Let wood set after planning??

[George Bokros]

I typically plane to thickness and let the wood set for at least 24 hrs to see if it has any stress to release then I let it set again after i cut to widths before proceeding with making panels or rails and stiles.

What do the rest of you experts do??

Thanks


George

[Matt Benton]

I'm far from an expert, but I've been giving it a couple of weeks to move. I hear alot of people mention 24-48 hours, but that just doesn't feel like enough for me....

[David Freed]

When I was selling kiln dried lumber, I had one customer that was buying sycamore to make drawersides. He would use about 1000 bf/mo. If you have never worked with sycamore, it is one of the worst for warping, twisting, etc. He would not plane it until he was ready to immediately cut it up and make the drawers. If he let it set overnight, some of it would twist so badly it would become unusable. None of my other customers would use it for that reason, and he finally switched to another species.

As far as I know none of the commercial shops I dealt with would wait for lumber to equalize after planing.

[John Thompson]

I wait for about 24 hours...

Sarge..

[Jason Tuinstra]

Just to add my .02 and a "for what it's worth" I normally go right from the planer to drawer construction and I've never had any problems.... so far ;)

[Steve Griffin]

I often try to let wood set after rough ripping and before face joining/planing. It seems that is when the wood moves the most.

I probably should let wood set more often after planing rather than just before.

Plus, what a great excuse to take off work early: "Honey, I got to let the wood rest...."

-Steve

[James Adinaro]

Wow - I guess I may be on the other extreme. I get the wood to the shop. Let it sit a week. Rough dimension it (about 3/8 over size in width and thickness). Wait another week. Then move on to build whatever.

Of course, I'm not doing a lot of volume. Strictly a hobby, and pretty much just on the weekends. (which makes the week wait pretty convenient) :-)

[Joseph Hadley]

Working with some KD doug fir for a set of doors this summer, I planed to within 1/8" then let it sit for a week. It moved. I planed to final thickness, then began final cuts, mortises and tenons. It moved again.:eek: I ended up about 1/16" shy of my preferred thickness due to this continued movement. Then again, it was 17% humidity and 110 degrees in the afternoons. So, it seems to depend on the wood, the cut, and the environment.

This past week, I have been rough planing walnut to within 1/8" thickness. Balmy, 68 degrees, 50 to 65% humidity. I removed similar amounts from each face. Some figure, some quartersawn; air-dried planks. So far, very little movement in one plank out of ten. I will give them about a week just to be sure.

On smaller projects, once I plane/shape them to final thickness, I put them in a plastic bag when I'm not working on them, which seems to keep them from moving from humidity or lack thereof.

I would anticipate that there is a real risk of movement unless you are able to go from from dimensioning to glue up/finishing in very short order.

All I know is that there are more variables than I can keep track of so I just plan for movement until I have a large enough block of time to get from final cuts to gluing during the same weekend.

[scott spencer]

I do what you described for wood that I suspect will move....like elm, or other woods that might be wet, but for most I just let them acclimate well before milling and go straight for final dimensions.

[Lee Schierer]

When planing remove equal amounts from each face. This generally minimizes wood movement due to uneven stresses or moisture. Also, make sure your wood can breathe after planing. Don't leave one face exposed while covering the other. Stack your wood with stickers. Also leaning boards against an outside wall can cause significant temperature and mositure differentials which can also cause the wood to move.

When makiung raised panels, I generally make the frame first, then glue up the boards for the panel. This gives me the exact size I need for the panel and also allows me to assemble the panel into the frame quickly after the panel is completed. Frames will tend to hold panels flat.

[George Bokros]

When makiung raised panels, I generally make the frame first, then glue up the boards for the panel. This gives me the exact size I need for the panel and also allows me to assemble the panel into the frame quickly after the panel is completed. Frames will tend to hold panels flat.

I like to stain and at least one varnish coat before I assemble the panels into the frame to prevent the line that always seems to show with panel movement. Fast assembly is not an option doing the finish first.

[David Romano]

In my experiernce, Lee is correct. I'm pretty careful to remove the same amount with the planer that I did with the jointer. He is also correct that with fresh new wood exposed, both sides need equal air exposure. I think that this is more important than going through a regimen of waiting a week to acclimate, etc. My shop is not the same temp and humidity as the rest of the house, so why let it sit for a week in to the shop?

If possible, I will rough dimension the wood (partial face jointing and partial planing), then sticker it in the room that it will be used and leave it there for a week (or until LOML has had enough of walking around a pile of lumber!) This is what I did when I built a new queen size bed.

david

[Neal Clayton]

length of the board seems to matter too.

for drawers and such as mentioned above, i would think if you got them cut and assembled in the same day it would be ok.

i pretty commonly have longer ones move after initial surfacing, though.

had one board destined for the middle of a window frame bow about 1/4" from end to end overnight just last week after surfacing and squaring it.

[Frank Drew]

For anything I really didn't want to replace, or redo, I'd approach the final dimension over a couple of days, removing equal amounts from each face. I'm entirely convinced that it helps avoid unhappy surprises.

David, a sawyer I know used to say that a sycamore board would wrap itself around your leg as you stand there. Even if it doesn't warp, the flat sawn stuff moves a lot with humidity changes.

[Sonny Edmonds]

After planning? :confused:
Oh not a long time usually.
Once I plan something, I pretty much move on it.
If I didn't, it would procrastinating. Which is really a waste of time. :D

(Proof read to make sure my planning, and planing, don't get crossed up.) :rolleyes:

[Peter Quinn]

Depends on the species, but I like to let wood acclimate for two weeks to one month in my shop on projects that require serious flatness like windows or doors with thin bars and such. If I'm removing more than 1/8" from rough to final dimension I'll usually let it rest stickered for up to two weeks after flattening and planing to see where it goes. I have a good moisture meter and I'll often let wood sit a few days then chop off an end and see what the core measures versus the face, if its more than a 1/2% different I let it sit a bit longer, not a science so much as a gauge. I'm not an expert by any standard but i do enjoy trying to figure out what the wood is going to do and making careful observations regarding its moisture and movement.

Once I have reached final dimension I try to proceed with joining and shaping as quickly as possible and do not intentionally let the wood rest for a second. I like to go from planer to length and width to shaper or joinery to glue in one episode if possible as parts tend to move less when glued together IME. If you have HVAC or any other direct heat source in your shop keep your wood out of its path, even covered with a dry moving blanket, and if you have sycamore, well, it didn't get that nasty reputation on accident.:D