working with warped wood

[bluegrass]

I keep my wood indoors and this time of year I usually have the woodstove going. Well the wood cups from drying out before I get around to working it. Just wondering what other people do to get it straight again? I usually cut them down to size and then give them a hot bath for a few hours before turning them into supers. I was thinking about building a steam box to put them in as I know that will straighten them out. also thought about storing the wood wraped up in burlap and keeping that damp!

[flathead]

I work with the crown by clamping during assembly. I use rabbets, not box joints.

Rabbets on end pieces are milled on the convex side. Slight rolling through the dado is necessary.

Side pieces are assembled with convex side out so they can be clamped(pulled in).

I have a large stack(well it was large)of 1x12 SYP. Most have some slight crown naturally and I am careful when stacking for storage.

Thats been working well for me and I have not tried straightening.

[Michael Palmer]

I spray water on the concrete floor of my shop, and lay the boards on the wet area, concave side down. That side absorbs most of the water, the wood cells swell, and the board straightens. If you leave it too long, the board will cup the other way.

>end pieces are milled on the convex side. Slight rolling through the dado is necessary.

Yes, this will work, but...did you notice how the cup is always away from the center of the tree? And did you ever have a super where the end walls cupped put, and the frame rest cupped out and ruined the super? If you build your supers with the outside of the tree on the outside of the super, the walls will cup toward the super, and remain tight.

If you cut your rabbet on the convex side, the endwalls will want to cup out, and eventually the frames won't stay up on the frame rests.

[paintingpreacher]

I'll agree with Michael. Over the years we have built a lot of wooden sun decks. We always look at the rings on the ends of the planks to determine the outside of the tree. Always turn the outside of the tree up.

[bluegrass]

Thanks Mike. I tried your concrete floor method last night and it worked well.
I asked my brother about the Burke lodge, He said you ment mid-burke lodge. said it was structurally beyond repair and they have been planning the tare down for a few years now... it is too bad.

[Michael Palmer]

>I asked my brother about the Burke lodge, He said you ment mid-burke lodge. said it was structurally beyond repair

Too bad. It was a nice wooden interior/floor, that smelled like the old days. Guess I just sorta like old things that are structurally beyond repair, but still work...like me.