All stress tests require a uniform moisture content throughout the piece. Pieces with a gradient will give confusing results.

Q: We rip a long, narrow stile (about 72 x 3 in.) and then send it to the moulder for profiling. We test for proper MC and casehardening stress. However, more than 50 percent of the pieces have 3/16 in. lengthwise bow, just after molding or a day or two later. What are we are doing wrong?

Q: Can you tell me what has caused these cracks in the enclosed red oak square? Can you tell me how to avoid this defect? Is our dry lumber storage shed too hot?

Q: We are gluing two or three pieces of wood together to form a panel. Our joints seem very strong, but sometimes they are very weak. We are looking for a way to test our joints so that we can identify the factors that result in a weak joint. One person has recommended a shear test block and sent us some info on how to run that test. Would this be a good way to proceed?

Q: We will store assembled, finished bath vanities and medicine cabinets in cardboard cartons in an unheated warehouse throughout the coldest months of the year (below zero). We do not know what amount of stress this will have on the wood of our product. We are also worried about condensation build-up. Your thoughts?

Q: I recently applied a sheet of "peel and stick" veneer to a cabinet end panel. The cabinet looked fine from time of application until several weeks after installation. Now many bubbles appear under the veneer. How can I avoid this in the future?

Q: I have a rip-first mill with a Comp-U-Rip input. We have received advice and suggestions from several people about how to handle lumber that has side bend. What do you suggest?

Q: What causes end checking in lumber and how can I minimize it?

Q: I am using hard maple lumber and our design requires the wood to be as white as possible. Indeed, the lumber looks white when it is kiln dried and rough, but after we plane it, it is darker (almost gray). The light color we want is only on the outside. I have several questions about our drying operation. 1. Can hard maple be kiln dried in the summer when it is very humid and hot? 2. Should the sawmill sticker the lumber right after they saw it, dry it for a few days to a week, then unstack it and ship it to us, and then we restack it? 3. Is there a part of the country that grows whiter maple?

Q: Can you recommend something to eradicate wood worms before they transfer to another piece of furniture? The infected piece is a large rectangular table that we made. The homeowner called and I saw the damage. I cannot heat the table to 140 F because the table is so large, so what else can I do?