any trick to remove bottom twist after assembly
Welcome! / Forums / Project Series / Dovetail Boxes / any trick to remove bottom twist after assembly
- This topic has 4 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 3 months ago by Sven-Olof Jansson.
-
AuthorPosts
-
11 January 2021 at 9:01 pm #693951
I make a lot of these dovetail boxes, and with kiln dried lumber from the lumber yard. It seems that everyone I make develops a slight twist in a week or two after assembly. I use mostly flat sawn lumber for these projects. Do I need to switch to rift sawn/ Quater sawn to better insure stability?
11 January 2021 at 9:26 pm #693957Are they doing this while in the workshop, or when they are at their final destination? How tall are the sides, and are the sides all from the same board?
As an experiment, you might want to try making the sides and the base, but not gluing them together, then leave them both for a week or two and see if one or both have moved. I had a lid that cupped whenever the box was brought inside. Leave it in the workshop for as long as I liked, that board was flat. Bring it into a warmer environment, and within minutes there was a 1cm gap at the front. I ended up replacing it, but I checked the replacement inside first.
Another option, if it doesn’t interfere with the way you want it to look, is to make four shallow feet, glue them on, and then, if the box twists, you can compensate for it by removing some material from the feet. I did that on this chopping board. It doesn’t remove the twist, but it does compensate for it.- This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Colin Scowen.
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files.11 January 2021 at 10:09 pm #693965I made jewelry boxes for years until the material began to cost more that the finished box would bring. If you have the luxury to pick your material, rift or quarter sawn lumber always seem to process better with machine or hand tools. I use a lot of Southern yellow pine and Tulip poplar (I am in the southern US) and I can find rift sawn in those species in even the big box stores. Some lumber merchants up charge for picking through the pile. Big box stores here could care less. I have found some really nice quarter sawn oak just going through the stack at Lowes. And the price is the same. I dovetail all drawers and I use half inch poplar and have never had a problem with them regardless of the grain orientation . Also be sure that you don’t over clamp. And check for square before the glue sets up. The ends need to be dead square before you cut the dovetails and notice how carefully Paul pairs the sockets and checks them for square as well. Every little opportunity for accuracy is another opportunity for a great finished product.
11 January 2021 at 10:13 pm #693966You can make the box (drawer) a big too large and just plane it square. I make a lot of clocks and frequently have to plane the doors to fit………usually a sixteenth or less.
12 January 2021 at 6:25 pm #695314Hej Mike,
If I understand “Understanding Wood…” (couldn’t resist – sorry) by Prof. R. Bruce Hoadley (Taunton Press ISBN-13: 978-1-56158-358-4) correctly, twisting in wood is usually associated changes in moisture content or tensions in it; and most typically the result of spiralling grain. (Please see attached group of photos)
The drying of wood does apparently not result in consistent humidity over the width of logs or boards. (Please see right margin illustration in the linked paper)
https://www.swedishwood.com/wood-facts/about-wood/wood-and-moisture/
If there’s a gradient in humidity, then wouldn’t further processing of the wood increase the risk for warp, in addition to what changes in humidity would provoke; and if so, will how the logs are sawed avoid the warp? Perhaps there is a tendency to reserve quarter sawing and rifting to logs with more straight grain, and flat sawing (radial) to the less precious cross grain ones. Then of course, flat sawed construction wood will occasionally come out as quarter sawn (a 5″ thick board can be ripped into boards of that width).
With a modification of methods shown by Mr. Chickadee, I’ve flattened boards along cross grain (using a straight edge to follow the grain and then a spirit level along the edge). This far the method has worked, though it is hard work
Attachments:
You must be logged in to view attached files. -
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.