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Resaw clamping question...

Posts

Resaw clamping question...

#1

Resaw clamping question...

Barry Irby

I'm building a sofa table for a friend. Need a panel 11" wide and 5' long. Resawed a cherry board that has been air dried for ten years. The board was almost 6" wide and 3/4" thick. Book matched the two pieces last night and edge glued them. Five bar clamps, three up and two down. Snugged them up and got good squeeze out, double checked them for tightness and left them in the shop, in the clamps over night. This morning I started removing the clamps only to find they were no longer tight. Probably could have removed them without loosening them. The panel is fine. Ran it through the planer and the joint is good. I have bookmatched a lot of resawn panels and don't recall this happening before.

So what happened? Did it shrink because I resawed it and exposed the center?

Re: Resaw clamping question...

#2

Re: Resaw clamping question...

Keith Newton

All wood movement is due to gaining or loosing moisture, so yes it must have dried out some. This time of year is the worse for drying and shrinking material.

Re: Resaw clamping question...

#3

Re: Resaw clamping question...

Jim Dillon

Barry, I have had that happen any number of times. Snug up the clamps, go-to-bed, come back the next day to find the clamps not quite so snug as I thought I left them. Everything seems fine though and all boards are glued up just fine. Maybe it is the clamps themselves "relaxing" a tad, maybe wet glue occupying "space", then losing moisture and occupying less space, whatever. You are not imagining things :) . Go with the flow!! Jim

Re: Resaw clamping question...

#4

Re: Resaw clamping question...

John K Jordan

If the wood was stored elsewhere it might now be dryer air in your shop.

Earlier this week i brought in a 9/4x12 maple board from a storage shed and failed to let it acclimate for a few weeks in my heated shop as I usually do. I cut a small platter blank and while sitting untouched on the lathe: CRACK! The newly exposed end grain must have dried just enough to let loose at a (now) obvious stress point in the wood. (the planned platter "turned" into a nice shallow bowl!) The rest of the plank will enjoy a rest in the shop until after Christmas.

BTW, if shrinkage like that is common it sounds like spring-loaded clamps should be a thing if they are not already.

JKJ

Re: Resaw clamping question...

#5

Re: Resaw clamping question...

Barry Irby

I just thought this was interesting. That board was stickered in a barn for probably ten years. Then it sat in my greenhouse in the open air for a month or more. then I cut it to length and skip planed both faces and it sat in the shop (only heated when I am working) for a week or more and then I resawed it and glued it up. I did leave enough heat on to keep the shop up to 60 degrees to keep the glue warm. Interesting. It did not warp, at least appreciably. It is flat sawn, so I was afraid it might cup. Have not looked at it this morning, it probably looks like a trough.

JKJ, long ago a friend and I were building a box for our friend's stereo component. Just exactly enough walnut for the job. Had it in the back seat of the car on the way to the shop and CRACK. Had to beg some more walnut from another friend.

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