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I made a pair of end tables 18 months ago with well dried 16” wide live edge Walnut about 1” thick for the top. The boards when I started working with them had a noticeable cup. I straightened the cup out by wetting the concave side and a heat lamp onth other. I was surprised how well it worked. The top is secured to the apron with those little clips and remains flat.
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Peter, Just a guess here, your friend is in business to mass produce and wants to remove any perceived risk.
As the others have pointed out, using it in one piece is well worth it. There are simply no guarantees.
"I tried being reasonable..........I didn't like it." Clint Eastwood
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Leave it one board. Give it a good sealer coat of shellac on all sides and then finish coat all sides.
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(03-09-2018, 09:09 AM)gboot Wrote: I made a pair of end tables 18 months ago with well dried 16” wide live edge Walnut about 1” thick for the top. The boards when I started working with them had a noticeable cup. I straightened the cup out by wetting the concave side and a heat lamp onth other. I was surprised how well it worked. The top is secured to the apron with those little clips and remains flat.
I have a similar experience. I was working on some hatchboards for a small sailboat. One side's finish had worn off and the boards were badly cupped. I can't remember if I asked here, another woodworking site or a sailing forum on repairing the boards. All but one person said the board were beyond repair. The one standout said wet the concave side, which I did then put the boards out each day in the sun, the non wetted side up. Within two days I had flat boards to begin the refinishing process with.
A carpenter's house is never done.
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03-09-2018, 09:01 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-09-2018, 09:03 PM by AgGEM.)
I am not commenting on any of the advise you have received.
I know it is all good.
But if you are still worried, add 2 kurfs worth of width to the finished piece.
Plus a tad.
Just in case.
Just a thought.
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BTW, my current dining table is a single 36" wide live edge cypress plank, about 1.5" thick.
Ripping that into 6" strips and re-gluing it would be a crime against woodworking.
It didn't cup noticeably while drying, and it hasn't moved enough to notice in the last 3 years either.
