Expert: Jamie Yocono - 6/10/2004

Question
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Followup To
Question -
I've built a simple cabinet about seven feet high.  Now I am trying to build doors using a simple rail and style method with 1"x3" or 1"x4" oak strips and a quarter inch panel in the middle.  However, all the lumber I find is badly warped or bowed.  I never see this problem addressed on the woodworking shows I watch. Any suggestions?
Answer -
Hi Kevin,

I just love how some of the home improvement TV shows gloss over the tricky parts!

You're right to think that you shouldn't build doors using warped stock. The only result will be warped doors. But the hard part is finding good lumber. Sometimes it's simply not available.

So the key is that you need to make the stock flat and true. That means you need to start with wood that is thicker than you need, and square it up yourself. There is really only one true way to straighten out wood, and that's on a good jointer. You need to flatten one side, usually the "face" side of the board, and then create a 90 degree angle on an adjacent edge. Once you have a straight, flat corner established, you can rip the other 2 edges on a tablesaw, thus creating a board that is square and true.

Squaring up a board is one of the basics in woodworking. And the funny thing is- there are a lot of woodworkers who don't know how to do it correctly!

So for your doors, I would start with some boards that are at least a quarter inch thicker than you need, true them up on a jointer, and then (hopefully) you'll end up with some stock that will be of a suitable thickness for you to make those doors.

Hope this helps, please feel free to write back if you have any other questions.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV


Thanks for answering so quickly.  I understand what you're saying.  But the problem I encountered is that the wood I need has to be 7 feet long, and the stock I looked at was bowed so badly that if I planed it down there would be nothing left.  Is there a way to unbend wood?

Answer
Kevin,

Unfortunately, there isn't a really sure way of "unbending" wood.

Wood has a memory, and will always spring back to shape in the way it wants to spring. Seasonal movement is another one of those quirks about wood. Wood has to breath and be able to swell with humidity and shrink in dry conditions.  Many of the construction methods that we employ today are done taking into account the movement that wood needs to undergo.

For example, boards tend to cup in a direction that is opposite the annual rings. As much as you might clamp a board, if it wants to cup, it's simply going to cup. And if you use metal fasteners (screws, bolts, whatever) to try to keep it in place...well, the fasteners may slow down the process, but the wood is mostly going to do what it does best, which is go back to it's natural shape.

So no, you can't "unbend" the wood by clamping it straight. Because sure enough, as soon as the humidity or air condition changes, the wood will snap back to that warped shape. The only way to get rip of it is to machine it out of the wood, as I mentioned in talking about squaring up a board.

I understand your dilemma about needing 7' long boards that are straight and true. I see two possible solutions here. First, you can try to find some thicker stock to square up and turn into your door parts. Or you can revise your design and perhaps make 2 shorter doors that will combine to make that 7' long door that you need. I've been in your shoes with having a problem like this and revising my design worked best for me.

I sure don't want to dim your enthusiasm for this project, but working with warped stock is a fact of life, and learning how to work with it is what makes us good woodworkers. I wish you luck in figuring this one out!

Once again, feel free to write back if you have any other questions.

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV