Wood Twist

[avengers63]

I just got done sizing a piece of mahogany for a non-guitar project. I have had this piece in my house for +/- 2 months, 5-6 weeks of which were in my workroom. The original dimensions were 49L, 17W, 1T, rough cut. I cut off a 32" long piece, trimmed it down to 9.5" wide, then planed it down to 3/4", taking a roughly equal amount of wood from both sides. When it was all done, I set it down on my workbench to draw out the cutting plan, but it had already twisted. No exaggeration, the opposite corners were about 1/2" off of the bench.

1) Did it twist because of the machining? If so, where should I have stopped to let it acclimate again?

2) Once it re-acclimates, will it un-twist?

[fryovanni]

Kinda hard to say. Questions that come to mind.

1. What is the moisture content? A $30 moisture meter would give you a pretty good idea(may not be extreamly accurate, but +/- 2%, who really cares.).

2. If it was reasonably dry, Has it reached equalibrium? Again that little meter would allow you to reference other bits of wood that have been in your shop for long enough to be sure they are equalized.

3. Did the wood have a lot of stored tension? Did the amount of wood you removed shift the balance, and the wood is now moving to it's new state of balance? Who knows?

4. Is the woods grain oriented in such a way that maybe a change in your ambient moisture levels are distorting the wood? No idea, can't see the piece.

I guess bottom line is you have a tweaked board. It is certainly worth placing it on sticks and weighting it. Leave it for a few weeks and see what you get. Whatever you do, don't lay it down on a flat surface(keep the air flowing). Time is always your friend if you want to rule out moisture issues(6 months to a year and a half depending on thickness up to 2-1/2", given the wood was already known to be pretty dry.).

Rich