I am building a coffee table made out of red oak. I am to the point of building the top of the table. My question is about the wood choice for the top. The top is 24″ wide by 34″ long. It will also have breadboard ends. My thought is to glue 3 pieces of oak together to get the full 24 inches in width. What is the best way to go about choosing the wood for this? Is it ok to get one long piece of red oak and cut the three pieces from one whole piece? I am not sure if it matters. Obviously I need to get the best grain match possible. I know this question is a bit nebulous, but I am really just looking for the basic process I should go through in choosing the boards for this top.
Josh
Replies
Josh,
The only thing that really matters is your decision about the grain and figure. It doesn't matter if you get the pieces all from one long board, or from different boards as long as the grain meets whatever expectation you have. for its appearance, continuity, etc.
I assume you will be using flat sawn lumber (if not see below). Once you select your pieces, the next decision is whether to alternate the growth rings across the width of the top, or orient the growth rings all in the same direction. Discusions rage on forever about this decision and its affect on inevitable wood movement due to moisture changes.
If you alternate the growth rings, the top will stay relatively flat, but always have a slight amount of wavyness (it may be insignifiant, or enough to see or feel). If all the rings go the same way, the top will behave as one board, the width of the top and bow in one continuous arc. The amount may be very small, or significantly more.
I prefer the second method so that the top bows upward with increased moisture content. Then a screw, up through the center of each side rail into the underside of the top can control any movement and keep the top flat.
If you use quarter sawn lumber, you need not worry about these factors.
Rich
Lose the breadboard ends. Red oak moves quite a bit across the grain compared to the length of the board. You will end up with ends that can be as much as a 1/4" off each end during the different seasons. You have to be careful when you glue up breadboard ends or they can crack the top as well. FWW magazine had a good article on BB ends a couple issues ago by Christian Beeksvort(sp)
Orient the grain the way it looks the best. If the wood is stable before you mill it, it will be stable for your top. Rich is right, quartersawn makes a lot more stable top and looks very sharp.
I wasn't advocating quartersawn at all. Just commenting about the need to accomodate wood movement (a fact of life). I like well-chosen flat sawn figure for a table top much more than quartersawn.
I also don't agree with the advice about not using breadboard ends. I think breadboard construction is among the most elegant when done correctly. I have absolutely no problem with the seasonal change in the length of the ends and the width of the table. That's an honest characteristic of the material and a sign that the design is doing its intended job.
Rich
Breadboard ends are totally an esthetic touch. I don't happen to be one of those people who like my tabletops 1/4' wider than the ends. I also don't advocate BB ends because if they are glued the entire length something will crack. That is why you have to pin the tenons in an oval hole and a lot of ww make that mistake. I saw a hickory table with BB ends and it was a disaster. Cracked in the showroom!
Quartersawn white oak is one of the most sought after woods in the midwest. Right now in Michigan it is more expensive than cherry, walnut or hard maple and it has very little to do with the waste of quartersawing. The trees in my area that they are quartersawing are huge. We have a mill in the next community(Clinton) that does 2-3 million bd.ft. of kiln dried lumber a year and they say it is all supply and demand. Right now QSWW is $7 a bd.ft. and 10 years ago it was $1.50. They said when they quit making school furniture out of w oak the demand dried up until the mission craze started up again. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
Terry,Just because someone made a breadboard table incorrectly is no reason to fault the design. It is a classic, beautiful table top treatment that has its rightful place in fine furniture practice. Of course it has to be made correctly. Is there an inherent fault in mortise and tenon jointery if someone makes one that doesn't fit together correctly?There is no accounting for taste. I find Mission furniture particularly ugly. And the typical use of very darkly-stained, QS oak, accenting the ponderous quality of the design only makes it worse.But we are now quite off the topic of this thread.Rich
Rich,
Like I said " One man's trash is another man's treasure." You are right the man asked about HIS tabletop not ours. If the boards are flat and straight after two weeks in my shop they will usually stay that way.
Terry
Thanks for the lively discussion, guys. I appreciate your time invested in your responses.I will be picking out some wood this weekend and hopefully I can find some nice quartersawn red oak. I live in Tucson, AZ and I am not how available it is here.I believe I will stick with the breadboard ends. They add a very nice touch to the top and match the design of the rest of the table. Of course, you have to do them right for them to function correctly and not hurt the piece.Thanks again for the input. I really do appreciate it.Josh
Hey chabber, I live in Tucson as well. I saw some quartersawn red oak at woodworkers scource awhile back. Hopefully they still have some! good luck, Chris
Great, I will have to look into that this weekend. That is where I usually get my wood. Pretty decent people there. Any other sources for hardwood in Tucson? I have only lived here for a little while now.Thanks,
Josh
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