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A very good question was posed in a chat room on another site and was also posted (by Lee G.) at that site that I think would make a good discussion topic here. Basically, the question is should you finish both sides of a chest to be lined with cedar (not the cedar itself)?
Personally, I feel that it should be done to stabilize the primary wood and I do this as a matter of course. I do leave the T & G cedar unfinished and attach each cedar board by using a brad through the tongue at each end and in the center. I mill and install a “cap moulding” around the top edge of the chest.
Dano
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No doubt about it - finish both sides of the chest and use brads or small finish nails to attach the cedar lining, leaving the cedar completely unfinished of course.
*This is doable because the box is small. Increase it's size by a factor of 20 and you'd most likely have problems.
*FWIW'Course, I've seen a lot of warped tops and split panels, but I can attribute a lot of that to pieces being left in harsh conditions: basements, attics, barns, and even porches. Furniture that has beeen kept indoors during its life usually shows the usual effects of cross-grain movement, but not much warpage. I would think that in a chest, with relatively short pieces constrained at both ends, the tendency to warp would be countered pretty effectively by the construction. Just keep the grain in the sides and ends runnung parallel to the ground. I've worked on quite a few 19th Century immigrant trunks, and Pennsylvania Dutch trunks made of pine and poplar, and none that I can remember had warped sides, though a few of the tops were pretty bad.
*Michael,You have to remember that all of those old pieces were made from old growth wood that is no longer available. We are using a lesser quality wood than they did one hundred years ago so doing everything you can to make your new work stable would include finishing on the inside of a chest and underside of a tabletop.Stephen
*Stephen,I know that is conventional wisdom, but I ran furniture factories for over 20 years, putting out literallly thousands of truckloads of mostly solid wood furniture. Since then, for the last ten years or so, I have done custom woodwork, refinishing and antique restoration, and custom finishing. I also still try to keep up with current production methods.This first-hand experience has shown me that wood which is stable in storage and in the shop will usually be stable in the final product. Proper construction will generally easily resist any tendency to warp or cup. The only thing you can't constrain successfully is cross-gain movement, and plenty is written about that.Finishing one side allows the wood to absorb or give up moisture faster on the unfinished side, but the wood stabilizes and balances out the moisture remarkably quickly, in my experience, and in an indoor environment changes in humidity tend to be pretty gentle. Proper construction and constraint also seems to cause the wood that wants to warp to take a "compression set," that tends to make the wood even more stable over the years. Bob flexner did some experiments to demonstrate and published an article on it about a year ago. What I am trying to say is that in most cases I don't worry about finishing the inside of a chest of drawers, or even under a solid wood table top, of which I have made quite a few.With UNCONSTRAINED panels such as drop leaves or unsupported chest lids, I would be very careful about selection and layup, and finish both sides equally. But since they show, this is generally done anyway.Think about it: When was the last time you saw a panel in a frame do anything other than split from improperly constrained cross-grain movement? Would finishing both sides have prevented that?When was the last time you saw a properly constructed and mounted table top warp badly unless it had been stored in harsh conditions or made from poorly dried lumber? When was the last time you saw a breadboard construction warp at all without the ends having first let go due to excessive heat or moisture (and no pins)? And yet I have seen my own tables (the relative few with that construction) move easily a quarter inch across the grain from season to season. When was the last time you saw the side of a chest with any kind of locking construction (not a rabbet and nails) come apart due to warping? How many times have you seen lacquered drawer sides damaged by plasicizers migrating into the finish from objects stored in the drawer? Would that have happened if the drawer sides weren't finished?I have seen a lot of really messed-up furniture, but I really can't remember the last time I saw damage that would have been prevented by finishing both sides.All that said, I could be wrong. I'm just describing my empirical observations. If I am wrong, I'd like to know the "how"s and "why"s. I'd welcome comment from anyone with training in wood technology or furniture engineering or design.
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