Why does nobody talk about pressing boards warping over time?

I had my grandfather's old pressing boards for years and never questioned them. Last week I put a freshly glued book between them and noticed a slight dip in the middle, it curved the whole spine. Took me 20 minutes with a straight edge to check all of them, three out of five were bowed. Has anyone else dealt with warped boards silently ruining their work, or am I the only one who skipped this basic check?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana5091d agoTop Commenter

My bookbinder friend mentioned this exact thing a few years back, said her grandfather's boards were all warped by the time she got them. She figured out it was the humidity in her basement, the boards were sucking up moisture unevenly over the years. Wood moves with moisture, that's just what it does, so checking them with a straight edge every so often is a real good habit to get into.

jesse_smith101d ago

Yeah I read something similar in a woodworking forum last year, this old guy who restored antique furniture was saying the same thing about how the moisture content changes with the seasons. He said even a properly dried board can shift a millimeter or two just between summer and winter if you don't keep the room climate steady. So your friend's tip about the straight edge makes total sense, I actually started doing that with my own shelves after reading his post. It's crazy how much damage sneaks up on you over YEARS if you don't catch it early.