How to Deal with Uneven Shrinkage & Swelling
Wednesday October 10, 2007
Every woodworker has dealt with shrinkage or swelling of wood stock at one time or another. One of the traits of quality workmanship is having the ability to determine how stock will react when it swells or shrinks and planning accordingly.
Unfortunately, wood isn't always predictable. Often a piece of stock will shrink more in one direction than another, which may cause the piece of stock to warp, cup, check, twist, bow or any combination thereof. Is there anything that can be done to solve (or prevent) the problem?
In How to Deal with Uneven Shrinkage & Swelling, we dissect why wood moves, how it moves, and what can cause uneven movement. More importantly, we discuss some ideas for how to deal with some of these frustrating properties of wood.
Unfortunately, wood isn't always predictable. Often a piece of stock will shrink more in one direction than another, which may cause the piece of stock to warp, cup, check, twist, bow or any combination thereof. Is there anything that can be done to solve (or prevent) the problem?
In How to Deal with Uneven Shrinkage & Swelling, we dissect why wood moves, how it moves, and what can cause uneven movement. More importantly, we discuss some ideas for how to deal with some of these frustrating properties of wood.
Comments
Another fairly good read is the Woodworker’s Guide To Wood, by Rick Peters. While not quite as indepth as R. Bruce Hoadley’s book, it does explain most of the properties and quirks of wood. Plus it has a pretty nifty directory of 64 different types of wood and their cost, density, workability and finishing aspects.