Wood warping

[Sir Percy]

Hey there.
I bought the timber for my first project on Ebay - and I guess that was my first mistake (of many).
I'd stored it in an unheated room, but that wasn't enough to stop some of it from bowing and twisting - alarmingly so, in some cases. A few of the pieces were those which had more 'interesting' grain, a few straight-grained.
Apart from buying slow-dried timber from a merchant, any tips on avoiding warp?
Cheers.

 

[wellywood]

Sticking and stacking with heavy weights while drying might reduce the problem.

 

[RogerP]

Nothing wrong with buying stuff from eBay but it can be a mistake buying from some sellers wherever they advertise.

Have you tried contacting the seller and explaining the problem?
A tactful and considered approach may just get some you some assistance.

You won't know unless you try.

 

[Stormer1940]

What timber was it?
How wide are the boards?

 

[Sir Percy]

Sapele. 63-65 mm.

 

[custard]

There's no silver bullet solution I'm afraid. Straight grain and quarter sawn reduces the problem, but it doesn't solve it completely. Basically you have to store your over sized timber in a similar climate to where the finished piece will end up, with "stickers" or strips of wood between the boards to allow air to circulate, and then you leave it there for weeks or months until it's stabilised. Then you start progressively bringing it down to finished thickness, sticker it again, leave it some more, take a bit more thickness of it equally from both faces, until eventually you've got something that will stay true and hold a dimension.

Kilning isn't a guarantee because there's plenty of poor quality kilning, and even then it can be subsequently stored in damp conditions.

I really feel for enthusiastic hobbyists who don't have the resources to machine their timber flat and true. The best advice I can give is to recognise that it's a serious issue and to work on smaller scale projects, so that the donkey work of dimensioning doesn't become too overwhelming.

Good luck!