Is this board too bowed for a drawer front?

[SteveMP]

18mm thick, 56.5 cm long black walnut. Was planning on using it for the front of a drawer for my tool chest. But noticed it has a slight bow along its length. I am new to half blond dovetailed drawers and curious if the construction will pull this straight or will it remain wonky? Highest point resting on a straight level is probably 2-3mm above the level

 

[Mike G]

Don't go fighting wood in a drawer construction. You'll lose.

Can you afford to lose some thickness, because it should be pretty straightforward to plane out the bend.

 

[SteveMP]

Don't go fighting wood in a drawer construction. You'll lose.

Can you afford to lose some thickness, because it should be pretty straightforward to plane out the bend.

Well, problem is if I lay it on my bench and set my hand plane on it, it goes completely flat. Not sure how to plane off the bow to be honest

 

[Woodbloke]

What MikeG said above. It'll plane flat, but if as is likely, the bow was caused by the release of stress in the original timber (when cut from a bigger plank) if will come back and you won't ever get rid of it. My advice is to save yourself a load of grief is not to use it - Rob

 

[Mike G]

Put something underneath the hollow to keep it from flattening out as you plane it. A ruler, some pieces of cardboard, some ply....whatever works.

 

[SteveMP]

What MikeG said above. It'll plane flat, but if as is likely, the bow was caused by the release of stress in the original timber (when cut from a bigger plank) if will come back and you won't ever get rid of it. My advice is to save yourself a load of grief is not to use it - Rob

Thats my fallback plan, but kind of want to use this as a learning opportunity as well.

Put something underneath the hollow to keep it from flattening out as you plane it. A ruler, some pieces of cardboard, some ply....whatever works.

Ok will try. Think i have some scrap ply that is about that thick.

 

[Woodbloke]

Ok will try. Think i have some scrap ply that is about that thick.

If the bow decides to return you'll find out about it in around a week's time....just keep on checking it with your straight edge - Rob

 

[TomTrees]

Regarding flattening thin panels, hard to be able advise without seeing what you're trying.
The best I can do is mention the way I plane thinner panels.

First up, is having a flat rigid surface to plane on, no clamping of the material, just the far end what's butted against a cleat.
Concave side down as suggested, though I don't bother with any shims.
I just plane the very middle of the bow, i.e. a row of short swipes a few inches long, (with the grain)
and again, and so fourth as much as the panel will allow, until the plane won't cut.

Once I get that far, I'll have a fair idea of which corners are high, if not, then by "rocking" with a finger placed on opposite corners will make it very obvious. (see Charlesworth demonstrate this)
Plane those opposite corners off a bit, test again, likely another swipe or two, flip the board over to the convex side again, and repeat.

Lastly, what kinda applies to material more bowed than this, being aware of not having any animals or expensive things in front of you!.
Just saying this last bit, should the cleat what you might find hanging around, be a bit thinner than you'd like for the job....

Many glue a cleat onto man made board for smaller work (shorter stock)
Though instead of a permanent cleat of certain height, I can usually find something of perfectly sized thickness, when the panel is raised up off the bench, and which can butt against my 3/4" cleat.

All the best

 

[Inspector]

I have a jointer/surfacer/planer and would use it to flatten the board. Place the hollow over the cutter head and feed that end, then spin it around and do the same with the other end. Take a final full length pass to flatten it completely. Now it is ready to run through the planer/thicknesser to make the faces parallel. Takes longer to describe than to do. If you don't have the machines,,,,,,,,,,then never mind.

Pete

 

[laynainx737]

18mm thick, 56.5 cm long black walnut. Was planning on using it for the front of a drawer for my tool chest. But noticed it has a slight bow along its length. I am new to half blond dovetailed drawers and curious if the construction will pull this straight or will it remain wonky? Highest point resting on a straight level is probably 2-3mm above the level

View attachment 58629

2–3mm over 56.5cm isn’t much, but I wouldn’t rely on the dovetail construction to pull it flat. The joints will hold the corners, but the board can still keep its bow. I’d flatten it first if you want the drawer front to stay straight.

 

[Woodbloke]

Remember the Bubinga cabinet recently finished?



If you read a short way through page 1 of the thread, I had exactly the same problem as you have now. I planed the bit of wood flat a couple of times but the stress didn't disappear and it kept bowing, as your's probably will do too. There is a 'work around' which is easy to do and it cured the problem, but you'll need to read what I writ to see how it was done - Rob

 

[SteveMP]

Remember the Bubinga cabinet recently finished?

View attachment 58647

If you read a short way through page 1 of the thread, I had exactly the same problem as you have now. I planed the bit of wood flat a couple of times but the stress didn't disappear and it kept bowing, as your's probably will do too. There is a 'work around' which is easy to do and it cured the problem, but you'll need to read what I writ to see how it was done - Rob

Yeah good solution, but I am lazy and may just cut another piece from some other walnut I have laying around if I can't get this "flat enough" for a week or so.