Single board or glued up panel for table top

[Jack Norfleet]

I have a 4/4 cherry board that is 18" by 60". My intention has always been to use it for the top of a hall table. Now, I am worried about the stability of a single board vs a glued up panel.

I would appreciate any experiences or guidance.

[Danny Hamsley]

I am by no means an expert. However, most wide boards, unless perfectly quartersawn, have growth rings when observed on the cross-section that move from flat sawn to rift sawn to quartersawn. That is to say that the orientation of the growth rings in the board changes as you go across its width. If the board is flat and perfectly dry, and the board will not be used in an environment with wildly changing moisture environments, it will be ok because a board only cups or warps when the moisture content is changing and not stable. However, very wide boards are prone to cup because when the moisture content is not stable, the varying growth ring orientation can lead to stresses because wood shrinks and swells more on the flatsawn face than the quartersawn face.

If you get it to the perfect moisture content and it is flat, and if you design in a good system for letting the board expand and contract in use across its width, I bet it will be a beautiful table top. The risk is if the board is not stable to the in-use environment.

[Alex Shanku]

I love the look of single wide boards.

If you are worried that your board may cup, etc, build some form of bracing into your design ie battens or breadboards.

[Van Huskey]

I love the look of single wide boards.

If you are worried that your board may cup, etc, build some form of bracing into your design ie battens or breadboards.

That is exactly what I was going to say.

[Stephen Edwards]

I'm not an expert, either. However, I've made several table tops that used one board for the top. Generally, I prefer to rip the board and re-glue the pieces back together. Depending on the grain pattern of the board, the glue line is hardly noticeable except on the ends. Even there, one has to look closely to see the glue joint.

[Tony Shea]

A glue up is always a pretty good way to go and may prevent movement to an extent. It is also easier to mill up with standard size equipment. But IMHO there is nothing better than having a table-top made from one peice. It's almost heartbreaking to have to rip such a nice wide board in half only to glue it back together. I would try and plan for using the full width board if it was me and just take extra precautions to control movement, breadboard ends being a great solution.

[Glen Butler]

Cutting it down and gluing it back up will not do anything to prevent movement and just give you glue lines in the top. Glue up any wide panel and you chance cupping if it is in a wet environment. Your not in a wet environment. Mill the piece close to final spec. Let it sit for a couple weeks and finish milling. You'll be fine.

[Frank Drew]

But IMHO there is nothing better than having a table-top made from one peice. It's almost heartbreaking to have to rip such a nice wide board in half only to glue it back together.

I completely agree with Tony about the value of using a single board in this application; furthermore, I don't get what would be gained by ripping then re-gluing the board -- you'd end up where you started, the board would never look quite as good as it did (i.e. with uninterrupted grain), and it wouldn't be any more or less stable. If you ripped then flipped one of the boards before gluing, hoping for more stability, the two halves would more than likely always reflect light differently so you just lost the advantage of using one board.

Make sure your wide board is dry, keep in in an indoor environment for a couple of weeks prior to working it up, approach the final thickness over a couple of days (planing equal amounts off both sides), and, once the table is made, bask in the admiration of your friends, neighbors and fellow woodworkers :D.

[Kent A Bathurst]

+1 to what Frank said. There is nothing that looks like a single, wide board. I would never consider ripping that sucker - a beautiful piece of wood.

[Austin Grote]

Go with the single board. Fasten it properly to table frame so it can move and you will be fine. And please post a picture when you are done!

[Glen Butler]

Come to think of it. If I had a board that wide I would probably resaw it and laminate it to something that is more stable. If you wanted the table to be deeper than 18" a bookmatch would look nice.

[Howard Acheson]

If it's been properly dried and it's flat and straight now, it can certainly be used as a single board. In fact, it would be a shame to rip it into smaller boards. Wide boards are highly valued as they are not readily avaiable any more. 100 plus year old furniture was all made with the widest boards possible.

If you want to rip it into narrow strips and make it look like factory furniture stuff, let me know. I will pay the shipping so you can send it to me and I will trade it a comparable number of board feet of narrow stock.

[Thomas Hotchkin]

+1 to what Howie said. There is nothing that looks like a single, wide board. I would never consider ripping it up - a beautiful piece of wood.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Come to think of it. If I had a board that wide I would probably resaw it and laminate it to something that is more stable. If you wanted the table to be deeper than 18" a bookmatch would look nice.


Allright Glen - you could resaw an 18" board? THAT is bragging. :p

I don't even want to hear how wide a board you could joint or plane - you're already outside the ballpark my wallet lives in.

[Jack Norfleet]

I really appreciate the advice. I will have to flatten one side with hand planes and then use my drum sander (Performax 22-44) to make the other parallel. My planer is only 13 inches.

Since it is a piece for my house, I will deal with any movement.

I will definitely try breadboard ends and battens to keep it flat.

The board was just one in a stack a the local hardwood wholesaler. I got it at their normal price which was about $6 a bf. There is very little sap wood so I should be able to get at least 16 inches of width. Just about right for a hall table.

[Keith Christopher]

I'm not an expert, either. However, I've made several table tops that used one board for the top. Generally, I prefer to rip the board and re-glue the pieces back together. Depending on the grain pattern of the board, the glue line is hardly noticeable except on the ends. Even there, one has to look closely to see the glue joint.


This is what I do also.

[David DeCristoforo]

A single board top will rarely be a problem and it will look much better than a glued up top. There is little reason to cut up a wide board to make several narrow ones that will be glued back together in the same orientation. The only way to get any "advantage" would be if you were to flip every other piece over. The theory is that you have a choice as to whether you have a "wave" pattern to the grain which will, in theory, minimize the tendency of the top to bow or to create an even bow that can be pulled flat to the table's understructure. But you will be sacrificing the esthetic advantage of using a single wide board. For me, I will choose the single board every time unless it is simply too warped, bowed, wound or whatever to make a reasonably flat top.

[Jim Becker]

There is no way in heck that I would in any way contemplate cutting up a wonderful wide board. If you build with wood movement in mind, there should be no "stability" issues. And unless it's extremely straight-grained with said grain absolutely parallel to the final edges of the board, glue lines will be visible to anyone who looks closely and knows what to look for.

[Sean Nagle]

I have a houseful of antiques. Many of the pieces have very wide boards for tabletops. The only tops that haven't noticeably cupped have breadboard ends.