tfreeman Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 Hi All. I am rebuilding a pair of front french doors 80" x 36" each door - picture a pair of glass doors with 5" x 1.75" redwood frames. I purchased rough cut clear heart vertical grain redwood full 2" x 6" x ~86". It arrived at the suppliers shop in June. The supplier (main business is custom molding) planed the rough boards down to 1.75" thickness for me. 4 months later - after sitting outside in the carport I am actually going to use them now. the wood is still dead flat in the planed dimension - beautiful! However, they are all crooked 3/16" to 3/8" over 86" length (see pic). My question is if I cut them square on the table saw will they just crook again? My hunch is they were probably crooked and had reached stability when they arrived at the suppliers and they had probably done all the warping/crooking they were going to before he planed them down to 1.75" - so whatever I cut/mill them to now will be stable dims from now on...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknown craftsman Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 First thing to say is great looking board. Now I don't really see any other choice your going to need 2 straight sides. The way I would approach it is to take equal or close amount from both sides. Redwood is very stable dry. Good luck Aj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted November 10, 2017 Report Share Posted November 10, 2017 The truth is nobody can tell you definitely that they will stay straight after milling it, but chances are, if it is properly dried and not holding a lot of tension, plus you bring it straight in a few sessions, you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 Was it bowed when you bought it? What is the moisture content? What was the moisture content when you bought it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 You are probably fine if the material has acclimated to where you are going to do the assembly. I'm not sure where you are but, setting material on a carport, even in my dry desert basin, for that long would require a week or so of re-acclimation once brought into the shop. After that, I am pretty confident with any 10%-ish MC material. I would still rip it wide to allow yourself a little wiggle room for any relieve stress over that long dimension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wdwerker Posted November 11, 2017 Report Share Posted November 11, 2017 My only concern is that redwood is so soft. Make sure when you drill pilots for screws that they are properly sized. If you remove the screws and drip some epoxy into the hole then repilot after it dries it will greatly reduce the chance of stripping screws out. Steel screws ( even coated ones) or hardware will stain redwood black. Brass or stainless is the way to go. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawdustdad Posted November 24, 2017 Report Share Posted November 24, 2017 Redwood is a prefect wood for door construction, and quite stable. I'd let it acclimate in your shop for a week or two before milling. Rough mill to approximate dimension, let sit another week, then final mill. Same process for any lumber being used for door construction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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