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End checking in mahogany panels

1/29/26       
Walter Goodman

Website: http://waltergoodmancabinetry.com

I have been producing mahogany panels for ten years or so for an artist, who requires one-piece panels, in this case 16" x 20". I am pretty sure the current order will be the last of the 5/4 Honduras wide boards I will ever see, as after a fairly wide search, I lucked into a few boards.

The problem is that we are in a record-breaking cold snap in the Northeast, and the centrally heated loft my shop occupies has extremely dry air, and I can't control the heat. I cut the panels 1" oversize in length, my usual practice. But end checks are developing in a lot of the panels, some more than 1" in. The panels are in the first stage of milling, with 3/32" thickness left to plane in the final pass. I have been dousing the end grain with water, and last night I stacked them with stickers and wrapped the ends only with plastic. This seems to help, as some of the cracks started to close, but a new one also developed.

Any suggestions appreciated. Continue to wet the ends every day until the MC equalizes, or the central heat diminishes? Get a humidifier, which I have not done because we have 9,000 sf and 14 ft. ceilings... make a tent? Seal the ends, if so with what? Eventually the ends will have to be cut, and I only have 1" of trim.


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