This chest was damaged by water and subsequently shrank in size and shape due to compression shrinkage.
Heres a question that comes up often. I just got it again from a reader. Is it necessary to finish both sides of tabletops to prevent warping?
You can do this if you want; it doesnt hurt anything. It doesn’t make cupping (or bowing) less likely, which is probably why you feel you have to do it. While finishes slow down moisture exchange, they don’t stop it. Furniture made before 1920 was rarely completed on both sides. This can be checked in an antique shop. Tops that are warped are almost always cupped instead of bowed by the drier.
conditions in modern buildings). The cause is almost always water getting through the finish and into the wood and causing compression shrinkage. This could have been prevented by finishing the bottom side.
The myth that you must finish both sides is probably due to the warping (cupping), which occurs when veneers are applied with a water-based glue.
The glue causes the veneer’s swelling, which shrinks when it dries. This pulls the panel into cupping, unless you also apply the veneer to the bottom side using the water-based glue. This is not possible with solvent-based contact cement, but I don’t like using contact cement for veneer application.
Woodworkers who use water-based glues most often learned that veneering had to be done on both sides. This was then applied to finishing. Many now believe that both sides must be finished.
After the invention of spray guns and lacquers, factories started to finish the undersides tabletops. They did this from the rails outwards (still seldom between the rails). This was done to make the wood feel more comfortable when touched and better if crawled beneath.
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