Replies

1. 
   OneofmanyBobs | Nov 24, 2003 03:00pm | #1

   Which ever side is concave, wipe it with water and keep it wet until the top flattens out.  Let it all dry and make sure all sides get refinished.  Sometimes that works.  Usually tables cup when the bottom side is left unfinished and absorbs more moisture than the top which is sealed.

2. 
   Mongo | Nov 24, 2003 07:39pm | #2

   Is this end-grain butcher block...which is actually what butcher block really is...or is this 1.5" wide/thick strips of birch laminated together with the edge grain showing?

   I presume the latter.

   JPrevious post nailed the cause. I've seen so many tables where the top surface gets a film layer of finish, and the bottom of the tabletop gets no finish at all.

   The bottom, with the wood grain open to the atmosphere, absorbs moisture and expands. The top, being sealed, stays the same. One side getting wider and one side staying unchanged results in a cupped piece of wood.

   If the top is indeed sealed, moistening it may do no good. You may have to wait until the bottom comes back to where it needs to be and the entire top reflattens. Once the top gets back into plane, treat the entire tabletop...all six sides...uniformly.

   Then cross your fingers...<g>

3. 
   Scooter1 | Nov 24, 2003 10:09pm | #3

   Cupping after gluing is often caused by too much clamp pressure.

   I'd take it down to a hardwood supplier with a wide belt sander and see if running it through a couple of times reduces the cupping. Sometimes the internal pressure is so great than you can take it down to a half an inch and the cup springs back.

   Regards,

   Boris

   "Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934

1. 
   Mongo | Nov 24, 2003 10:24pm | #4

   An angle that never occured to me...new fabrication. I assumed an old top gone bad.

   Good thought...

4. 
   teasea | Nov 26, 2003 11:10am | #5

   it sounds like you know my ex mother in law and she was there and used it as a place to sit