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I decided to post this to see if anyone else was having the same issue. I started off with a flat work piece and by the time the CNC was finished cutting out the inlay (roughly 4 hours), the work piece had cupped upwards with all 4 corners raised up about an 1/8 of an inch.
I use my x-carve to make custom inlays in my cutting boards I make. I had been using the 24v spindle before I upgraded to the DeWalt 611 and didn’t see this issue until after I upgraded. I know that the DeWalt exhaust blows downward toward the workpiece so, I am assuming the exhaust dried the center of the cutting board out and cause it to cup over the 4 hour cut duration.
Any Ideas, tips, or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for time,
Dan
You didn’t mention the type of wood but I’m assuming were not talking about any type of plywood. It sounds like the workpiece wasn’t completely dry. Its important with any woodworking I’ve done, that the wood be dry or things like this can happen. I’ll often buy wood and let it sit in my shop for a week or so before I make a cut. Then I’ll rough cut the pieces to shape and let that stabilize for a few additional days. Sometimes, due to grain structure, the wood will warp after I cut it.
I don’t need pics but maybe tell me a bit more about your work process with regards to the wood itself. Did you let it dry, or did you bring it home and cut it and glue it all in one day? Where did the wood come from (Lowes & H.D aren’t the best source for good DRY hardwood).,. anything like that would help
I had something similar happen, but it was in well-dried cherry. I removed perhaps ~1/3rd of the material from the board in several deep pockets, so I attributed the warping to stress relief in the material.
That all sounds reasonable Daniel. I might have waited another few days after the initial cut to rough shape, but I don’t always. I still suspect moisture though. Wood is a funny thing as I’m sure you know and unless one has a moisture content meter, its tough to know.
What are the dimension of this piece? You said you milled it and glued it in one day, how much time between that day and cutting the inlay with the x-carve?
The other thing to think about is where on the log this piece of wood came from.
It matters for some projects more than others because of the natural stresses and how wood will act when it drys. I know when I made my maple top workbench, I need to alternate the grain pattern so as the boards dried, the warping could be controlled.
Hey John, I agree wood moisture is so hard to predict. I waited a full 24 hours from glue up to carving out the inlay. It is 13in L x 10in W x 1.5in H. I just don’t know what exactly happened. I have made many inlays with wood from the same dealer and the only time I have a problem is after upgrading to the 611 router
I feel Its either moisture/drying, stress in the wood or a combination of the two. The amount of drying that would have occurred by the downdraft of the router air would be minimal if even measurable over the 4 hours the job was running.
I know you’ve bought wood from this same guy in the past, but that doesn’t mean every piece of wood is going to have the same moisture content, or that every piece of wood you buy from him is going to behave in the same way. Lots of variables at work here: where was the log from, where was the mill, the kiln, how long did the dealer have it, the humidity differences between the kiln and dealer storage and your shop. It can all have significant impact.
I’m not saying the router didn’t have some impact in drying the wood… how much of an impact is the question. My guess would be very little, but I’d love to hear what others think.
Mine was not a glue-up, it was a solid piece of four-quarter cherry, about seven inches wide and a foot long.
I left it to sit overnight, and it did not change appreciably from where it was directly as it came out of milling. I ended up using my Rotex sander to carefully reduce the high spots until everything fit up nicely. Took a bit of fidgeting, but it worked in the end.
If you are using a piece of seasoned wood, it has sort of normalized to the average humidity in your area.
The heat of the milling has expanded the back side of your workpiece. Clamp everything down tight and let is sit after the job is done. Or, take it out and put some weight on it and let it sit.
