Reply To: Annoying wood movement…
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I’m still new to this so others may have more to add, but here is my limited experience…
I have the same problem quite a bit. It’s best to leave the wood in your shop for a couple of weeks or so to adjust to the humidity. The wood will most likely lose moisture to the air in your shop as your shop will be drier than the wood. Cupping happens when the wood loses moisture quicker from one face than it does the other.
Something that helped me is to keep the timber out of direct sun, and make sure that air can flow freely over all faces, edges and ends to encourage it to lose moisture from everywhere at the same rate. I do this by putting some strips of wood (called ‘stickers’) about 15mm (1/2 to 3/4 inch or so) square under the board. Chances are that the board will still cup a little but it helps reduce the movement.
There is an outstanding book that tells you everything you ever wanted to know, and lots you didn’t, about wood. It’s called Understanding Wood, by R Bruce Hoadley. I’m still not completely through it yet (it’s quite dry – pun intended) but have learned a lot already. Here’s the link to the UK version on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Understanding-Wood-Craftsmans-Guide-Technology/dp/1561583588/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356134100&sr=8-1
George.