Black walnut or hardwood questions

[Gary Campbell]

Rick...
Have you checked the MC of any of these pieces before or after cutting?

[cowboy1296]

that would mean i know what i am doing. to answer your question no i have not and do not even own a moisture meter. but i was pricing them. i am nothing more then a hobby here so what is a good entry level moisture meter on the market. here is one that i am looking at by general tools, reviews are good but i know nothing about moisture meters.
http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-...pr_product_top

perhaps its a good way to go with me buying some black walnut and elm hopefully in the near future. the logs have been down for some time but have yet to be milled. but living in colorado the humidity here right now is 16 percent outside.

[myxpykalix]

I do recall that a plaque i did in walnut (similar depth as your elk plaque here) curled and it was done in 15 year old air dried wood. One thing i did that helped it was i took it to my basement and laid a 50 lb sandbag on it for a month or so with the crown of the curl up.

[gc3]

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_bas...he_Basics.html

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/A_Finish_Carpenters_Guide_to_Understanding.html

[wberminio]

You're going to have issues with thick solid wood whether solid or air dried.
MC is important.It is difficult to dry the center of thick boards.
As you cut away into a carving,an imbalance is created in the board.
One solution is to use quartersawn lumber.IT is a bit more stable than plain sliced .Even though it may be difficult to get in larger widths,when edge glued the glue line may not be as noticeable.
The beauty of wood is what makes it stressful at times..

[dauteuil]

Quarter sawn is always better.
But if you glue-up a board for whatever reason, you should always let the glue dry with both faces of the board exposed to air.
Meaning: Don't lay the board flat on a bench or table while the glue dries.
Stand the board on it's edges against something or leave it in the clamps standing up.
Years of experience as a woodworker and hundreds of board glue-ups later,
I now know that the moisture content of the glue is enough to make the board warp if the extra moisture is allowed to escape from only one side of the board.
Of course as others have pointed out, the overall moisture content of the wood has to be below 10% to start with. I prefer kiln dried at 6%.
Then again some pieces of wood have stress forces in them that are released when you start carving into it. Not much you can do about that.

[cowboy1296]

well lets hope i have learned from yalls advise since i just bought 100 board feet of black walnut. i expect it to be high in moisture content for now but it looks good. i also am the proud owner of a moisture meter but have not even plugged in the battery yet.

second that I just checked it and its 18 percent but it should dry fast since the humidity level here now is 1 percent.

[cowboy1296]

I just bought a good looking piece of teak. its a tad under 9 inches wide and 90 inches long, 1 1/2 inch thick. the moisture content is right at 5%.

i plan on cutting the board into thirds and glue it together. now should i add an extra step and rip this 9 inch wide board first and then glue it back together or is teak suitable at nearly 9 inches wide?

the plaque will be mostly v-carved but will have a 3d bowl image in it 10 inches in diameter

you guys seem very knowledgeable is why i came back to you for help.

[bleeth]

Teak doesn't cup as readily as many other woods after it is dried and surfaced. If you hold to no more than 1/3 the thicknes in depth I don't think you will have an issue. That being said there is never a guarentee!
For your gluing TB2 will work fine but wipe the edges to be glued down with acetone first to leech the surface oil out.

[cowboy1296]

here is the artwork of what i want to cut. the real dept cut is a army logo ten inches round and maybe a half inch deep. the rest of it vcarve. thanks for the tip on the acetone. now question about acetone, should i use it on any and all boards being glued or just the teak?