Pine door in twist

[hanser]

I've had an old reclaimed 4 panel pine cupboard door ( approx 5ft x 2 ft) in my garage for years and I've finally made a corner cabinet to put it into. Nice steady job (if a bit cold -no heating in the garage). Refitted the door today and found that it's got about an inch of twist in it.

I was thinking of giving it a good wetting, sticking it on the bench with 3 corners supported and putting a heavy weight on the twisted corner and then leaving it to dry etc.

Will this work/anyone got any other ideas?

thanks

 

[Mr Ed]

Will this work/anyone got any other ideas?

thanks

Doubtful in my view, but given thats it otherwise useless you may as well give it a go. I would miss out the wetting it bit and just load it up with weight on a flat surface and see what happens.

Ed

 

[joiner_sim]

I don't know if what you're proposing will work with all the joints already glued.... but it's worth a try!

I wouldn't bother wetting it. I'd only put blocks under two corners, about 2" thick... strong G cramps to pull down the other two corners... I'd then get some glue on a few wedges and wedge the parts of the joints that open up under the pressure, this will help pull it out of twist and keep it there. Thats my advice, but not sure if it will work.....?!

 

[Chems]

Before you do that try just lying it flat with some stickers under it and see if it comes back on its own. Things bend and move if you leave them sanding up against things on the floor which I imagine is how you left it. Pine moves very rapidly I've found.

 

[would not]

I've had an old reclaimed 4 panel pine cupboard door ( approx 5ft x 2 ft) in my garage for years and I've finally made a corner cabinet to put it into. Nice steady job (if a bit cold -no heating in the garage). Refitted the door today and found that it's got about an inch of twist in it.


Will this work/anyone got any other ideas?

thanks

You could always burn it - that would warm your garage up.

 

[Mr Mike]

It's worth a go. I've had a 50% success rate doing this, some on full size old Victorian and Georgian interior doors.

I personally would encourage wetting, or steaming the timber, but you'd have to remove any surface coating first to do this.

Every door is different and it's difficult to say without seeing it. Sometimes, one can also shim an offending tenon shoulder with veneer slivers or the like, to help keep it out of twist.

Give it a go, you have nothing to lose.... :wink:

 

[MikeG.]

Well, your only chance is to slightly dampen it, and to over-wind it.......by about the same amount that it is out. You say it is about an inch "up" in the corner, so you have to clamp it in twist until it is an inch "down". Leave it like that for weeks.

I have to say that the odds of it working are very slender. I have done it probably 8 or 10 times, and got it to work well only once. Unless the door is special, I think you are better off cutting it up for the timber.

Mike

 

[awkwood]

Where i once worked we saw this problem a lot
People would have doors striped and then dry them out without storing them true.
If they are glued it was with animal glue, the stripping process softened the glue and as they dried out they set again in different positions
To straighten them we soaked them in the stripping tank and then twisted them in the opposite direction until flat.
then stored them fully supported with no twist until fully dry

 

[hanser]

Guys

Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

Shame to burn it though - I got it from an Edwardian house that was being pulled down, so guess its around 100 years old.

I'll try the opposite twist and see if it comes back.