About 10 years ago, I made my wife a cutting board. I made it out of hard maple and cherry. It is about 15"x20" and has alternate stripes of each wood, about 1' wide. Anyway, she has used it all those years and it is her favorite. In Ohio, sometimes it would warp slightly with high humidity and then straighten back again as it dried.

 About 2 weeks ago, some idiot (me) spilled some water on the counter. He cleaned it all up, except he did think to clean under the board.  Boy did that thing warp. It is an inch higher in the center that both ends. I removed it, cleaned it and put a cloth under it. It has been there 2 weeks, our humidity in the house is about 20% and the warp is still there.

I took it to the garage and clamped it to a flat surface. I didn't apply much pressure, just enough to feel tension on my Erwin clamps.

 

Did I do the right thing or do you have any other ideas?

My first thought is that it was pretty much trash anyway so what do you have to lose?  How long you going to leave it clamped?

Considering that the wood still has a lot of mineral oil in it, which may not allow the moisture to escape, I may clamp it for a week, if I have to.  I'll just go at it one day at a time. Another factor that may speed things up is the low humidity. However it is above 60% in my garage today. It normally isn't that  high.

Ron Dudelston said:

My first thought is that it was pretty much trash anyway so what do you have to lose?  How long you going to leave it clamped?

Wow, I replied to this a few minutes ago and then it disappeared.

 

Ron, I referenced in my other post it might be like the thread we had a while back on wrapped doors. You might even mist it with a little water as you add the clamp pressure and see if that helps.

 

I also said before, I have not tried that, so don't take it as the gospel.

 

Humidity is about 86% here today. Lots of moisture in the air.

I just checked it and it has moved about half way in 24 hours. MAYBE??

John Moody said:

Wow, I replied to this a few minutes ago and then it disappeared.

 

Ron, I referenced in my other post it might be like the thread we had a while back on wrapped doors. You might even mist it with a little water as you add the clamp pressure and see if that helps.

 

I also said before, I have not tried that, so don't take it as the gospel.

 

Humidity is about 86% here today. Lots of moisture in the air.

Good deal, maybe it will come all the way back.

 

 

If it warped up it should also flatten out as it dries. it probably will take a few weeks or longer but you should get a usable cutting board back soon.

out of curiosity is it a flat grain or end  grain board?

I would wet both sides and put it up on sticker so that the air reaches both sides equally . It still might require some clamping and even a bit of over clamping.