Greetings, this is my first post. I’m in my 80s, I’ve been woodworking for only about 3 years, my survival after being forced to retire. One of my 18 grand children asked if I would make her a cutting board. About 3 weeks ago I was giving a quartersawn 14 inch wide maple board, about 40 inches long, about 3/4 of a inch thick. This board had been sitting in a large barn/woodshop, with a stack of others, for most likely, quite a length of time. The person who gave it to me (a friend) is a craftsman as a carpenter, has an extensive supply of milled wood of different types, quite a selection of woodworking tools/machinery in his work shop (does woodworking for a living). The quartersawn maple board had some bowing and my friend planned it before I took it home. I let the board sit in my garage work shop for a couple of weeks. Three days ago I the board into 3 sections that I hope will end up being cutting boards. I then brought the cut boards into my house to acclimate before I take the next step sanding and soaking in mineral oil (I did so some sanding of edges, etc.). After 3 days I’ve noticed some small amount of bowing of each section. Any advice on what to do next?????
Thank you in advance.
Ted Larson
Replies
A 14" wide quartersawn board is a pretty great thing, that was a massive tree. Sounds like your process has been pretty sound. When you brought the small pieces inside the house how did you store them? If air could get to only one side of a board the loss of moisture would be greater on one side than the other and cause a cup in the board. Flip the boards over and see if they flatten out, or sticker them back out in the garage with some weight on top and maybe they'll flatten out.
Sometimes I mill a board let it acclimate and mill it again to make sure the board has settled down then proceed with the project. Making sure when I mill it, I mill both sides equally. This helps keep moisture levels in the wood even.
You might be able to reflatten it once or twice more - removing just the bare minimum of material each time, and then hopefully it would stay perfectly flat.
Hope this helps.
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