Another Oops moment? Cupped stock

[Tony Wilkins]

I've got white pine that I'm (finally) making my Dutch tool chest out of. It was dimensional 1x12 as CS talks about in his article on it. After acclimating in my shop, it got a pretty good cup in it. I started planning it down flat. It just happens that a couple of videos I've watched lately - Woodwright shop and Paul Sellers - talk about not fixing the cup and letting the joinery straighten out the piece.

Did I make a mistake in planing it down? Will it be too thin for a tool chest?

Ive got enough stock to recut the sides that I've planed no problem and I can use these pieces for drawer sides later on.

[Jim Koepke]

How thin is it after planing?

I have worked with cupped wood, but instead of trying to make the joinery fix the cup, I make the joinery around the cupping.

Now it seems better to flatten before joinery.

jtk

[Scott T Smith]

Tony, did the stock acclimate while it was laying on a flat surface with one side exposed to air, or was it stickered or freestanding? If the former, it will most likely cup back the other way somewhat.

[Tony Wilkins]

Better than I thought. Me hen I just went and measure it - 11/16th in thick. So I just took off about a 1/16th. The other side is only planes on one side so I can't tell the exact but should be about the same.

[Tony Wilkins]

Tony, did the stock acclimate while it was laying on a flat surface with one side exposed to air, or was it stickered or freestanding? If the former, it will most likely cup back the other way somewhat.

Free standing.

[Robert Hazelwood]

If you measure the amount of cup, you'll need to remove twice that amount of thickness in order to get it dead flat with parallel faces. On a 1x12 that probably won't leave much thickness if there's much cup at all.

If you've got other boards that are wide enough and are straighter, I would go with your plan of using the cupped stock for narrower components like drawer sides. If you've still got nice flat 1x12s, you can help keep them that way by stacking and stickering (or clamp them in cauls as I like to do).

Some other options are to rip the cupped 1x12 in half, flatten each 1x6, then rejoin the two halves. That will let you flatten it while only removing about 1/2 the material you would without ripping. Probably not worth the effort on home center 1x12s - although since all of those 1x12s will be flatsawn, the odds of finding one not cupped is pretty low.

What type of joint is supposed to be pulling the board flat in the tool chest design?

[Tony Wilkins]

If you measure the amount of cup, you'll need to remove twice that amount of thickness in order to get it dead flat with parallel faces. On a 1x12 that probably won't leave much thickness if there's much cup at all.

If you've got other boards that are wide enough and are straighter, I would go with your plan of using the cupped stock for narrower components like drawer sides. If you've still got nice flat 1x12s, you can help keep them that way by stacking and stickering (or clamp them in cauls as I like to do).

Some other options are to rip the cupped 1x12 in half, flatten each 1x6, then rejoin the two halves. That will let you flatten it while only removing about 1/2 the material you would without ripping. Probably not worth the effort on home center 1x12s - although since all of those 1x12s will be flatsawn, the odds of finding one not cupped is pretty low.

What type of joint is supposed to be pulling the board flat in the tool chest design?

It will have a dovetail at the bottom and a housing joint approximately half way up that will also be nailed in from the side. I have some beech I actually started to make this out of but got tired of ripping boards to glue up.

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I have pulled 3/4 white pine flat before, but you have to be careful. If you are trying to get it to move too far it can break on you.

[Patrick Chase]

I have pulled 3/4 white pine flat before, but you have to be careful. If you are trying to get it to move too far it can break on you.

It can also make for an exciting glue-up if you don't take the cup (and resulting pressure distribution) into account when you determine where and how much to clamp. Of course you can also take advantage of it to avoid clamps in awkward places, as cupped wood can sometimes serve as its own caul.

[Paul Sidener]

Just a thought. If only one board cupped, rip it down and use it for the back.

[Tony Wilkins]

Just a thought. If only one board cupped, rip it down and use it for the back.

I believe they are all cupped to One degree or another.

[Tony Wilkins]

So as I see it after all the helpful comments I've received I have three options...

1. Go with the 11/16th sides.
2. Carefully bend in the stock to use the joinery to straighten. (I'd use my moxon vise)
3. Go back to the beech I had originally started to use for it. (Wonder how heavy it will be?)

[Derek Cohen]

I've got white pine that I'm (finally) making my Dutch tool chest out of. It was dimensional 1x12 as CS talks about in his article on it. After acclimating in my shop, it got a pretty good cup in it. I started planning it down flat. It just happens that a couple of videos I've watched lately - Woodwright shop and Paul Sellers - talk about not fixing the cup and letting the joinery straighten out the piece.

Did I make a mistake in planing it down? Will it be too thin for a tool chest?

Ive got enough stock to recut the sides that I've planed no problem and I can use these pieces for drawer sides later on.

Tony, you do not want to work with wonky boards - it begets wonky joinery.

I would plane it all on one side, square the edges to this, and glue into a board. Do this for all the sides of the chest.

Once you have all the sides ready and roughly to size, then flatten the other faces. This will enable you to get them all the same thickness.

Then build your chest. 3/4" thick sides should be sufficient for the piece.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Chris Hachet]

Tony, you do not want to work with wonky boards - it begets wonky joinery.

I would plane it all on one side, square the edges to this, and glue into a board. Do this for all the sides of the chest.

Once you have all the sides ready and roughly to size, then flatten the other faces. This will enable you to get them all the same thickness.

Then build your chest. 3/4" thick sides should be sufficient for the piece.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Pretty much this on the joinery issue. Unconventional, but you could look for a source of salvaged lumber for the tool chest. I have ahd excellent luck recycling stuff that has ahd 75 or a hundred years to figure out what it wants to do...

[Reinis Kanders]

I would just wing it and go with the wood as is. It is a tool chest after all. Beauty of handtools is that you can easily adjust as you go by keeping reference faces consistent, etc.

[Jim Davis]

Forty years or so ago, I got some salvaged pine from pallets where I worked to make a box for my reloading supplies. The boards were all cupped, so I just cut rabbets for the ends and nailed the thing up with the convex sides out. The joints are straight and solid and the box has a bit of a treasure chest look to it. It does have corners that need to have a filler strip nailed in. Some day, I may get around to doing that and sanding the whole works and putting a finish on it.

My point is, a box can look pretty nice with convex sides.