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Shrunken Wood

2K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  jaidee 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)


I need some help with a Farm House Table I made for my Daughter. The table top was made of 8/4 X 12" #2 pine that was ripped to 8" and 10" respectively. I used biscuits, glue and pocket screws to join all the boards. I sealed, stained and put poly on to finish it. It was completed in October and yesterday (Dec) I noticed the planks shrunk leaving the bread boards exposed. Any ideas how to fix it.
 
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#2 ·
Twitch, i think youre going to find that movement is bound to happen and no matter what you do to try and fix it, this is going to happen again. By no means am I an expert on this but those are my thoughts. A warm welcome to the gang here at LJ's.

BTW - id love to see a full shot of the table. It looks like you got a really nice finish on it.
 
#5 ·
Was the table made from construction lumber? Construction grade lumber is sold dried to 19% moisture content, or in some cases even green (douglas fir/larch and sometimes hem-fir), which can start out over 30% mc. Finish grades of lumber are dried to 8 - 10% moisture content, which would result in significantly less wood movement as the material acclimates to it's final environment.

Even with better stock for the application this situation will exist because of cross grain vs. long grain movement differences. I think what's shown in your picture illustrates the character of a quality hand crafted piece.
 
#7 ·
Hey thanks for all the comments.
I'm not sure if the wood is construction grade or not, next time I'll ask about the moisture content so I know.
I guess I'll just wait and see what happens.

I'm going to post the pics of the table in the projects area

Thanks again
 
#8 ·
Not sure what part of the country you're in, but here the humidity can vary 50% throughout the year. A real pain. Proper finishing can curb some of that, but when mother nature is in charge, you can't stop it all.
 
#10 ·
Just be glad the top didn't split. Wood moves w/ changes in humidity. Interior winter air is very dry in most homes in North America. Plain sawn lumber moves the most in width, but not at all in length. So the top of the table shrank width wise while the end caps didn't change in length. When milder temperatures return in the spring and the home heater is not running, the gap will probably disappear or at least be less noticeable. If you had used quarter sawn lumber you could cut that gap in half. That is why high end furniture makers like quarter sawn boards.
 
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