Cross Grain Question

[Ken Shoemaker]

I have a large piece of cherry. It's aprox. 30" wide by 40" long and has been run thru a commercial belt sander. It's about ready to be tranformed into SWMBO's coffee table top.

QUESTION: I want to inlay an 1/8th inch maple band about two inches in from the edge all around the table. The inlays would be mitered at the corners. Do you think they will fail on the two ends?

BTW: If I thought I would have no problems with wood movement, I really would like to recreate a Frank Lloyd Wright window design on the table.

Your comments would be helpful.

Thanks, Ken

[Lee Schierer]

I would expect that over time you would see gaps at the ends of the stirps running across the grain. These can be minimized by insuring your wood is thoroughly dried when you insert the strips and making sure all sides of the material are sealed with the finish. But 30" of long grain running across 30" of cross grain will see some dimensional changes over time due to seasonal wood movement.

[Mike Cruz]

This is STICTLY a guess, but maybe the inlay going down the crossgrain sides could be cut cross grain, too. Of course, you wouldn't have to do it all in one piece, but maybe in sections.

I think you will DEFINITELY have an expansion issue otherwise.