Timber movement

Hi all.

I'm currently working on a jewellery box for daughter no. 1.

This involves milling by hand some merbau timber from Bunnings down to around 1/2in thickness.

I'm finally starting to get how to mill the timber flat and even thickness, but as this is done in the evenings after work, it's slow work.

Once I have the pieces milled I'm using cauls to clamp these overnight, with sticks to raise them off the benchtop.

My issue is its still warping slightly. Is there anything i can do to stop this?

I know I could use quartersawn timber but Bunnings doesn't have this.

Should I just plane the thickness to within 2-3mm, leave for x days, then get to final dimensions.

Would the wood eventually settle?

Any advance would be really helpful.

Adam


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Well done for going traditional. Also once you start milling timber you release some tension so its bound to cup, twist and move, and it can be the difference of a few mm. I sliced on the band saw a piece of Walnut 30 (ish) mm thick and after looking cross-eyed at the bandsaw I ended up slicing it not so much in the middle, hoping to get 2 x 14mm slices, I ended up with 1 at 14 and 1 at 16, the 16mm piece stayed dead flat, where as the 14mm piece cupped as tension was released. Don't forget this weather we are having, hot, cold, wet etc.I was given a tip a few years ago when thicknessing timber and that was to do both sides. ie run over jointer, then through the thicknesser, then flip over and do the other side to equal it out. haven't had an issue yet other than milling not so dry timber.........

1/2" box walls are quite thick, why not try making them thinner, say 10mm or 8mm, they are less likely to warp and the pressure from glue up should keep things in check.

What sort of join are you using, rebate, mitre, butt? Any pics you can attach?

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Should I just plane the thickness to within 2-3mm, leave for x days, then get to final dimensions.

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That's what I do if possible. It heps if you can bring the timber into your workshop a few days before tyou start work on it. As Fumbler says, when you start milling timber you may release internal tension. Also, it's probable that the internal and external moisture content are different. Often, timber will warp when you resaw it, then straighten a bit as it evens up.

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Is there anything i can do to stop this?

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No, not really. As already suggested you can overcome this mechanically by making the timber thinner.

There is one other thing to be aware of;

Attachment 464973

The image above is Sydney weather for the next week. Have a look at the second bottom line, Relative Humidity. See those numbers starting Sunday/Monday, that's when you get all your timber, wrap it up in a damp towel and keep it in your house.

Thanks for the replies so far.

In regards to what it is, maybe a jewellery box isn't the best description.

My 8yo daughter collects semi precious stones from wheb we go on trips. This us to be a kind of display case to hold them.

She drew up quite a challenging design for a novice like me but I'm giving it a shot.

It's to have three of the drawers in the photo below. The top is to be hinged to another divided section (in 4 parts, not 16) to hold some larger geodes she grew.

I was planning to make the carcass using through DT.

The top and bottom probably being floating panel veneered ply to avoid movement problems.

This is to be made using hand tools, not because I hate electrons but rather that the "shed" is my garage in our appt block. I don't want to p$%s off the neighbours when I work in the evenings.

As this is a learning experience I expect this to be slow going. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7f8aee3b95.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6537b20bbd.jpg

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Originally Posted by taz01

Should I just plane the thickness to within 2-3mm, leave for x days, then get to final dimensions.

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Very simple answer.... yes

Jim

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Originally Posted by Feckit

No, not really. As already suggested you can overcome this mechanically by making the timber thinner.

There is one other thing to be aware of;

Attachment 464973

The image above is Sydney weather for the next week. Have a look at the second bottom line, Relative Humidity. See those numbers starting Sunday/Monday, that's when you get all your timber, wrap it up in a damp towel and keep it in your house.

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Thanks for posting that forecast, Feckit. Also interesting is the bottom line, Dew Point. Dew point is a measure of the total amount of water in the atmosphere, while relative humidity is a function of both temperature and water content. I'd like to see which correlates best with the amount of timber movement.