Hi everyone, first time posting here, thanks in advance for any help.
I'm opening a bar/cafe on the Pacific Coast in Panama and have been using a lot of local hardwood in the construction, mostly done by locals and myself. I don't have a lot of experience working with hard wood but it has been fun to learn.
But I've come across a problem. I had a friend visiting for four months to help build some stuff, and before he left we put together the bartop using a local wood called Habillo or Espave, a beautiful reddish grained wood. The bartop is three pieces of wood put together in a L shape. I bought the wood from a local sawmill, who told me the tree had been pulled from a river, which probably meant it was knocked over during a flood. To me this means the wood was not wet (or green in other terms), but did have a lot of water in it.
After the bar pieces were cut and put together with screws and wood glue, I sanded down the top and applied marine wood varnish. It looked great, but within a month or two I could see stains emerging from the wood which I'm sure was water trying to escape, especially being during the humid months in Panama. I sanded off all varnish hoping the wood would dry out before I open the bar this November.
I've now noticed the wood is beginning to show a slight warp (which I've heard is a problem with Espave).
Question is: is there anything I can do to speed the drying process (heat lamps or something?) and how do I know when the wood is ready to be finished again (which I've now decided to epoxy). Any advice?
I'm opening a bar/cafe on the Pacific Coast in Panama and have been using a lot of local hardwood in the construction, mostly done by locals and myself. I don't have a lot of experience working with hard wood but it has been fun to learn.
But I've come across a problem. I had a friend visiting for four months to help build some stuff, and before he left we put together the bartop using a local wood called Habillo or Espave, a beautiful reddish grained wood. The bartop is three pieces of wood put together in a L shape. I bought the wood from a local sawmill, who told me the tree had been pulled from a river, which probably meant it was knocked over during a flood. To me this means the wood was not wet (or green in other terms), but did have a lot of water in it.
After the bar pieces were cut and put together with screws and wood glue, I sanded down the top and applied marine wood varnish. It looked great, but within a month or two I could see stains emerging from the wood which I'm sure was water trying to escape, especially being during the humid months in Panama. I sanded off all varnish hoping the wood would dry out before I open the bar this November.
I've now noticed the wood is beginning to show a slight warp (which I've heard is a problem with Espave).
Question is: is there anything I can do to speed the drying process (heat lamps or something?) and how do I know when the wood is ready to be finished again (which I've now decided to epoxy). Any advice?