Cherry chest top warping

[Rob Bedle]

Thanks for the encouragement, but this is a gift for my future daughter-in-law and being a retired engineer flat is flat. However, I will work on salvaging it with some battens and use it on another project.

I see you are in N.J. - where i was raised. You have the good fortune of being a lot closer to the sources on nice cherry and hardwoods. I worked in NJ and Delaware b4 I retired. It is harder to source nice wood here in TX, but the lower taxes and cost of living let me buy more toys!

[John TenEyck]

Agreed. That's not much cupping and it should flatten out with a little help from cleats on the under side. I'd do just what Prashun said, and keep it.

John

[Rob Bedle]

I now agree - cleats (battens) are the way to go.

[John Lankers]

Looking at the pictures, an unsupported panel like this is not very likely to remain flat for very long. I would do what Prashun is suggesting, cleats under the top and Epoxy in the crack. You invested too much to create this project, don't scrap it.
I always say "If you want perfection buy plastic".

[Al Launier]

Having also an engineering background and striving for perfection in the past, I've come to realize the perfection is not "readily" available, particularly when comparing wood to metal. I've also come to realize that people generally accept what is pleasing to the eye, rather than something was made perfectly. In addition to beauty, value lies in the eyes of the beholder. Less than perfection is sometimes difficult to accept after a career fighting for it, but we survive, and that's what retirement is all about.

Nice work going on there! Keep it & go forward.

[Dan Hulbert]

That's not a flaw, it's a design feature. Intentionally cupped to make a more comfortable bench seat.

+++ on battens.

[Scott Brader]

If I scrapped every panel that was < 1/8" out of flat after glue up, I wouldn't complete very many things. I aim for flat, but half the time end up as you have.

I have to fall into the camp with Prashun, too! I'm an engineer, so "perfection" is the goal; however, I had a boss many years ago who taught me the term "commercially perfect" which was his term for something perfectly acceptable even if it isn't perfect. I have employed that philosophy in my woodworking through the years. I shoot for perfect, but I am not going to lose sleep over tiny imperfections that no one else will probably ever notice. I, too, would never get anything done if I demanded total, true perfection.

Scott

[Rob Bedle]

I was able to salvage the warped top. I ripped the top along the worst crack and re-glued it using many clamps. The smaller crack I filled with colored epoxy and it looks like a large sap stain. The warp is now down to just over 1/32" at the max concave section.

Next I will fabricate some battens - probably 3 - to keep everything relatively flat. I'll have to let the Rockler torque hinges show a little on the back of the lid to make up for the loss of top width, but that is one of the standard ways those hinges are installed.

Left on my own, i would probably have scrapped the top and used my one cherry board held in reserve to try to squeeze out another top.

Thanks again to all of the comments.

Rob