I was given a chestnut cupboard over the weekend. In good shape expect for the center drawer which needs some serious attention. It will need new glides and sides. Those are not problem. The front however has about an 1.5 inch bulge in the center where the borad making up the front has warped. I need to get the front true again so the bottom will fit without a gape that things fall through. Before the polce get going, this is not a real old piece (1890 to 1910) and it is clearly factory made and was not what I would call fine wood working to begin with. It is a nice country piece that my wife likes and the price was free, so I have to fix it out and put it to use. Like I said, the only real issue is the drawer and there are not broken piece of wood in important places etc that make the repairs diffcult. Just the warp in the drawer front. My first idea is hot water, soak it for a few minutes and then clamp flat while it drys. Any other ideas? ANyone worked with chestnut and have some suggestions?
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Replies
hi dan,
that "bulge"in the
hi dan,
that "bulge"in the center makes me a bit nervous. makes me think you're not dealing with solid wood. makes me think it might be hardwood veneer over something. if that's the case then soaking it would lead to destruction of the drawer front because it would de-laminate. what may work is local dampening of the bulge with a wet towel and then introducing a very hot clothes iron on top of the wet towel.
eef
hey dan,
sounds like it's warped. i have flattened boards using that clothes iron and wet towel with pressure technique. however, one has to get the board into its assembled position, as it may want to warp again. fortunately, one may perform this trick more than once on the same piece.
a few pics might elucidate and get you more responses.
eef
eef.. Sir, I have also flattened some odd smaller boards just wrapping them in alot of wet newspaper. Place it in the sun and see which way the board wants to bend. No Chestnut trees around here anymore. Had one many years ago on my front lawn...
Some will straighten but most will return to as they were when dry. Sometimes, if the board straightens when wet, I will clamp it in cauls and let it sit a day or two inside the house... Most fail but some stay OK..
I was thinking of that solid Chestnut. I think a great wood to tryt and save. Flatten with a hand plane and go from there. If it is really chestnut, I would ever consider flattening the back of the board and glue on a plywood backer or even rout out some slots to embed/glue QS strips white oak to 'try' and keep it flat.
And then again, maybe get the wife a new kitchen and she may forget about her treasure.
Some do not believe this... Very long ago I made a 22 foot (about that)? inboard boat. I bent all the wood using nothing but newspaper, water and clamps and sometimes a block and tackle or two..... My clamps were just 2x4's with blocks screwed onto them and a few wedges hammered in,,, I was young and had alot of energy and TIME. Finally was seaworthy.. OK, so just Lake Michigan,,,,,
Progress...
Great to hear about the boat. I have seen lake Michigan and it can have some nasty storms. Lakes and inshore areas can be worse than deep water for wave motion and chop. On to wood working. I ran very hot water onto both sides of the board for about 10 minutes, them clamped it to the bench with a little sticker opposite the bend and clamped each end. This put a slight reverse bend into the board. I put a soaked, hot towel over it and left it in the clamps overnight. I took it out this morning and it was dead straight. Dryed it off with some paper towels and reclamped it flat to the bench. I will let it dry in the clamps today and see what I have.
I made new sides for the drawer and am in the process of making new glides. I am using an old #78 with a sweat heart iron to make the glides. First one looks great and I should have the other one done today if I can steal some time from the office. The set up on the #78 took no time at all, but the planning takes longer than a router or table saw. Much cleaner cut however.
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