I have a project that a neighbor lady wants. She has some really nice cherry…. I usually use loose tenons made from the stock I am using. Anything wrong with using some good birch plywood or some other hardwood scraps I have?
I can not get any replacement wood locally that matches the grain/color she has. Seems the wood was her grandfathers that has been stored in a attic for years. All I have is a picture of what she wants and without making it smaller than she would like, I have no wood left over for the tenons. A ‘freebe’ job just cus she is a nice old gal so I don’t want to spend anymore that my time. The electric! bad enough.. My time is free and gives me something to do so….
Replies
Use hardwood scraps, they will be fine.
mike
Will,
Use any other hardwood you like. Don't use plywood.
But if the job doesn't have any scraps left over to make your tenons (splines) it sounds like you have figured the project down to a razor thin margin for error on material. Maybe you need to size it down a bit, or use some "newer" cherry for parts that will not be visible. Once you have worked the wood, and it is exposed to light, air and the finish you intend to use, it will all tend to age into a similar shade over several months and years.
Rich
Rich14 wrote:
<Use any other hardwood you like. Don't use plywood. [snip]>
Uh-oh ... I frequently use (baltic birch) plywood for floating tenon stock (as long as the tenon is no wider than, say, 2" or so, because of the difference in m.c. related expansion). So far I haven't had a failure, but I need to know why I shouldn't continue to use this choice of tenon stock material. So, please, if you wouldn't mind 'splainin' why one shouldn't use it, I surely would appreciate it!
Thanks.
-Peter T.
Pete,I wasn't meaning to be pedantic about it. Will asked if he could use hardwood scraps OR birch plywood. Given the choice I just wouldn't use plywood for such a member, just as I wouldn't form a tenon out of a larger piece of plywood to make a M&T joint. Plywood is great material for flat construction, but I think use for jointery is exceeding its ability to resist delamination and sheer stresses.(Having said that, someone will probably now post something showing plywood performing better than solid harwood in this application.)If you have had no joint failures using your technique, then that is that. But how long has your joinery held up and under what conditions?Rich
Sorry Rich,
I'm not sure how my response came across as suggesting that I thought that you were being "pedantic" ... I didn't think you were. Sorry for communicating poorly(?).
Btw- I always thought that premium plywood's strength in resisting sheer was better than if it were solid wood (good glue lines, ie long grain to long grain, are generally thought to exceed the structural strength of the surrounding wood) ... I would think that it follows that it would make wonderful floating tenon stock. Perhaps not???
-Peter T.
One concern that I would have in using plywood for floating tennons is that because of it's construction, plywood edges represent more end grain than what would be usual in dimensional stock, and thus would make a weaker glue joint. Then again, since the edges of a tennon a only a minor portion of the glued surface, maybe it doesn't matter.Tom
I think you're safe. Your 2" limit tells me you understand the risk.
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