Wood Warping

[Retired Scroller]

I always have warping problems with nearly all woods. My area climate can be low humidity and wood warps days after receipt. Is there a source of kiln dried thin woods? I,ve used methods to straighten but it's a hassle that may or may not work.

[dgman]

All woods absorb and release moisture as the humidity in your shop raises and lowers.the trick is to keep equal moisture all around the board. When you bring a board into your shop, place it so you get equal air movement around the board. The proper way to store new wood is to stack and sticker. That is stacking the boards with narrow, thin sticks in between the board to keep air circulating around the board untill the boardS acclimate To your shop environment. If it just a board or two, lean them against a wall or your bench so there is equal air circulation. The biggest mistake folks do is laying the board flat on a workbench. The top of the board will absorb moisture and the bottom won’t, guaranteeing the board will warp.

A good Online source for scroll ready wood is Ochooch hardwoods. But if you order from them or any source, you have to do ad above.

Edited September 9, 2020 by dgman

[dgman]

Just now, dgman said:

All woods absorb and release moisture as the humidity in your shop raises and lowers.the trick is to keep equal moisture all around the board. When you bring a board into your shop, place it so you get equal air movement around the board. The proper way to store new wood is to stack and sticker. That is stacking the boards with narrow, thin sticks in between the board to keep air circulating around the board untill the boardS acclimate To your shop environment. If it just a board or two, lean them against a wall or your bench so there is equal air circulation. The biggest mistake folks do is laying the board flat on a workbench. The top of the board will absorb moisture and the bottom won’t, guaranteeing the board will warp.

A good Online source for scroll saw ready wood is Ochooch hardwoods. But if you order from them or any source, you have to do as above.

 

[new2woodwrk]

I have  a standing area for my larger sheets - ply and hard woods (which I cut down to a manageable size) in my shop/garage. I used to have a lumber cart I made that worked well to keep my wood "aired" but it got ruined during Hurricane Michael.

Being in Florida we have substantial humidity variances up and down (today for example is not so bad, 3 days ago it had rained for 3 days in a row)

For BB small sheets, I keep them in the box they came in and place them in the closet in the house. We keep the house pretty much at a constant humidity all year - 78 degrees all summer, and 68 degrees in winter. When I'm ready to cut a pattern using the BB, I attach the stack and place in the shop for a day or so to acclimate.

For my 3/4 cuts, I stand the boards until I'm ready to pattern them which is usually within a day of getting them - I usually only buy 1 board at a time (7.5" x 6') that's about all I can find at one time worth buying LOL

Once I have the patterns on, I stack them near the scroll bench and get to them at my leisure.

This process works for me and keeps my wood for the most part warp/twist free

My 1/4" & 1/2" ply sheets are the most susceptible to warping/twisting so I try not to keep sheets of that laying around

Edited September 9, 2020 by new2woodwrk

[Foxfold]

My thin sheets are all A4 and I keep them in a flower press.