Repairing a Warped Table Top

[Pinex]

Hi everyone,I've just registered on here,it's great to have a forum such as this.I have bought a jacobean table that has a warped top,it has been nicely finished with stain and I am wondering what I can do to straighten the top out.If I steam,will it ruin the finish,if so can I restain,or does someone have another idea on how to staighten. Thanks Martin

[jerryc]

Pinex

Welcome to the mad house where opinions and advice flourish like weeds in a flower bed.

If you can, post a picture of the table top. It will help identify the type and extent of the warping and whether there is any breakdown in the gluing of boards. The advice will come once people can see your problem.

Jerry

War does not decide who is right. War only decides who is left.

[BarFly]

Would love to give you advise or some ideas but like Jerry said we need to see some pictures.
Lawrence.

[Pinex]

Well I would put up pic. if I knew how.I looked at Help part of forum on posting pics. but Im new at this caper and dont understand,never mind.Thanks people anyway Martin

[Chipman]

Well I would put up pic. if I knew how.I looked at Help part of forum on posting pics. but Im new at this caper and dont understand,never mind.Thanks people anyway Martin


Pinex, welcome.

When you click on the "post reply" button, a box pops up and you type your message in as you have already done.

Next scroll down just below the box and you will see "manage attachements"
Click on that and a new window opens up then click on the browse button and you can then navigate to where your picture is on your computer

Now click the "upload" button (the top one of the two and hey presto it will be done)

Finally click on the "submit reply" button and you will see your finished post

Just remember you will have to reduce the size of your image below 100kbytes otherwise it won't upload.

Good luck,

Chipman:):)

[Pinex]

Hope this works,here goes

[Pinex]

Thanks for the leg up Chipman,very clear,easy to understand.Thankyou.Martin

[Pinex]

The table top is a jacobean style,constructed in oak and about 19mm thick.You can see by the pic. on the left hand side of pic.how the top has moved away from the top of leg about 10mm.Now that I have posted a pic.(thanks to Chipman) some feed back would be most welcome.Thanks again.Martin

[weisyboy]

is the top solid or in 2 peices?

i dont see a way to fix without runining the finish but others will be mutch more experianced at this than me.

[Pinex]

Actually it is two pieces running diagonally from right leg front to left leg back,sorry should of mentioned Martin

[Chipman]

Hi again,

First some questions:
Does the warp change with the weather? If the table top is sealed on the top and open to moisture underneath, that will cause timber panels to buckle (from what I can see, it is too localised to be the main cause.) I dont think steaming will help

What do know about its history? How long has it had the warp?

I have been giving your problem some thought but haven't really come up with anything. I once had a badly warped heart shaped mirror frame (RIMU) to fix for a friend. It was a bit like your table, most of the warping was occurring in a small area. In the end, I cut it through so it was in two parts, flattened the two halves, recut the edges and joined it back together again and needed to be refinished. It needed a new mirror and wasn't an antique.

While this might work, I would hate to do it to your table top!

Another possibility or long shot is to make a series of fine kerf cuts underneath almost all the way through .Fill the gaps with a good gap filling glue (eg epoxy). If the gaps are a little wide, you could run strips of veneer through them to help with the filling. Then clamp it flat and and wait for the glue to set.

I hope someone comes up with a better idea. Otherwise, you might need to consult a specialist restorer, especially if the table means a lot to you.

Chipman :)

Just saw the information that came in while I was writing this post... Doesn't really change anything as I assume the warp is along the grain on the left side of the table running diagonally as you said

[Pinex]

The strange thing is the warp is diagonally across the ajoining boards,not parallel with it,I know nothing of its history either or how it was stored,but an interesting point you bought up might be a clue as to why it happened.To me,underneath has not had the same seal as the top,so maybe if I take top off apply heat there it might come back.Whats your view,appreciate any opinoins offered.Martin

[Chipman]

Strange indeed!

It is very rare for a warp to run across the grain at an angle! So it is a twist rather than simple cupping. In that case, heating is very very unlikely to fix it. Wood can twist like a cork screw and it is very difficult to do anything with it. It is usually caused by tensions in the original piece of timber.

