Beech Worktop Movement

[DarrenW]

Hi,

I have been rebuilding my bench after my old bench top (laminated chip board kitchen worktop) got water damaged. So thought I would make something better this time. I took care to make the framing nice and flat and added a 19mm sheet of MDF (add some thickness) to the top which was then covered in 1inch thick beech kitchen (block) worktop from ikea (2.4m x 0.6 for £60).

I cut the beech to length and then placed it on 'sticks' ontop of the MDF for a couple of weeks to adjust itself to the moisture content in my shed. It was still flat after that, so then place it onto the MDF.... the following week it had cupped across the width by 6mm :roll:. Don't you just love wood sometimes ... makes its so fascinating/frustrating to work with :wink: Clearly it needs longer to balance out the moisture.

So any guess on how much longer it will need?
Or
Is it always doomed to failure if placed ontop of the MDF when the moisture exchange will be imbalanced?

Cheers

Darren

 

[PeterBassett]

Pretty much, yeah.

Did you glue it in place, or is it just resting on top of the mdf?

 

[DarrenW]

luckly rested it on top of the MDF. So I lifted it last night and 'sticked' it until the weekend when I'll take out the MDF.

Thanks for the advice. Thought that would be the answer but always nice to check

Darren