I’ve been working with pine. Have had some projects cup on me. Wondering if it’s just because its pine or is there tricks to the trade.
It’s not just pine. Any wood can cup or warp. The best strategy to avoid that is to use quartersawn planks, although that’s not always possible. And thicker is better - thin planks will cup more.
@Incredz What grade of pine are you using, S4S, S2S, rough sawn? Are you buying it at a big box?
Cupping and twisting is common in wood that is not kiln dried, or was kiln dried, but not then milled to final dimensions. Then, we put it on a CNC and start removing stress from it and it cups and twists even more.
As @Iguana (Mark) said, you can avoid some of the problem by buying quarter sawn lumber, but it is very pricey and not generally available at big box stores, and rare in pine.
If you provide a few more details on the lumber you are using, I may be able to help more. If you are buying at big box stores, you are very limited. (I’m lucky in that I buy rough sawn at lumber yards, then mill it when I am ready to use it. Even then, if it is not acclimated to my shop environment, it can move.) If you are buying construction grade pine at a big box, you will be extremely lucky if you don’t get movement.
I been using shelf grade pine from big box store. 3/4" thick.
@Incredz It’s a bit unusual for S4S lumber to cup, but not unheard of. Obvious, i guess. If you have a moisture meter, it would help to know if it’s completely dry. Failing that, I’m afraid you just take your chances. I’m assuming that it looks good when you buy it. How wide are the boards?
Its was 12" wide boards cutting them to make trays. 12x9
@Incredz Boards that wide will always cup. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. When we glue up panels for cabinet gables for doors, we keep the board widths to less than 5". Then we glue up with alternating grain direction. Otherwise, the panels cup.
I am assuming that you don’t have the jointer, planer and table saw that you would need to prepare narrower boards for glue up. However, trying to use boards that are 12" wide is really asking for this problem. You may do better with harder woods, but it’s not easy to find much in big box stores.
I don’t suppose that you live in Ottawa?
No I’m in windsor. But im going to try and looking at some wood mills.