How to Mill a Warped Board

Put on safety glasses and put earplugs into your ears. Adjust the jointer infeed table to produce a 1/16-inch cut from the board. Turn on the jointer. If the warping has caused the board to bow, place the bowed side down on the jointer bed.

Push the board into the jointer with a small push block so the wood grain goes across the cutter. Keep your fingers behind the push block. Feed the wood smoothly through the jointer. Repeat the process until the board face is smooth and level.

Make sure the guide fence is square with the jointer bed. Put the face you just milled against the fence, with any cupped edges pointing downward on the jointer bed. Push the board through the cutterhead, keeping it tight against the fence and exerting downward pressure on the infeed table. Switch downward pressure onto the outfeed table once half of the board has passed beneath the cutterhead.

Set the cutting depth on the planer so the thickest section of the board fits tightly beneath the infeed roller. Remove the board from under the infeed roller. Lower the planer's cutterhead 1/16 inch.

Turn on the planer. Place the board with the finished plane created in Step 2 down on the planer table. Feed the board into the planer smoothly with both hands. Catch the board from the outfeed side of the planer table. Repeat the process, alternating board sides, until the board is smooth, with no noticeable warp.