02 July 2013

Movement


















Back in April, I paid my usual visit to Yandles, principally to delve into the woodshed for any assorted goodies.  Lying amongst the oddments on the floor was this pretty forlorn piece of crown cut English Oak, around 35mm or so thick and around 650 long by 300 wide.  The side shown above was pretty mucky and full of worm holes but fortunately they didn't seem to go too deep.

















Turning the board over revealed a much better, if striking figure so I decided that this would ideal for the bowed door of a wall hung cabinet...something I've wanted to have a go at making for some time.
This board though, must have been outside for a very long time as it's rock hard...by far the toughest bit of oak that I've ever come across, so I've had to plane it a little at a time to bring it flat and true....

...almost.

I say 'almost' because as it's crown cut and air dried I've no real way of knowing how dry it is (until my moisture meter arrives) so the upshot is that it's constantly moving.  I've planed it flat again this morning  and will put it back again 'in stick' for a while to see what happens.

What I can't afford is for the door to move once it's been made so I need to get the moisture content down and stable before doing any shaping...

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