WWA Info Exchange

I've got some birdseye maple panels that I made about a year ago that have started to bow. The panels are about 16" wide, 3/4" thick and the bow is almost 1/4". The stock was kiln-dried, then sat on my rack for three or four years before milling and gluing. The relative humidity in the house varies from about 10% to about 30%. Finish is rude & crude. I can't figure out why these would bow. More importantly, I can't figure out how to deal with it. Any thoughts?

Did you finish both sides? We often forget the inside or underside of things, which then pick up moisture on one side, bowing and growing. Answer is to find a humidity control that will dry the unfinished side and then finish it. This would probably happen if you were reading a moisture meter on the wood for the 10-30% (fiber saturation point!).

If it's really relative humidity you're reading, you badly need a humidifier in that house. That dry is bloody nose territory.

Not knowing all the information about how you are using these panels, here's what I did when something similar happened to me.

Mine were in my kitchen cabinets, (and I'm sure the material isn't the same) but the bow was and all I did was flip them over. Hope this helps.

Take care,
Carlos

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both sides were finished identically. About the only difference I can come up with is that one side gets the circulation of air in the room, the other gets somewhat stale air from inside the cabinets. But in reality, it's not going to be very different, since the cabinets contain fabric, which will be at ambient humidity.

The panels are raised on one side, so I can't turn them over. Nice thought, though.

I would leave the doors open for a couple of days and see if they return to normal. Direct or reflected sun coming through a window?

DRSTRIP: If leaving the doors open for more airflow doesn't work, you might try this "bowing" fix that has been posted here some time ago. Take the doors off and lay the concave side out on the lawn for a while. Preferably in the shade. Monitor carefully and when the plane is achieved give them another coat of R & C or some kind of compatible finish.

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Everything was new once.
newtooth 311
Rochester, MN

no direct or reflected sunlight - besides, the panels are bowed the wrong way for that to be the cause.

Lay them on the lawn? What lawn? I live in NM

The panels that have fallen out were placed in sunlight, the rest of the doors are open. The ones in the sun seem to be straightening fairly quickly, the others seem to be getting better, but that might just be my imagination.

This begs the question of how I'll keep the flattened panels flat in the future. They already have quite a few coats of R&C, so adding another won't make much difference. Guess we'll have to leave them open a couple of nights each week.

My wife pointed out a good place to start - seal the bottom of the concrete countertops that cover the cabinets. The concrete will suck up what little moisture we do have in the air inside the cabinets.