I have a 72x42, 1.25” thick white ash tabletop that just came out of clamps yesterday - boards are around 6 inches wide. (Started as 8/4, kiln dried S2S) I did the glue up in two panels first, then joined the two larger panels together, using dominos for alignment. The glue joints came out pretty well (for not having a jointer), and individually each seam is quite level from one board to the next.
But when I got it out of the clamps and wrestled it up to the bench, it’s bowed in the middle of the face side about 1/8”-1/4” to each side. The outer most boards seem to stay fairly flat and the bow seems to be most pronounced in the middle where the two “sub” panels were joined.
There’s a lot of conflicting advice on here and elsewhere about a solution; so before doing anything drastic, I flipped the panel over, (now concave side facing up) put it on some stickers for airflow and clamped some cauls on the ends and middle - which seemed to flatten it out pretty well, and pretty quickly. To the point it could probably be fine for use.
Just curious how long I should leave it like this, and if I can expect it to stay flat when the cauls come off? Or if there’s anything I should do or help it stay this way? I’ve seen suggestions of steaming, wetting the concave side, ironing, etc.
Hoping just a day or so pulled flat and letting the moisture level out will do the trick - But want to act now to give the best chance for success.