Been working on my first chess board.  Made from 5/8" Maple and Mahogany.  Glued to a 1/2" MDF Backer.  Turned out great.  Made the frame for it out of bass wood. 

 

About 5 days between making the frame and ready to glue up the frame to the board. 

 

In the mean time, the chess board has begun to warp. ! ! ! !      All grains are lined up (didn't think about crossing the grains of the pieces for the board.  Warping is almost 3/8" from end to end.  Afraid to glue up the frame to the board as it might also warp the frame.

 

Does anyone know how I can get the warp out of the project ? ? ? ? ?  This one has me stumped.  

 

The only thing I can think of at this point is to sand off the MDF and find 1/2" plywood and try glueing it up cross grained.  Even thought about a steam iron. 

 

Help  

You might try taking off the MDF and using the iron over a damp towel. Then using BB plywood. Actually, neither MDF nor plywood should contribute to warping. Just the opposite, I'd think. 

Lay a moistened towel out and put a couple one inch spacers on it and the board cup side down on them. Keep an eye on it.  The wood should suck in the moisture and go back to where it was.  Putting the finish on may help keep it from warping again.  Maybe wipe on poly and make sure it soaks in good.   

Had the same thing happen to me on my first one. I was so disgusted I remade it and used 3/4" plywood as the substrate. On the second one, I made the "squares" much thinner- about 1/4".

26 minutes ago, lew said:

Had the same thing happen to me on my first one. I was so disgusted I remade it and used 3/4" plywood as the substrate. On the second one, I made the "squares" much thinner- about 1/4".

Really? I woulda thought thicker would warp less. The thicker substrate undoubtedly helped..

Rule #1 - Wood moves when it loses or gains moisture

Rule #2 - It gains most in the direction of the annual rings, less (about half) perpendicular to annual rings, and almost none in length (i.e. around the tree (tangential), from the center out (radial), and up and down the tree (lateral))

Rule #3 - Finish only slows moisture down.

Rule #4 - You can't stop movement, you can only account for it.

 

You don't say how thick your squares are, but my guess is that they are moving and the substrate (MDF) is not.   Normally when  you veneer a surface you do both sides of the substrate.   This is called a "backer veneer"   It does not need to be as elaborate, but should be in the same direction as the show money side.    Then they balance each other out. If you used a water-based glue (like PVA),  it will have introduced even more moisture in the show side and it will eventually loose moisture and reach EMC (equilibrium moisture content).  But you will have seasonal variance.

 

I'd do a backer veneer (or layer) before starting to rip things apart.

Thanks, guys.  It is sanding time to get rid of the MDF and use BB for substrate.

And, yes, my first mistake was making the squares too thick.

Lessons learned all the way around.

 

And who said you can't teach an old horse new tricks

 

1 hour ago, Fred Wilson said:

And who said you can't teach an old horse new tricks

 

Even if it is the hard way!

1 hour ago, Fred Wilson said:

Thanks, guys.  It is sanding time to get rid of the MDF and use BB for substrate.

And, yes, my first mistake was making the squares too thick.

Lessons learned all the way around.

 

And who said you can't teach an old horse new tricks

 

Fred, keep us in the loop. Wanna know what you do to correct the warp and how it worked out. 

back in 8th grade (1976 or so) i made a chess board as part of a table i made.  teacher saw my design and ordered a veneer kit for me.  2-1/4" walnut and maple squares (about 35 each, some spares just in case), and those got glued to a plywood (1/2") substrate with contact cement.  it still looks great today (yes, i still have it).

 

so thin stock on stable base is the answer.

Fred if you made it out of 5/8" material, why do you need a backing board?  The last one I made was only 5/8" thick and it held up fine.  Pic. Below.

 

Keith is on the right track. When the glue drys between the board and the MDF it probably shrunk the surface of the MDF and caused the board to warp.

 

When we I used to be doing commercial tenet work the doors we used were factory finished 3'X 9'-10' hi solid core flush doors.  Occasionally we would have a problem with the door warping badly. We would have the painter spray a coat of lacquer on the opposite side of the door and as the finish dried the warp disappeared. 

 

Herb

Looks kinda warped to me! I LIKE!!!

John

 

4 hours ago, HARO50 said:

Looks kinda warped to me! I LIKE!!!

John

 

They were all square when I started. too much WD40 I guess.

Herb

Edited January 23, 20188 yr by Dadio

Beautiful piece, you should make a flag in the wind.

flag 04 011.jpg

Edited January 23, 20188 yr by Ron Altier
goof