Unstable Wood? Don't Panic

My glued wood panels changed overnight. They mostly do. It might happen to you and at first you might panic, recut and reglue. Don't!

One thing I have learned through the years is that joints constrain wood and rarely does the wood have the power to resist the power of goo joinery. I had glued up my panels before I left for home last night. I had cut them to panel size and left them loose on the bench top. In the morning the topmost board had cup-curved with 1/4" crown over the 15" span.

The other boards beneath had remained flat and I knew full well this would happen. I did it on purpose so I could show you what happened.

I took the same board and flipped it over. Three hours later it was dead flat again.

Not only that, the same topmost board had shrunk over a sixteenth of an inch more than its counterpart cut adjacent from the same board. Leaving the board open to the atmosphere of my workshop the board had shrunk in its conditioning.

Leaving the board for the three hours both boards had shrunk to the same level. You can sticker your boards for a more even circulation of air but my preference is to stand or them out so all surfaces get the maximum exposure to the atmosphere. I do this over 24 hours and it works well for woods like pine.