Help please bowing oak mantle

[user 19915]

We have a piece of oak ready for a mantlepiece to go over the fireplace but it's started to bow can I straighten it without planing if so how to please I have laid the oak ready on my living room floor to acclimate mock

 

[D_W]

1) probably not
2) how thick is this mantle

In the timber industry, it's becoming popular to bake wood that's got a stable end need (especially for instruments). That's not a new thing and there are ways to do it either with temp, or with temp and moisture or with temp and pressure, etc.

I doubt these are reasonable methods in your case.

 

[Jacob]

We have a piece of oak ready for a mantlepiece to go over the fireplace but it's started to bow can I straighten it without planing if so how to please I have laid the oak ready on my living room floor to acclimate mock

Can't you just force it into position? That's the usual method when things don't fit too well.
There is a straightening method if it's worth the effort; kerf the concave side, knock in wedges to fill the kerfs and then plane off neatly. Never tried it, only read about it yesterday!

 

[user 19915]

Thanks the thickness will be about 2.5 /3 inch I was thinking of using rebar into the back of the oak and into my wall and securing with resin it might be worth me getting another piece of oak but straight although the reason for me using the oak I have it was given to me and I was told it dates back to nineteen hundred mock

 

[baldkev]

How much deflection is there?
Have you just machined it to size?
Has the location of the mantle changed? I.e was it in your workshop and now in the house?

 

[DBC]

Oak is its own boss. Wait til it reaches equilibrium with the room and plane it flat. I know that is not what you wanted to hear. If the mantelpiece is over a fire, heater or woodburner expect more movement until it is bone dry.

Finally I think everyone above is presuming you have got a length of KD. If it is green oak you are in for quite a wait for the moisture content to equalise and maybe a lot more movement to. If this is the case and it keeps bowing you could rip it down the middle and join the two halves back together with opposing grain so it is fighting itself.

 

[user 19915]

Ok yes it has been in my workshop and it's now laying flat in the living room been here for a couple of days now but I must add I noticed it ad started to bow when I fetched it down from the workshop it's not green oak apparently it dates back to the nineteen hundreds I've had it in my workshop for about 6 months its been machined to size for about three months ill give it a week to see what happens if anything regarding the movement thanks to everyone that's replied mock

 

[Woody2Shoes]

If it's moving about now, you can be sure it'll move about more over a heat source (fireplace).
What are the dimensions and how much movement are we talking about? A couple of photos ( incl one of an end) would save 1000 words...