Chipman

[billym]

I have had success with this procedure.May sound drastic but it works. remove the top from its base,place it in a sheet of plastic,outside with the bottom of the table top facing up (the finished side to the plastic) and leave it for several days or until the top has corrected.Once level, coat the bottom with a sealer and secure it to the base.Remember do not glue it to the base,it must be able to move also when placing it outside be sure it is not in the sun but in a position where it can receive the morning dew and cover it if rain is expected.Good luck:):)

[Pinex]

Thanks Billym will give it a go,sounds so simple,will let you know how it goes.Thanks alot Martin.:2tsup:

[astrid]

I have had success with this procedure.May sound drastic but it works. remove the top from its base,place it in a sheet of plastic,outside with the bottom of the table top facing up (the finished side to the plastic) and leave it for several days or until the top has corrected.Once level, coat the bottom with a sealer and secure it to the base.Remember do not glue it to the base,it must be able to move also when placing it outside be sure it is not in the sun but in a position where it can receive the morning dew and cover it if rain is expected.Good luck:):)

what he said

astrid

[Cruzi]

From the picture the bottom side already has to much moisture, you need to dry it, not wet it. The strange way in which it has done so seems to have been caused by your fixing points, it has only allowed movement arcoss non-fixed areas.

To put it simply, the underside has been able to absorb more moisture than the finished topside which made it expand further than the top causing it to warp.

If you follow the suggested method of placing unsealed side in dew and/or rain your problem is going to get worse, not better.

Remove the top and place it unsealed side up in an airconditioned room.

It may take some time but since air-con removes a lot of moisture from the air it should flatten out, once flat then seal both faces.

If it doesn't flatten, unseasoned timber is your problem and drastic solutions are needed.

[Pinex]

Tried the leave outside method and found it cupped more but when dry came back to original cupped shape,I guess it had been warped for to long.Finished up breaking down join,planing and re-gluing,not perfect,but better than before,not as noticeable anyway.I am sure it would have worked on a recently warped piece of timber.Thanks for all the help.Martin :no:

[Chipman]

Tried the leave outside method and found it cupped more but when dry came back to original cupped shape,I guess it had been warped for to long.Finished up breaking down join,planing and re-gluing,not perfect,but better than before,not as noticeable anyway.I am sure it would have worked on a recently warped piece of timber.Thanks for all the help.Martin :no:


I think you have done the best thing.... Given it seems to have a twist (diagonally cupped across the grain) rather than a simple cup, there really was no other way. Post a pic when you are finished?

Chipman

[Pinex]

I have put in a pic. of the finished article.Hoping to put in two pics.before and after,I,ll see what happens.Martin

[Chipman]

Pinex, you have done an excellent job.... We will be coming to you for advice next time!:2tsup::2tsup:

Cheers,

Chipman

[jhaiii]

Sorry for opening an ancient thread, but I came here looking for a solution but ended up trying something else using some of the suggestions for inspiration. Hopefully my suggestion will help others.

The idea is that warping is due to water being taken into the wood on one side more than another.
We need to get it out by drying in a non-humid environment. I live in Sydney which is really humid and caused my lovely homemade spotted gum outdoor table to warp significantly which I mistakenly only varnished on the top side. My table is quite large at 2400 x 950mm
I don't have access to a suitable air conditioned environment for drying so I came up with this:

1. buy 4kg of silica gel kitty litter ($6) (looks like white crystals like rock salt with blue chunks)
don't use any of the enviro/cat friendly natural options.
2. put in old pillow case
3. take table top off base and flip over
4. wrap entirely in clear plastic with kitty litter pillow case inside.
5. seal with duct tape so air tight (we don't want any fresh air inside)
6. leave outside in sun/heat (we had a week of 30C days). The position I had it only got the morning sun.
7. watch your table straighten out over a week in my case

The pillow case of kitty litter is effectively a huge one of those "DO NOT EAT" sachets that you find in shoe boxes and stuff.

In my case the table warped more on the first day which scared me, but then over the following days it straightened steadily. (I was measuring the curvature my measuring the depth of the 'cup' most days)

Out of interest I weighed my pillow case of kitty litter before and after.
- before: 3.782kg
- after 3.833kg
which essentially says that the silica gel took on 50g of moisture over 7 days.


Anyway, Hopefully this is useful to others...

[dr4g0nfly]

jhaiii,

That's an interesting concept, using a desiccant (the Kitty Litter) to extract the moisture.

I have some left over from the Sister-in-Laws Christmas stay (She brought her cat) and a freshly green turned small bowl. I can see an experiment coming on!

[jhaiii]

Dr4g0nfly, keen to hear the results of your experiment...