I've been working on a face frame using poplar and am facing some issues. After letting the boards acclimate in my garage for a few days, I jointed and planed them down to 3/4" thickness. I stickered all pieces and, after two days, checked for square with a 36" aluminum straight edge, confirming they were flat. However, when I ripped a piece to 1.5", it bowed slightly, and the larger piece I cut from did the same. I've encountered this issue previously with hard maple too. What could be causing this? I double-checked my table saw fence and ripped some baltic birch plywood, and everything is dead-on accurate with its alignment.
2 Answers
It sounds like the bowing is due to internal stresses in the wood being released when you make the cuts. It's common with flat sawn boards, which tend to warp more often. You might want to consider leaving your pieces oversized and then dimensioning them to final width and thickness afterward. If you can, look for quarter or rift sawn boards, or just buy oversized flat sawn boards to work with later. Sometimes it's just the luck of the grain or improper drying that causes these issues. Good luck with your frame!
Yeah, the internal stress does play a big role! I'd say you might find it easier to cut oversized and then plane them down to get a stable end result.
If the bow is small, you might not need to worry too much. When you attach your face frame to the box, a little clamping pressure and glue will usually handle a slight bow just fine. You could either cut the pieces as they are or, if you're cutting one strip off, joint the edge of the remaining piece before running it through the table saw again for the next cut. That way, you ensure that the edges are clean and flat!
That sounds good! So, if I get that minimal bow, using enough clamps should do the trick? I was a bit worried about how the bow would affect the overall assembly.
Definitely! A little bow can be clamped out without any issue. Just make sure to clamp it down well when you attach it.
That makes sense, I was thinking along those lines too. I’ll probably rip them to 2.25" first, then joint and re-rip to 1.5". Do you think it's better to rip to 2" instead?