Wood changing shape

[ChuckD]

For all the ones who do intarsia (or plan to someday) do you notice how the wood will change shape and size on you in a matter of minutes or even seconds. I mean, a bunch of pieces fit together great and you add another piece or just turn around and nothing fits at all. The wood has to be changing ,that is the only explanation

[workin for wood]

I only do intarsia and generally they are very complex ones. I've never had this problem you are speaking of. It has to be either your technique or the wood you are using is not properly dry and aclimated. If your wood is not dry and you are cutting small pieces, then those pieces would begin to dry pretty quickly, but the shrinkage would still be very small and likely un-noticable unless you are using wood that was cut down yesterday.
remember that if you use softwoods, the law for those to be called dry can be as much as 14 percent moisture, where hardwood is not to be sold over 10 percent but the desired moisture content is between 6 and 8. Even at 14 percent the shrinkage should be pretty minimal.
If you are pretty sure your wood is dry and from a reputable source..feel free to read my post on advanced intarsia how-to. You can get some feel for how I cut and assemble my intarsia's. Make sure you have alot of masking tape on hand too.

[sheltiecarver]

Shop Gremlins

Chuck,
Sounds like you have been attacked by some of the ratherwell-documented Shop gremlins, or their cousins, the wood gremlins.
While we are not looking, they can change measurements, lose little pieces, or (and this is the most diabolical) actually change the dimensions or shape of perfectly cut pieces.
Constant vigilance is the only defense, but swear words might startle them (and make you feel some better)
Hang in there!
Sandy

[lucky788scroller]

Chuck. Yes, thats a major problem in some areas. I think maybe its only in states west of the great lakes though. I do think it is a problem closely related to my little square , that thing seems to move itself around to places I would have never thought of, all in a matter of seconds. If you hear of the cure, please fwd it to the rest of us! Dale

[ChuckD]

That must be what it is. If they fit once they should fit all the time, right?? So if I catch the grimlins, ( there has to be more than one) who would like to adopt them. I know, I will send them to Jeff Powell. Apparently he doesn't have any

[workin for wood]

There's two things I do when it comes to creating intarsia pieces. 1st thing is I use the already cut pieces to trace in the new pieces. Every piece I cut is taped together top and bottom to keep them tight together. I am using a combination of the pattern and the already cut pieces to trace out the next piece.
Second of all, every time I cut a piece, I verify that it is square. I do not use a square, I use my 1/4 inch spindle. I sand the edges of each piece and am making sure there is no light passing through between the spindle and the wood. Most often if a piece is out of square, it is around a tight bend, and this deffinitly affects the fit. It may fit now, but when you sand it down and shape it, it may not fit anymore because the bottom of the piece might be smaller than the top of the piece.
I'm a firm believe in owning a good quality oscilating spindle sander (Jet/Powermatic). I don't believe in using a drill press to sand, although many people do, but a drill press is not designed to take sideways pressure. Eventually a drill press becomes damaged, and the next thing you know, you can't drill a hole without the bit flailing around.
If you follow this method you should never have any problems.

[ChuckD]

Jeff, It seems like you and I do the same way with our intarsia. After the piece is cut I do use the edge to cut the next one. Then I attach all the pieces together with Duct tape. When I am finish cutting, I shape each piece indivualy and tape them together again. When I have them all shaped I take the tape off and finnish as I wish. I then glue them together in sections sometimes with a backer sometimes free standing. At any part of this process the GRIMLINS STRIKE. But thats life.

[workin for wood]

interesting. But we don't do it totally the same, you use duct tape, I just use masking tape

[sheltiecarver]

Gosh, Chuck,
I forgot to mention that duct tape is a sure-fire bait for gremlins!!
You might try baiting a nice live trap with it and seeing what you catch. A warning though, -- some of the most destructive gremlins are extremely sneaky - those would probably be the ones you wouldn't catch.
Good luck!
Sandy

[ChuckD]

You got me thinking. (Opps, shouldn't do that, gives me a headache) What if I put them together useing double sided carpet tape? That should catch something. ))