Timber movement musings - help a novice if you will.......

[liam8223]

I have been making and mending for years, but one thing that I cannot seem to work out is timber moisture.

What I am getting at is that if i keep my timber in my workshop, racked nicely, usually when I go to make a piece
I mill the timber in stages and evenly from either side etc.

During joinery and assembly everything will stay straight and true.(enough :wink: )

But when moved into the house I get movement.

I realise letting timber acclimate before working is best, but just not practical.

So what do the professional chippys and cabinetmakers do about this? Do you experience problems after delivering a piece?

Thanks in advance...

Liam.

 

[tomatwark]

So what do the professional chippys and cabinetmakers do about this? Do you experience problems after delivering a piece?

Hi Liam

We try our best to buy timber that is dry, keep it that way by having a dry storage and workshop.

BUT timber will always move and there is no way you can avoid what happens once it is in the customers house.

Some people run the heating in their Barrett box flat out and the timber will dry out and shrink, other people will struggle to keep their single glazed house warm and it will probably be damper so the doors and drawers will swell.

At the end of the day it is just the luck of the draw.

Most of the time it is fine and you construct pieces to allow for movement, such as floating panels in doors etc.

Tom

 

[Rob Platt]

sometimes you irritate your whole family by putting 3/4 cu mt of american white oak in the hall for 3 weeks so that it acclimatised before i made it into fitted furniture at the clients house via my workshop.
oh how popular i was when i did that one.
all the best
rob

 

[liam8223]

I was pretty much guessing that would be the case.

Just a bit gutting when a very expensive amount of wood warps.
Warps my mind!

Would anyone recommend the use of those oil filled radiators to try and raise the temp
and dry the workshop?

I am planning to insulate the foof to stop condensation, and try to prevent rust on the wadkin kit!

Thanks for your swift replies.


Liam.

 

[jimi43]

As soon as my son and daughter moved out I moved all of my expensive wood into my son's bedroom....

This pile has now grown to take up the whole room...I really should have removed the West Ham decoration before I started filling it up...there's no going back now and there's no accounting for taste!

Jim

 

[woodbloke]

Although my 'shop has an oil filled rad, it's not on all the time, so the 'shop can get a bit cool. However as it's sealed and insulated, the de-humidifier is running all the time so any timber is constantly drying out (or conditioning). I use quite a lot of elm which is notorious for moving :evil: and so far, nothing that I've made in it and then moved indoors has warped or twisted - Rob

 

[Hudson Carpentry]

Its more the humidity then temp but higher temps tend to drive down the humidity. Your better off using a de-humidifer. I keep my wood in a wood store when I can. I always alert the customer of the possibilities regarding warping and offer to correct (if not to far away) if its minor but major movement I don't include in my guarantee. Just make sure any draw/door has enough gap to not stick or look rubbish if shrinks, have floating pieces like panels in doors, t&g backs etc, when connecting pieces like tops to carcasses make the screw holes longer (e-long-gate is how you say, i don't know how to spell) in width so the screw will move and not hinder if the top moves.

 

[liam8223]

Thanks everyone for their input.
I have just ordered a couple of thermal hygrometers, one for the workshop and one for home.
I'm thinking if i can get to somehere near 30 to 50% relative humidity in the workshop this will be ideal for the house too?


Liam.