Wood shrinkage issue

[Lee Schierer]

Bill said in his initial post, "My shop is in the garage where the humidity averages 50 to 60 percent." If that is accurate one would expect mc ranging 9-11%. I have similar conditions in my insulated shop attic storage space. I don't know if or how he monitors conditions, but I do it by occasionally metering lumber when I bring it down into the shop and it is pretty consistent. I'm not against using a moisture meter, I just don't find I need one that often.

Obviously something has changed as he is experiencing shrinkage problems. The wood is moving in some direction. Maybe it is just relieving stress due to machining that has been done to make the piece.

[Kevin Jenness]

Obviously something has changed as he is experiencing shrinkage problems. The wood is moving in some direction. Maybe it is just relieving stress due to machining that has been done to make the piece.

Absolutely. If you make closely fitted drawers of lumber acclimated to 50-60% rh and put them in a consistent 40% rh atmosphere you're likely to have problems. You need to get the mc lower before building or fit the drawers more loosely. Simply stress relieving the lumber and acclimating it in a shop with high rh is not going to forestall movement in service.

[Andrew Seemann]

Around here, if a drawer doesn't rattle in the winter, it doesn't open in the summer. We can get desert-like indoor RH in the winter and Florida-like humidity in the summer. You just have to accommodate for it in the design. "Piston fit" drawers are a pipe dream in my climate.