BACKGROUND
I am building a end table out of Brazilian Rosewood. After joing the wood and sanding it to the desired finish it is thinner than I want. The Table Top is a rectangle and my solution is to create a sandwich of the Brazilian Rosewood, a lighter wood such as alder or maple and then the Brazilian Rosewood. Total Thickness woudl be 1 to 1 1/2 inches. I would then router the edge for a decrative finish.
QUESTION/CONCERN
I want to glue the sandwich together leaving an opening in the middle underneath the table however I was concerned about wood movement with the different types of woods and the thought of the joints breaking.
Can anyone please let me know if this is a problem and if so what can I do to accomplish my objective yet mitigate any cracking or joint pull away type problems.
Thanks
Al
Replies
sandwiches
I'd rethink the sandwich idea, assuming you mean full-size alternating layers. Anything thicker than around 1/8" will start behaving like a full panel, with its own expansion/contraction coefficient. You could, however, add to the visual or "apparent" thickness with a frame-like structure beneath the Rosewood panel. I'd plan for movement of the individual frame species, and joint accordingly. Screws (from the bottom) with elongated slip holes would be one approach.
Here's one of the several seasonal wood movement calculators available online:
http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/shrinkulator.htm
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