How to fix warped wooden game tiles?

October 12, 2022 4:43 AM

I'm making a custom Settlers of Catan game as a Christmas present, and some of the pieces have warped. Is there anything I can do to fix them? (pics here)

The pieces are 10mm thick mahogany (properly dried, been sitting in storage for years) glued to 3mm plywood. These pieces will make up the frame around the entire board, and I thought it would be nice for the grain to be consistent, so four of the six pieces have the grain running diagonally across the piece, and two have the grain running down the length of the piece. I didn't put a lot of thought into warping, but figured that dry wood glued to plywood wouldn't be an issue.

I left home (Sweden) and am currently with family in Kenya where I'm putting the finishing touches on the pieces. I left them out in the sun for some paint to dry, and they were warped that afternoon. The two pieces with grain along the length are fine, the four others have warped enough that they don't fit together anymore. I've left home so won't be able to make new ones.

Is there anything I can do? I can get access to a vice and simple tools, but nothing that would let me recreate them. If I put a piece in a vice and left it for days? weeks? would it flatten out again? Would it help to dampen them first, or steam them?

Any help is much appreciated!

posted by twirlypen to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

I would go with steam - that will soften the lignin that pulls & twists wood. When clamped and cooled that lignin hardens and your pieces will be made flat (ish) again. It's an imperfect process, but should get it to fit together. The challenge will be getting the pieces steamed for at least one hour for every inch of thickness. Usually a box/jig is made for steaming, but anything that will hold steam would work - like maybe a cooler or even an insulated bag. And after you’ve clamped it flat they will need to stay there for at about the same amount of time to cool and set shape.

The only thing to watch for is steamed wood can weep - and that can stain whatever that touches. I last did this several decades ago - but my general take on it was that as long as the steam jig worked and you are more patient than young me it was surprisingly straightforward.
posted by zenon at 7:34 AM on October 12, 2022

Heat is more important than wet when steaming, the wet helps get heat in deeper. Depending on the plywood, steam might destroy it rapidly. So I suggest heating it rather hot for a while (in the sun is obviously sufficient) and then clamping it to a form -- and clamp it slightly in the opposite direction because it will spring back.

But this is why plywood always has two faces of the same material on it, even if only one side will be visible: you can get warping otherwise.
posted by flimflam at 10:15 AM on October 12, 2022

Response by poster: I could probably fit them in a big saucepan on a rack of some kind. I suspect the glue will fail, but I guess there's no other way.
posted by twirlypen at 12:55 PM on October 12, 2022

You might want to try waiting for another day first (and maybe clamp them flat). I've found that when glueing thinner pieces or painting with water-based paint, the moisture will migrate into the wood, swelling up one side and remain for a day or two, even when the surface seems dry.

It might be worth it to sponge a bit of water onto the cupped side. I do a lot of hide glue veneering and getting even amounts of moisture on both sides of a piece is half the battle.
posted by brachiopod at 9:52 PM on October 12, 2022