Thread: cupped figured maple

No one's touching this. Try a search I can recall a thread a while ago dealing with this but can't recall where - I've had some success just leaving cupped wood on the concrete floor of the shed for a few weeks- hit and miss though. Could you temporarily seal one side somehow???

Hi Ray

I am assuming you intend to make an electric out of this.

My feeling is that it would be a waste of time to try any of the " damp and clamp; place cup side down etc" solutions, as you will ultimately need a piece which it stable when equilibrated, unlike something like a carcass or table top, where you can engineer in some 'straightening force'.
Your cupping might be from moisture changes, and evening out, and may now have settled down. I have also had with cedar, that after resawing, it cupped like crazy, perhaps for the same reason, or because of releasing stresses which were balanced in the original board.

I would suggest, based on what I have recently been doing, that you should roughly true up the slabs again, (either by machining or hand planing, and then let them equilibrate again. You may have to repeat the exercise.

If however you are suffering from cupping as a result of changes in moisture content resulting from the recent changes in weather, I don't think there will be much you can do, as it will probably move the other way, once things dry out again.

FWIW

You can get a warp out of wood by laying it in the sun with the concave side down. I don't know how permanent the 'cure' would be as wood has a mind of it's own.

However, if it stuffs up your piece of wood, you didn't get this info from me

1/16th inch doesn't sound like much.

I doubt it will stop moving unles you support it in some way.

If you are going to glue it to another board than that should be the support.

You could rip the boards in half lengthways and reglue them. That should relieve some of the internal tension and limit further movement.

THe joys of working with natural products.

Is it for an electric?