More Stable -Solid or Joined?

[John Finley]

I am about to make my first cuts on a new project so thanks in advance for the quick replys. I am starting the panel for the top of a buffet. I am making it out of red oak and I am trying to match up which boards to glue up for the top. I have mostly 6" wide stock, but I have one 12.5" wide solid piece. My question is, which is going to be more stable, three 6" pieces glued together, or one 12" solid with a 6" glued to that? The 12" solid piece looks like a really stable piece of wood. There is little to no warp in it right now. Being that this is the top, I want it to be as stable as possible. Thanks -John

[Bob Childress]

All things being equal, you will probably have better results gluing up three 6 inch boards than using the wide one. Wide boards are notoriously prone to cupping.

Just my observation on it. :)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Take the big wide pieces and rip em.
Mark the wood first to you can flip every other piece for glue up.

The wood will always move (warp) & the flipping of ripped pieces causes the warp to self cancel. Rip 'em about 3" wide.

[Mike Cutler]

John

It's not as simple as just looking at the width of the board. I'll take a piece of 12" quartersawn over 6" flatsawn pieces just about any day.
As Cliff pointed out you can rip the pieces and do a glue-up that alternates the growth rings and minimizes the effect that any one single board can have, but there is a catch. You have to make sure that the faces of the boards have the grain running in the same direction or you can end up with tear out on the boards that are reverse of the proper direction if you need to feed the whole top through a planer. If you finish with handplanes you will only make this mistake once, believe me.:o (DAMHIKT).

What is the thickness of the material? Are you in a pretty stable environment, ie no wood stoves or heavy AC in the house. Changes in humidity are your enemy. These are variable to be considered also.
If the pieces are stable now, it's a good bet they will remain somewhat stable, regardless of the width. Remember though that planing itself will release stress, and 6" is wide enough to cup on you, same as 12".

Now that I've said all that. I agree with Cliff. The top of buffet,sideboard,huntboard, is often covered with some form of linen. A panel glueup on the top may not be as noticeable as a glueup on the sides, or drawers. Save the 12" for the drawer fronts, or sides to give you some flexibilty with bookmatching and grain matching.

Fun isn't it.:D

[Jim Becker]

This advise to rip a wide board is almost making me cry...."cupping" and other issues are not really going to come into play on a top with proper support and provisions for wood movement. I'll pick wide boards any day and have never had an issue with them in this way.

That said, I cannot say which way I would choose of the two offered without being able to see the boards. If the 12" board could be mated with one of the 6" boards with a nearly invisible glue joint, that's the way I would go, placing the narrow board to the rear. If, however, that match is not possible, my second choice would be to pick three 6" wide boards that could be joined with a nearly invisible glue joint. My last choice would be any combination of boards that didn't result in the appearance of one wide board. The exceptions to this (for me...) would be something like tiger maple where narrower strips would be joined with alternating tiger-stripe directions for effect. Note, this is my personal and very-anal design standard and obviously doesn't work for everyone. It also requires more material to work with so that such close color and grain matches can be made.

[Steve Clardy]

If the 12" is flat now, I would use it as is.


I glue up boards as wide as possible if they are relatively flat.

If they are cupped, then I rip them up and flip them over alternating every other one.

[John Finley]

Well, I went with the multiple 6" pieces. I haven't glued it up yet, so I will think about ripping them further. The material was 4/4, and I have taken it down to 7/8. After I glue it up, it will probably end up at 3/4 (after planing and sanding). Thanks for the help.

[Joe Chritz]

Any tops that I do are oriented for a pleasing grain match without much thought to anything else.

Properly acclimated wood should be fine, if the wood is still a bit wet the width won't make much difference if it decides to move around.

Joe

[Lee Schierer]

I would go for the best appearance I can get if this top is going to be at or below eye level for the owner. You want the best looking top you can get. If you can add 6" to a 12" board and have the joint disappear then that is the way to go. Otherwise use the 3 6" wide boards if they look better. This assumes the 12" board is flat now and stay flat after minor surface preparation.

As others have mentioned wide boards do tend to cup. Since you have some thickness to remove on your wide board, be sure to remove equal amounts from each face. That should minimize any cupping. If you take all the material from a single face you may change the balance of stress within the wood and cupping may occur. Before you do you glue up face both sides of the 12" board removing a a little material. Immediately check the board for flatness. Let the board set for a while (several days) and check it again for flatness. If it stays flat after the minor surface removal, proceed with the glue up. If it cups, consider the other options noted by other posters. If you have a moisture meter take moisture readings before and after the surfacing.

[Frank Drew]

"This advise to rip a wide board is almost making me cry..."

"I would go for the best appearance I can get if this top is going to be at or below eye level for the owner."

I agree with Jim and Lee here; special projects deserve special wood, used thoughtfully. As wide as possible, as few as possible, and from the same tree if at all possible.

In the case presented by the original poster, though, it might be that three matched 6" boards would look better, more unified and resolved, if you will, than a 12'' combined with a 6''.