Any advice for straightening/repairing this board?

[Tset Tsyung]

Hi all,

I'm trying to turn an piece of oak into a rustic table. This is, perhaps, my most ambitious project to date. It's dimensions are 1" x 19.5" x 32.5" approx. However as you can see from the pictures it's cupping a little AND suffers with a few splits.

What I would like to know is there a way to straighten it that does not require planing? I suffer with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so hours of physical work is not reeaallly desirable. Also what can I do about the splits apart from filling them with some filler? Would weighing down the boards in some kinds of glue solution help both problems?

Please note that I have no further plans as yet about finishes, stains or waxes so feel free to chuck any solution at me. My only thought is that I would like to have this as an outdoor table so that's the kind of route I'm hoping to go, finishing wise.

Anyway I hope this makes sense. Many thanks for your time.

 

[gregmcateer]

Could you use a power plane?
If you haven't got one, borrow or hire for a half a day / or so should do it.

And welcome to the forum - you'll learn loads here from some very experienced and helpful guys.

 

[marcros]

You could look at making a feature of the splits by cutting butterflies into them.

As for the cupping- router sled maybe. Or take it to somebody and get them to either put it through a huge planer/thicknesser, or sand it flat with 80 grit on a random orbital sander? It would take a while but tackle it over a few days and it would work.

 

[JustBen]

What about segmenting it?
Cut it in half, straighten the joint and stick a different coloured strip of wood down the middle.
It would eliminate the split and most of the cupping.

 

[Graham Orm]

This'll do it ;-) http://www.screwfix.com/p/energer-enb46 ... 240v/67527

 

[Paul Chapman]

If you try to get rid of the cupping by planing or sanding, by the time you have it flat you will have lost of lot of the thickness and it will probably be too thin. I'd eliminate the cupping by ripping the boards into thinner strips, jointing the edges, alternating the boards and gluing them together again. This will also get rid of the splitting. Having said that, in view of your chronic fatigue syndrome, I realise that this solution might be beyond your capabilities at the moment.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Tset Tsyung]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies, really appreciate the help :mrgreen:

So I take it I can't 'warp' it straight again? Also there are suggestions of ripping it, and then reattaching it together, how exactly would I do this? Would it be turning over every other board, thus even out most of the cupping?

Regards,



Mike

 

[Paul Chapman]

Would it be turning over every other board, thus even out most of the cupping?

Yes.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Cut it into a few strips you can use for something else and buy a bit of something more suited to your purpose? That's a whole lot of work for little reward.

 

[ColeyS1]

What kind of tools have you got? Any machines?


Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Tset Tsyung]

I have the following:

Hand chisels and planes, various sizes.
Powerfix Delta Sander (Cheap Lidl thing - still handy)
Draper 8 1/4" hobbyist table saw (think needs sharpened as blade bow to right whilst cutting, lol)
B&D BD330 bandsaw
Trend router 1/4" collet with basic wickes router set ('tis a bit rubbish set really)
Challenge extreme power drill
Cordless drill/driver.
Sealey Belt sand and bench grinder unit.
I desire to learn to do things with my hands and not just code them with C++!

If it's something that I can do over a period of time I don't mind. At the end of the day it's something to help me stay calm and off of the PC, lol. So I can break up tasks over several days/weeks/months/whatever.

Thanks again all.