Want to build a small table using white oak and birdseye maple for the top. My plan is to frame the maple with the white oak with mitered joints. Main concern is wood movement and the miters seperating during seasonal changes. Is this a workable plan or is there some other method I should be using?
RT
Replies
Your worries are justified as this is not a workable plan. You are trying to trap the wood movement of the birds-eye with the oak. Workable options would be to build the oak frame with a 1/2" groove on its inside edges and cut a double rabbet at the edge of the maple to form a sort of tenon. The maple would now float in the frame. Wood movement would have to be calculated and there would be a varying size gap depending on the season. A second option would be to simply put oak bread board ends on the maple. Properly done a bread board end allows the wood to float. Finally you could do this project out of veneer, exactly the way you envision, on high quality plywood or even MDF. You would need to put a backer veneer on the bottom side to even out stress. Veneer would likely allow woods of better figure than solid and be much more environmentally sound for the lack of high end wood used.
Thanks Ernie you confirmed my thoughts.
May go breadboard or veneer option, gotta think this one over.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled