I have built a box made from 5/8″ Baltic Birch plywood, roughly 36″ long and 11″ high. On one face of the box I want to attach a hardwood panel made from Eastern Maple. The Maple was bookmatched from a blank that yielded a very slim 3/16″ thickness. (It’s pretty but it’s also pretty thin.) My dilemma is how to attach the hardwood panel to the plywood with no visible fasteners on the face of the panel. Clear as mud?
I have considered two options, both of which are problematic: (1) drill from the inside of the box through the plywood to a fixed depth into the back of the Maple panel, being sure to make slot-shaped pilot holes in the plywood to allow for wood movement, or (2) ignore wood movement and glue the panel to the plywood box. Option 2 would be the safest and most secure if the thin Maple panel did not move much, or if the force of the movement was negated by the strength of the glue bond and the plywood. This approach seems fraught but option 1 is also risky.
No doubt there are design options I should have considered that would have avoided this dilemma, but it’s too late for that now. Any suggestions for alternatives or comments about the wood movement issue on a panel of these dimensions would be welcome. Many thanks in advance.
Replies
Glue it, it’s never posed any problems to me, I usually glue 1/4 inch veneers then plane it down 1/16 or so.
I would go with the glue up. I also would get the glue up setup well dialed in before hand with all the clamps, cauls, etc.
Given that it is only 11" across the grain, your will likely be minimal. The formula is width X change in humidity X change coefficient for maple. The only info yo provided was the 11 inches. The average indoor humidity change is about 3%. The coefficient for flat sawn red maple is .00289. It's lower for quarter sawn. It's higher for sugar maple, loswer for silver maple. So doing the math with what we know and guessing at everything else you get 11 X 3 X .00289 = .09537 inches. Everyone has their own tolerances, but I think you are clearly in the "it doesn't matter" zone. Do whatever will yield the best looking project. Good luck.
Glue it. You'll never get fasteners to hold in 3/16 stock without getting an oops.
I'd have shot for 1/8 for glue, rather than 3/16, to be a little safer. But you should be fine.
My sincere thanks to all of you who replied, and so quickly and helpfully, to my inquiry. Knowing that there are no guarantees (Murphy's Law definitely applies to woodworking) the glue-up approach makes the most sense. That's how I was leaning before posting here and now I'm reassured by the consistent responses you've all provided. Based on a tiny bit of experience with veneer, I plan to use a thick/heavy caul that will cover the entire glued area along with 97 clamps or so. I really appreciate your help!
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled