Carving waney edged timber... it's bowed :(

[Robin66]

I bought a 2" thick 1 meter length of beech waney edged timber with the view to making a cuterly tray. It was slightly bowed, so I used my router in a jig to flatten one side. I then set about routing out inserts for knives, forks etc, but to my dismay over the course of the day it bowed horribly; far more than the initial bow that I'd worked to remove.

To compound matters it bowed in the sense so that had I not flattened the surface at the start of the day I would have been left in a better position. Is this a problem with working with solid waney edged timber? Or have I been unluckly with the specific block I managed to pick-up (poor seasoning perhaps)? I'd like to understand what went wrong. Any advice very much appreciated.

 

[Halo Jones]

It seems to me that all the routing has released a lot of tension in the wood. As long as you haven't gone too deep I would be tempted to let it settle for a week or so and then attempt to flatten the top and bottom again.

 

[Robin66]

Agreed. However I've gone very deep (~40mm of a 50mm total thickness). Is it usual for solid beech to have such tension, or is this a function of the seasoning?

 

[custard]

Robin, I sympathise, it's heartbreaking to see your work ruined when the timber has a tantrum. Unfortunately that particular board isn't likely to get any better mannered (next thing that'll happen is it will start to split), so if I was you I'd cut my losses and move on.

1. It's Beech, and Beech isn't very stable.

2. Deep moulding into solid timber is really tricky, you'll always get some movement, the only question is will it be a little or a lot.

My recommendation would be to completely redesign the project, make it out of thinner strips that have been allowed to settle and are then jointed together in the traditional way. There's a reason the traditional way is the traditional way, because it largely avoids these sorts of problems.

 

[Robin66]

Ok, thx a lot custard. I attempted to steam and flatten it last night, and yes, it's now developed a split. To be honest I only started with solid beech because it was all I could source. I noticed that cutlery trays are usually made for blockwood, but I couldn't find any blockwood (oak or beech) in 2" thickness. Do you have any suggestions of where I could get hold of some? The next best thing I found was for worktops, but it was only~40mm thick whereas I was after 50mm minimum.

 

[CHJ]

The moisture content of the timber as supplied will have possibly been the main factor causing the movement.
Being waney edge it no doubt had just been air dried, if this had been done in an 'outside' air environment as opposed to a dryer indoor location it may well have been 20% + moisture content internally, exposing the core wood in an indoor environment could have caused rapid drop of moisture levels on the cut surfaces, as has been mentioned, it would not be a surprise if splitting started to occur shortly if this is the case.

Unfortunately by starting with solid wood of unknown seasoning history you have attempted to make something that is rarely seen, if ever, for the very reasons you have experienced.

 

[CHJ]

If you are intent on the Waney edge feature, can you investigate using the piece you have to construct a sandwich base for your contours by disguising the joins within the design.

 

[blackrodd]

Bummer! and you made a nice job too, what I can see of it!
As previous posters have said, even kiln dried timber can be a problem.
I had a nice, length of 9x1 softwood to make this table I'm doing to make the deep rails, all the way around.
The first half of the board cupped, for making the front and one side, so i let it settle and had enough width to cut in half, square up, and rejoint.
The other end made the back and one side is still flat, in fact I've glued it all up today.
It does sound as if the stuff you had is still drying, or its had a some temperature and humidity change by going to you.
Beech seems to move quite a bit anyway but don't be deterred, it happens to most of us, sometimes too often!
Regards Rodders

 

[Robin66]

The waney edge is hidden, so I'm not intent on it. I'm happy to have another shot with a new piece of wood. My research after discovering the bowing found that beech is one of the least stable hardwoods. I think I'd have been better starting with oak, but I could still have the same problems to a lesser extent. I thought it'd be easier to find large pieces of blockwood but it seems not

 

[blackrodd]

If you're starting again, can I suggest get some 1" K.D.beech, reduce, evenly each side, for the thinner dividers
and joint 2 pieces together for the 2" ends.
Allow extra for the width which shouldn't move too much on the lengths you need, the joint will probably be seamless too.
It's Cutting into the thickness that can be problematic and making a 4x2 into 2 4x1s
Regards Rodders

 

[Lee J]

Asda, £2.50 save yerself the heartache...

 

[Racers]

Asda, £2.50 save yerself the heartache...

Kick a man when he's down :wink:

But +1 I made one from 3mm birch ply but that was because it had to fit in a draw with other things in.
Is you need a solid wood one wood block work top might work.

Pete