Hi,
I glued square pieces of end grain of spruce tips to make a top of dining table.
My table is not finish but this summer, the table curved in both directions, OUCH!!!
This fall, the problem is less important, and I would like to fix it.
Initially I glued the piece of wood on ¾ mdf and I thought of gluing and screwing a 1-inch sheet of Russian plywood.
Do you have a better idea?
Thank you and have a nice day.
Replies
What grade spruce did you use, construction such as used for 2 X 4 or furniture grade ?
Thank you so much.
I glued 40 pieces of wood from my neighbor's tree.
Was the tree recently cut (within the past year)? If so, the wood is still wet and needs to dry before you can successfully glue it down to anything. The warping you saw come and go is a result of the drying process and it will do it again as temperature and humidity changes with the seasons. It looks like the thickness of the "plank" you made is about 1/4-1/2". At that thickness, drying won't take too long. Let it sit as you have it for another year but place a series of sticks under it to allow for air circulation and place the whole thing in a dry place. Also, place some additional sticks on top with another board and some weights on top of that to hold it flat. After about a year, it will probably be dry enough to glue it down. During this process, you will likely get some shrinkage cracks as the end grain dries. You have already created some lines of stress where the squares are glued together. These may not survive the drying process. Either mdf or plywood will make a good substrate, but not until it is as dry as you can get it. You may need a moisture meter.
You could also dry it in the microwave oven, depending on the power setting I place 2-3 pounds of wood in the oven and hit it at a rate of 1 minute per pound every hour or two and weight the parts randomly. When the weight becomes stable, the water has evaporated and the wood is dry, very dry.
With the table already glued up you'll have to just wait and hope. The underside of all of thos squares are now sealed so the drying will take a bit longer. If you can work out a way to hold it flat as it dries it would help.
Thank so much at all of you.
The big log of wood remained in my workshop two years before I cut them. I cut each slice into a square of 2X2 and glued it. The wood no longer weighed anything. I understand I must wait before to finish my projet. Thank you.
Anyone have an opinion on whether using a glue that’s not water-based might help? I am imagining water being drawn into the end grain from yellow glue. Maybe polyurethane or epoxy would have helped?
If PVA glue would affect the wood enough to cause distortions, they would not have been used successfully in glue up for so long and at that scale. For me this wetting effect of water based glues is another myth .
I only thought of it because the glue is applied to end grain which seems to soak up more glue. And the pieces are thin. It almost seems like butcher block and veneer had a baby;)
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