Wood Shop

Petersburg Mi Problems with the mantle

I started running the mantle through the saws, planer, and joiner, and when I did, it revealed a pretty good twist in it - 1/2" at both ends. I could take it out with the planer, but I would loose an inch off of a 2-1/2" piece, and thats just too much. My only alternative is to re-twist it back straight.
Ive soaked the piece down, and shimmed the opposing sides. Then, Ive placed two large buckets of old bolts on the opposite sides. Each bucket weighs about 40 lbs. As the wood re-dries, it should twist back into place. However, this process is going to take at least a month! But its the only solution. As far as any further mantle work, Ill just need to sit and wait...