# Countering natural warp after resaw?



## Mattika (Nov 26, 2011)

Fellow connoisseurs of saw dust, I need some advice. Recently tried my hand at re-sawing, my first pieces were red mohagany. The wife loves the gifts it made, but here we are a month later and the 1/4" re-sawn pieces have started to succumb to the tension left in the growth rings. How does one counter this? Probably a very simple solution here… enlighten me?


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## WDHLT15 (Aug 15, 2011)

It is generally better to saw stock out to the target size green from the log, then dry that stock. That way, you deal with the tension upfront. For example, if I am sawing 4/4 stock, I saw the rough board 1 1/8" thick so that it can be dried and then planed to 7/8" or 3/4". A 4/4 board will dry without splitting or checking. However, lets say that I saw a log into a 4" cant with the intent to resaw later into four 1" boards. What happens 99% of the time is the the drying stress in the 4" cant caused by the shell drying faster than the core will cause splits and checks in the cant. This ruins the piece from the stand point of recovery of four 1" boards. You would have been better to just saw the four 1" boards from the start.

To answer your question, tension in a large piece will be released when resawn. I would go ahead and resaw the stock and then sticker stack it with weight just like it was green. After it has come fully to equilibrium, there will be less issues. You have to give the wood time to become stable, and it has to be controlled in the process like with the stickers (spacing) and weight to keep the stack flat.


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## DLCW (Feb 18, 2011)

Whenever I resaw, I do so at least 3 weeks before I need the thin boards. Like WDHLT15 says, resaw the board and sticker and weight it. Most of the time, the thin board will go almost flat after the tension has stabilized.

Don't plan on using the resawn boards right away.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Try spaying a little water on the concave side and see if it straightens out. It might be necessary to repeat the process more than once,if it flattens out then sticker with weight on top and let dry a few days.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

That's one reason why it's often a waste of effort to resaw wide
boards. I recommend ripping down to 4" wide, resawing, then
jointing your resawn boards after. Cupping of wide boards is
so common when resawing them, that in making furniture it
is often not worth the hassle, imo. If you're making guitars,
it's a different situation obviously… but then you're looking for
quarter-sawn boards to resaw precisely because of their
stability.


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## Mattika (Nov 26, 2011)

Gents, thank you much for your forward guidance. More pre-planning time will be given in the future to allow re-sawn wood to succumb to sticker stacking and pressure. Much as I like the look of "one solid piece" for a top or facing, I may have to consider ripping and joining. Again, thanks for the advice.


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

If you cut a wide board into 4 inch or so strips and glue them back together in their original orientation, it will still look almost like one solid piece.


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