I am planning a dictionary stand out of ash. For the top, I am thinking about bookmatching a 5/4 piece. I would like to have the width of the top be greater than 24 inches, but my bandsaw only cuts up to 12″ (with the riser block)- so the bookmatched pieces won’t be wide enough. However, I like the idea of adding an ash border to all four sides: partly to cover the end grain, but also it will add a couple of inches to the width.
Any advice on attaching the border? I’m worried about the big ash slab moving around and cracking the border.
Thanks
Replies
How about a breadboard edge? that will give the piece some character and also give you the length you are looking for.
amb22
Keep in mind as you design your project that you can't have a board across the end grain that is tightly attached. That would be a cross grain situation. Your panel will want to expand/contract with seasonal changes in relative humidity and a cross grain border would restrict that. This will lead to some type of damage.
Any cross grain situation must allow for movement so something like a breadboard end is the answer.
Brian,
If you are going to put a solid wood border all the way around it, why not go with plywood? Then you can make it practically any size, put a really great looking bookmatched veneer on it and not worry about wood movement.
George
You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. - Michael Pritchard
I don't know what your design philosophy is, but I agree with the previous posts: breadboard.
I just completed a low entertainment center with a 66" x 22" breadboard top. I had seen an article in one of the woodworking magazines (I don't remember which) that suggested building a larger top such as mine with a gap in the center to accomodate movement of the top. This way you can tightly mortise the front and back edges of the long pieces into the breadboard ends for security, leaving the middle and center of each half in sliding tongue/groove or oversized mortises. I allowed a 1/16" gap between the two 11" wide halves (in the middle of a humid Oklahoma summer), realizing that come winter that gap will open to perhaps 3/16"-1/4". Additionally, I cut 3/8" x 1/4" grooves into the interior edges 3/16" below the surface to accomodate a spline for alignment and asthetics (to keep you from being able to see through the gap.) It looks quite nice as the center gap draws attention to the top and its pegged tenons, and goes without the strength concerns of typical large-scale breadboard construction.
In an case, this method of construction versus traditional breadboard construction does away with alignment concerns created when the table shrinks beyond the protuding breadboard ends.
Good luck, I hope this helps.
Thanks everyone for your ideas. I'm still not sure what I'll do. I might increase the width by adding a "spine": between the bookmatched pieces, I'll add a 2 inch wide piece of ash, to look like an open book.
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