So I’m thinking of designing a walnut table with a top that is roughly 4×8. What I am entertaining is running the grain and boards along the length of the table, but each length is four or so different pieces, for the mixed grain and color effect. So the end result would be the staggering much like a brick wall without the spacing
If it is designed to consider the expansion/contraction across the grain, alternating grain to cope with cupping, and can be milled precisely…the only problem I can see is edge grain gluing. Any one edge glue joint would be locked in by long grain glue joints, which seems pretty solid to me. Is there anything I am not considering here? Normally I see this kind of design with finger joints.
Haha and yes I know the glue-up would be a pita. But I would take my time with planning and probably do it in stages.
Replies
Should work fine
My wife bought (I know horrors, she didn't want to wait for me to build one) a kitchen table with the top glued up from short solid wood pieces like you described. We've had the table for 14 years and the top is fine. If you are at all worried you could cut tongue and groove joints for the end grain connections. I would recommend using Titebond III for the glue up. It is darker and blends in well with walnut and is a stronger most moisture resistent glue than other wood glues.
gdblake
Other considerations
If you have a router table, or a shaper, you might consider T&G, as gdblake suggests fr the edge joints, or any of the several bit sets designed for this purpose. That might make the flue-up a bit easier, alignment-wise.
http://www.eagleamerica.com/prod_detail_list/ea_-_glue_joints
Be sure to use feather boards on the router-table fence to keep the stock firmly against the table, though. Otherwise, inaccuracies in the edge will result in poor alignment.
If you opt for square edge joints, vertical clamping with cauls can help to avoid slippage during the glue-up.
Combining different species
If the contrasting wood species have different expansion coefficients, the joint will likely fail. That, of course, would be more pronounced, more dramatic with end-grain joints.
You could, however, use a contrasting species for the base, since the top will essentially be floating.
Yeah I've done some reading up on this and gluing different species doen't seem worth the potential problems. I am, however, considering dyeing a few individual boards prior to glue up. Very slightly, so to the average person it just looks like darker pieces of the same species. I will hopefully have it planed and glued such that sanding will be minimal. I will most likely do some tests to see how much sanding I can get away with if needed, and still not affect the uniformity of the dyed pieces.
Just want to clarify
In your original post about building a table you asked if it was okay to run the grain side to side. I want to make sure our answers didn't mislead you. This is perfectly acceptable as long as you use aprons that run the length of the table to provide support for the top. Otherwise, if you are wanting to build a trestle style table, you need the grain to run the length of the table. Go online or out to some antique stores and look at a bunch of tables to see how they are made. This should help to give you some design ideas as well.
I get the feeling you are fairly new to woodworking. Tables are pretty easy to build as long as you understand where wood is strong and where it is weak. Here is a website link that does a pretty good job of going over the basics in terms of size and design.
http://furniture.about.com/od/diningroomfurniture/a/Standard-Dining-Table-Measurements.htm
gdblake
Yes in fact I am fairly new to woodworking. I have a ton of remodelling under my belt, but my knowledge is mostly application based. This will be my first "fine" woodworking project and I'm pretty excited. I guess I understand the characteristics of wood, but since I've never experienced them in the project environment, I feel like the more questions I ask the better!
And yes I definately plan on the aprons, with mortise/tenon to the legs. I have quickly found out how dynamic this walnut really is (or any wood for that matter). I planed a scrap piece before it had time to sit in the house for a few days. It was so flat I could almost push it around like an air hockey puck. When I woke up in the morning it was a whole different story!
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