reconditioning wood

[newman]

All,

I recently came into possession of some pieces of cherry that were from a chest of drawers that was dismantled. There are some really nice pieces, but a few that are fairly cupped. Is there any way to flatten this wood? Or is it simply a matter of planing it until it's usable?

Thanks,

[Duane Bozarth]

You'll get the most usable final stock if you rip them down and then reglue.

It's possible you might be able to straigthen them out again if you remove any finish and try the "lay them in the sun on the grass" trick", but that's problematical--sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

[C & M]

I've only done this with select pine but I brushed water onto the concave side. The water occupies more space so it 'flattened' the wood. Yea, I know. It dries. Sometimes it 'takes the set' and sometimes not. That's all I've got.