Twist

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davidc1075

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Can anyone help, I have made up a door for a cabinet, however it has now twisted on one corner and is sitting about 7mm out of true is there any way to clamp it back into square or am I wasting my time.
Dave
 
How did you make the door and what material?
 
It sounds like the timber you used has moved after it was brought from the 'shop (outside) to a nice toasty warm house. Not a lot you can do about it methinks, though you might try cramping it so that the twist is in the opposite direction and leave for a couple of days. This is a really 'hit and miss' sort of way to do it...I'd be inclined to season some more timber and remake the door - Rob
 
I had this problem, I dutifully sprayed the doors with water, clamped it and hey ho it was flat as a pancake.......
Three weeks later its just as bent.
Do it again. Everytime you look at it it will bother you. Thats what I am doing, I made mine with knife hinges so I couldn't even tweak the hinges.
Owen
 
I'd give Rob's suggestion a try, if I were you. If your door is made out of oak, I'd be reluctant to spray it with water as this can cause a chemical reaction with the tannins in the oak (particularly when steel is introduced) which will stains on the door that you cannot remove.
 
The door i ash and was seasoned for 2 years in my workshop and nearly 3 months indoors before making the door up. Will try wetting it then clamping it otherwise I need will just have to make up another one. Thanks for your replies strange thing this wood............
Dave
 
davidc1075":6xgbcmkb said:
The door i ash and was seasoned for 2 years in my workshop and nearly 3 months indoors before making the door up. Will try wetting it then clamping it otherwise I need will just have to make up another one. Thanks for your replies strange thing this wood............
Dave
Then I have to agree, this is very odd. It might have moved a fraction but 7mm is a huge amount for a door component to move. The other thing that might have caused it is stresses being released during the machining but that happens fairly smartly, in fact you can watch it happening. A pic of the offending door or grain configuration might help us to see what's gorn wrong somewhere - Rob
 
hello Dave,
Sorry to hear you're having trouble with the twist on the door.
The posts already up have some good ideas, but
there may be another option for removing the twist, but whether its an option here depends on the design (construction) of the door. Restorers sometimes solve the twist problem by cutting one or more grooves across the inside surface of the door, at 90 degrees to the plane of twist. Usually the grooving is done on the table saw. The idea is to allow you to bend the grooved piece back to flat afterwhich the piece is clamped flat, and a stringer of wood hand fitted to each groove. Best practice to fit the stringers using a glue which does not rely on moisture of the wood for its action, so as not to alter the MC of the door while the glue dries. Once the glue's gone off you can plane the shims down to the surface level of the door.
Its a lot of work & only worth it if easier than making another door (or where replacement is not desired as in restoration work). AS said , this method is only available for some constructions of door, perhaps if you can post a picture or give some more details, someone else can help.


ps. you can get true warp (ie movement of wood due to moisture changes as opposed to release of stresses post machining) if a cabinet has poor internal ventilation together with very close fitting doors, due to the inside and outside of the piece being (In effect ) exposed to different humidity environments. I've noticed this on my own cupboards, although the total movement was small (1mm or less). Perhaps if you leave the doors open for a few days & see if the twist decreases ? It may be your piece needs better ventilation. Just something to think on.

Hope this helps, regards, Catface.
 

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