I have a desk glue up of curly maple. The glue lines were very tight and there were no gaps as I finished it. I used waterlox to finish with a rubbed out wax finish. The wood had sat in the shop for 3 months so it was fully adjusted to the shop. My shop is heated and inside the house.
Several months later (the desk was built in the winter and it is now summer), there is a small ridge that you can feel but not see at the glue line.
A couple of questions.
1) What is causing this? How do I avoid it in the future
2) How do I repair this?
3) is it just going to reappear again in the next season?
Thanks
Replies
Act,
The ledge occurred due to differential changes in the thickness of the two boards in your glue-up.
The clue is in your statement "the desk was built in winter and it is now summer."
One of the boards is most likely face grain (growth rings oriented like this: =) at the joint, and the other is edge grain (growth rings like this : ll ). Wood moves more along the rings than it does across them.
When humidity levels return to where they were when you did the glue-up, the ledge will disappear.
Ray
Desk
When you say glue up I'm thinking it's the top surface. Did you use biscuits or dowels or just butt joints ? That grain is somewhat wild and may cause issues no matter what you do.
SA
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