Thread: Milled my wood now twisted

Hi Puttin
I am unfamiliar with the Oak you are referring to .... but take it as a general observation that the wood does change shape during milling for two primary reasons, one of which is sometimes transient ... and the other permanent.

When resawn the natural tensions in the wood are released and generally result in cupping .. fixed by jointing .... cupping and warping can also be a result of the differing moisture contents of the wood ... and over time (a few days or so) this will self correct. If you are too quick to remill a piece where the a moisture caused warp ... it will only exacerbate the situation when the moisture content is re-equalised.

I generally find that by keeping the grain straight, may need to cut at a slight angle for some pieces, there is distortion in only one plane.

Regards

Rob

Regards

Rob

The

I've read here and elsewhere that it's a good idea to sticker and place weights on newly milled/dimensioned timber

The wood was not resaw but I dimensioned it down with my planer and drum sander. Don't know how thin I can get this but I'd think at least down to 1/4". I would imagine trying to work with it this way would be disaster.

Hi Putttn,

I'm guessing you are from Spokane, WA, and the oak you are referring to is Red Oak. I suspect the domestic pallets in the US would be made from green timber and depending on how old they are, would still have a bit of moisture content. Also pallet timber is unlikely to be the best quality wood, it will be cut from the most reactive parts of the tree left over after the good stuff has been taken out.

Most of the members on this forum are in Australia. My experience with the heat treated North American pallet that we see shipped here is that it will more than likely twist around any knots or bark inclusions once the pallet is knocked down. If the wood is still green I would expect it to keep moving until it has dried some more. If you can find some fine grain, old growth slats in there that are quarter sawn, they should be more stable.

Cheers,
Franklin

IMG_3612.jpgWell I decided to see if my Incra IBox jig could handle the twist In the wood and I was pleasantly surprised that all the boxes came out pretty good. They are all square and all joints are tight and flush.
I have them clamped in my little Woodpecker box clamping jig and that has really worked well. This isn’t one of the boxes but what I use to clamp the boxes square.

Just a tip - I usually mill 1-2mm over thickness, depending on the timber, then let it stand on edge for a few days. If you lay it flat, it will inevitably warp.
Stickering should also be fine.

I did try leaving it on edge for 4 days and maybe that was too long. I have some more wood to do a couple more boxes so this time I'll getting the finger joints done sooner and also try the toaster oven trick. Using the iBox jig and clamping each cut really helped take the twist out of each cut.

when you milled your timber, did you take all the excess off one face, or did you take an even amount off each face?
the latter is preferred.

Just to toss my two cents worth in. I use a Gifkin jig for my dovetails. After testing for good fit etc, sanding the inside of my box sides, making sure the base fits in nice, I apply my glue, then I have this old pipe clamp with a couple of timbers with small lips on them, to push the dovetails up hard. Then I leave it sit outside of any clamps, never any clamps. The joints are that good they don't need to be clamped. Just run a square over the box, ensure that is spot on, and leave it overnight

Paul