wood is really wet) is to buy kiln-dried. You need less than 10BdFt, and should only run about $40.
FWIW, I have been using white oak on a boat project and have found that it changes shape tremendously when milled; it has been siiting in my garage for 2+years and still reacts that way. I have taken it down from 4/4 to 2/4 in small increments and that helps some but for wider pieces it is tough. Sorry I don't have a solution but letting it sit and dry longer is not necessarily the answer.
QS wood should not warp or twist; is it really quarter sawn? You may have poorly kilned wood or reaction wood. Bite the bullet and buy some new wood; callbacks from the client will cost you more money and reputation. You can still use the original wood for your other smaller projects.
Here is your, or a, solution:
Bandsaw, with a straightedge, your door stile and rail stock, final milled size 3/8" thickness. Glue up back to back to counter the warp to get 3/4" stock. Then cut stiles and rails to length. At 5', if you can, a thicker door at 7/8 or 1" is even better.
The 1/4" panels would be best made from ply, but solid oak is okay-leave enough room for it to float.
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