Pedro Reyes
04-15-2014, 2:02 PM
I (for fun) tried making a ping pong paddle, some of the folks at the office play, and figured I could make one custom. There are some desirable properties based on your style of play (softer back hand, etc.). I made one with a balsa core and 3 plies of spanish cedar (soft side) and 3 plies of bubinga, these were the veneers I had. From a woodworking standpoint this was cake. The middle bubinga ply is laid at 90 degrees for extra rigidity on the hard side.
Everything was fine, but today I brought it into the office, it had been very flat for a while sitting between two granite plates. I applied a piece of paper with spray adhesive on the bubinga side so I could cut the paddle shape, and now it has bowed. The cedar side is concave and the bubinga side (with the paper) is convex. The only changes were:
Sprayed with adhesive and glued paper pattern
rought cut from rectangle to paddle shape
moved paddle from garage to office
I know some people heat a side to un-warp wood, could this work on this laminated monstrosity? Which side, what else is recommended (wet, heat gun?)
Any help appreciated, I can't plane this back to flat ;-)
/p
Everything was fine, but today I brought it into the office, it had been very flat for a while sitting between two granite plates. I applied a piece of paper with spray adhesive on the bubinga side so I could cut the paddle shape, and now it has bowed. The cedar side is concave and the bubinga side (with the paper) is convex. The only changes were:
Sprayed with adhesive and glued paper pattern
rought cut from rectangle to paddle shape
moved paddle from garage to office
I know some people heat a side to un-warp wood, could this work on this laminated monstrosity? Which side, what else is recommended (wet, heat gun?)
Any help appreciated, I can't plane this back to flat ;-)
/p