I’m constructing a 22′ long bar that is 26″ wide and plan to laminate 1/4″ jatoba onto MDF for the top. The top is serpentined – not a straight line anywhere; therefore, the grain of the wood will be across the bar’s 26″ dimension, not lengthwise. The entire bar will be edgebanded in maple strips.
I’m concerned about the 1/4″ laminate’s movement on the MDF. Can I glue the jatoba to the MDF with Titebond III and use a urethane floor finish to encapsulate the entire top and edges and expect a stable top? Or will the jatoba buckle and/or tear the edgebanding off?
The other, far more expensive option is to make the jatoba much thicker and allow it to float on the MDF base using screws through slotted holes in the underside of the MDF.
Any insights and experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
W,
Is it possible to run the veneer's grain in the other direction? If you run it across the mdf counter, you will deal with 21 feet of expansion and contraction. We encourage you to run the veneer grain down the length of the bar. That way you will only deal with 26 inches of expansion and contraction. You will also need to laminate the bottom of the mdf as well, to keep the wood balanced.
Sincerely,
Gerald La Starza
Fine Woodworking
No, the customer wants the grain to run across the bar top, not down it's length. I've thought about leaving intentional small gaps and filling them with a flexible contrasting grout. (some type of polymer?)Thanks for your speedy response. Any other ideas?
Howdy,
There is a very old rule of thumb that says to limit veneer thickness to 1/8" maximum in order to eliminate wood movement problems. Below that thickness, the mdf and glue are strong enough to hold the veneer securely. You still need the balancing veneer on the back, though. Using veneer that is 1/4" thick is very likely to result in cracking of the veneer. It probably doesn't matter which direction you orient the grain. 26" is plenty wide to result in this problem. If you haven't yet resawn the veneer, my recommendation would be to resaw it to 1/8" or less. That is plenty of thickness for a robust top.The idea of a flexible grout sounds impractical in addition to being difficult to make aesthetically pleasing. Even sections six inches wide would be exposed to cracking due to humidity changes. Good luck, Tom.
Thanks Tom, you and Gerald have helped a lot. The customer is leaning toward a thick top bolted from underneath the MDF in slots so it can move. They are afraid of thin veneers that will get dinged under heavy use by their boys.I am going to experiment with different thicknesses of veneer on MDF to see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.
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