Good day everyone,
This is my first post in any type of a woodworking forum and I am really quite an amateur but I love it and am keen to learn.
I am wondering what effect carving wood with a router will have on warping a table.
I’m building a (hard) maple table. After the glue up, I intend to use a router to carve out (using a template) a large portion of the table. It’ll be three layers of maybe 3/8″ each, leaving at least a 1/2″ of wood at the lowest part. In some ways it will look like a topographical map of a lake. My wife, who does epoxy work, will then fill it in with epoxy. (The photo is a practice board just so you can get a sense).
The wood has been acclimatizing in my shop for a few weeks and I’ll be milling it and cutting it to size shortly. My plan is to do the glue up, install a C channel, and then start routing the top out.
MY question is: Will routing this out cause the wood to cup upwards, since I will be exposing the interior of the wood? If so, will it be dramatic? Will the C channel help? Is there a way I can mitigate it – for example, when I’m down routing, and some temporary sealant (or plastic??) to prevent rapid moisture loss?
Replies
Well, the short answer is, it can. Any time you remove materiel, you expose a new portion of the wood to the ambient air. Any great differences in the two can cause changes. Also, when removing material, you can also relive internal stress that the wood might have, depending on growth, etc.
I would make sure the underside of the table have some sort of reinforcement running accross the grain to resist any potential movement There are many ways to accomplish this, from adding a C-channel to a sliding dovetail strip.
Is it possible that prior to glue up you remove some of the wood say with a band saw so when you plane the entier top the stresses will have donne its things and the router will have les material to remove?
I might think about cutting out the shapes you want on a bandsaw, and glue or screw them down to a plywood base. Once it's filled with epoxy you'd never know.
Good question!!
I would say take precautions.
I usually keep every top clamped in cauls right till I'm ready to flatten, prep and finish.
Depending on the climate of your shop, keeping it sealed in plastic wrap or plastic bags is an option.
Thanks so much everyone, some great tips! I’ll route out some portions before, leave cauls on for the routing process, install the c channel, and put some plastic on the wood between routing sessions. Thanks again.
Maybe drill out the rough outlines with a fostner bit (will be a workout without being to use a DP) and let the newly exposed wood acclimate. Regardless, I would add cross-grain support to be on the safe side. Also, by removing material via drill bit, it will make the routing out easier.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled