Victorian vanity made with beech and cherry / movement
I am starting a build on a Victorian vanity for a friend of mine. the size approx. 39″ wide, 35″ high about 22″ deep. sides are a frame and panel ( Baltic birch ply ). the front posts and legs are made of beech-very ornate carvings of acanthus leaves, these are CNC made from outside vender to be purchased. since all of my red maple was destroyed by powder post beetle I have to build the frame and detail from my stock of cherry lumber. the question is a mix of these 2 different woods, cherry and beech, is their any significant movement that some one would see after some time in the home. the vanity will be painted white. —terrible thing to do to clear cherry lumber!! any thing that would move and make it look bad, like splitting at the joints. i would make the joinery with full length floating tenons–sides to front posts, bottom trim to the base. the doors and corners of base will be half lap—-any thoughts?
Replies
Without photos, it's hard to say for sure, but it seems from your description that the wide areas where seasonal movement might be a factor are plywood. So. No movement issues there. All of the frame members will be narrow and any movement across the grain of those pieces would be negligible. From your description, I don't think you will have any movement issues.
Can't speak specifically to the stuff the vendor is making. Beech itself is poorly behaved if it's not sawn straight, but is it enough to worry about if it's legs?
I can't see any issues otherwise - sounds like all joints are at the end of long grain and the woods are matched by type for those.
when cherry is reasonable, then cherry is what you paint, right?
Thank you for the feedback. The widest pieces are about 3-1/4", bottom of frame with plywood center for bottom of cabinet half lap for corners. The door rails and styles and side panels are about 2-1/4" and half lap joinery at corners. so it sounds like I am safe from any major movement. the front corner posts (beech) and the end panels (cherry) joinery with full length loose tenons were my concerns (about 22" long). the front legs are 7-3/4" tall, right above the legs over the vanity base are the corner posts.