Frustration factor here...

How do you prevent one of those decoupage bases from warping, bowing or bending on you when you varnish it?

It happens to me all the time,...well almost. Am i doing something wrong or using the wrong equipment?

Can someone help and offer advice?...please.

You mean they warp when you varnish them? They must be very thin wood. Maybe try spray varnishing them, or airbrushing Future (or Pledge) so that your barrier will dry on the surface instead of penetrating the wood and warping it.

A lot of times, the really inexpensive ones that are made from pine are not properly kiln dried before they're routed and sold at the store. These ones will often just warp as they finish drying out no matter what you do to them.

(You can smell the wood to see if it's pine - It'll have a slight turpentine-like odor if it's pine. It might also feel slightly sticky from the pine sap in the wood.)

When shopping for these, sort through the entire pile and feel with your hands for any hint of moisture. If any of the plaques feel even slightly moist, then pass them by.

The slightly more expensive bass wood plaques that are individually wrapped in cellophane are usually very stable and will not warp on their own.

The more expensive oak and cherry plaques are also kiln dried and stable.

Using water-based (or water "clean-up") finishing products, stains or clear coats, can also lead to warping. This can be especially bad with products that are brushed on since they go on heavier and wetter.

I use stains that are mineral spirits based and aerosol clear lacquers to finish my decorative base plaques. It's important to seal these wood plaques top and bottom to isolate them from moisture from your ground work and also from moisture in the air.

If you just seal the sides and bottoms, and leave the top exposed to your ground work materials, water from the ground work (Cellucley, plaster, patching compound, Sculpy, etc) can cause warping. The same applies to sealing just the top and sides and leaving the bottom exposed - moisture from the air can be absorbed by the bottom and also warp the plaque.

HTH,

I take it theres no way to salvage the plaque? Its only slightly warped but noticable. I feel like douseing it in water and pounding it out or something.

You can try soaking it in water and then put something heavy on it until it dries.

Jesse