I am working on a project that requires a milling/gluing a 13″ x 17 x 1/2″ panel. I made the panel from two 7″ x 18″ x 3/4″ boards, glued and milled to final dimensions. Now the panel is displaying warpage. The panel was painted and my wife who is doing the project, assures me that she applied the same number of coats of paint on both sides of the panel. The material is poplar. Have I made a bad choice of material or should I make the panel from three boards? Since the end project was going to be painted I choice poplar over pine. Thanks.
Marshall
Replies
How long ago did you paint this? I've had several Poplar jobs warp after painting, but they all flattened out again once the paint dried for a couple of days.
That said, 13" wide solid wood can be difficult to maintain perfect flat regardless of what wood you choose. Maybe since it's painted, a man made material would be better? (plywood or MDF)
Molten
M3,
I had a similar experience as you with a 20x26x1/2" poplar panel...darn thing was warping before I could get the back side painted...and that happened with the shellac coats as well as the three coats of paint(each application casuse a reaction).
As Molten indicated it did flatten after a few days (almost) and the screws did the rest.
I was surprised to learn pine is actually more stable than poplar...future reference...
I rebuilt my kitchen cabinet doors using a frame and panel design. My first attempt was with poplar and I had a terrible warping problem.. I switched to birch and MDF for the panel. It looks fine with a white coat of paint on it. I have avoided using poplar ever since. I really don't know if I simply got a poorly dried batch from my local lumber store or if warping is a widely experienced problem with poplar.
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