I am trying to take 3/4″ stock, resaw it into two 3/8″ thick pieces and then plane those down to two 1/4″ thick pieces. I have tried this with cherry and poplar. After resawing, I stickered the pieces and let them sit for 1 week. While they were stickered, both the cherry and poplar pieces bowed so much that when I jointed their faces, I had to take off so much stock to get them flat again that I couldn’t get a full 1/4″ out of them. I jointed the wood with the high side of the bow facing up, so that stock was removed first from the ends of the boards. Am I doing something wrong with my technique or did I just get some wood that this happens to? Any suggestions on how to do this right would be appreciated!!
Thanks!!
Woody
Replies
Hi Woody ,
Was the 3/4" stock dry to a workable moisture content ? That is what came to my mind . If you take wet or too high a moisture content and resaw it , the center will dry out much faster then before resawing, causing an unstable condition , that will almost always cause the cupping and warping you describe. How wide is the stock ? The Cherry and Poplar should be fine for this type of milling as long as they are stable before you resaw .
good luck dusty
Thanks Dusty. The stock is 5" wide. I let it sit for several weeks before doing the rough milling I described. I don't have a moisture meter so I don't know if the moisture content was okay before I began resawing. I'll try adding the weights that the others replies described too!!
Thanks again!!
Woody
Did you plane an equal amount from each side?Many times this happens when thin stock is only planed from one side. As previously posted , the stock has to be dry too.
When you plane from just one side, that side will release moisture causing the thin boards to bow. This can happen on thicker boards too, but not as noticeable.
mike
Woody-
Whenever I prepare stock for a project, I sticker it just like you described. But, I weigh it down on top with about 150 lbs. of weight. It really helps. 90% of the stock I use comes from logs that I have milled, and air dry myself, mostly for several years. When I sticker freshly milled boards in my woodshed, I also stack bricks along the top boards in the stack, to keep them as straight as possible during the drying process.
This added weight will keep that 3/8 inch freshly resawn wood from cupping more than 1/8 inch. Like everyone else already told you, it's critical to mill evenly from both sides of the stock when you are finished.
JC
Hey JC,
What I usually try is to rough mill first (crosscut to 1-2" longer than I need and rip to the width I need plus about 1/4"). If the stock is close to the final thickness I need (within 1/4"), I sticker it right then without surfacing either face. If it is too thick, then I resaw it and sticker it. I have not been using weight when I sticker it. After about 1-2 weeks, I come back, joint one face, plane the other face to final thickness, joint one edge, and rip to final width plus 1/32". It's in this final stage, only when I have to resaw, that I have been having the problems with bowing. Maybe trying the weights will help? I also have not been very careful about planing an equal amount from each side. Usually, once I get the first face flat with the jointer, I just stop there and flip the wood over and plane it, with the jointed side down, to final thickness. Maybe I'll try continuing jointing the face to remove about half the stock I need to first, then start planing.
Sounds like I need to use weights, do equal stock removal on each face, and buy a moisture meter? Sound okay? Any other ideas?
Thanks!!
Could be reaction wood or improperly dried.
Mikeplease excuse my spelling.
Woody-
I think you've got it!!! Have fun.
JC
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