wood movement question

[Clint Barden]

I have a box of prefinished 3/4" oak flooring that I want to make a small round table out of.

Once the finish and the milled grooves on the bottom side are planed off, the thickness of the boards will be roughly 9/16".

I am wanting to face glue two milled planks together to make one that will finish around 1" thick, then edge glue these "sandwiches" to make the table top.

Any reason I shouldn't do this?
(and yes I know it would be easier to just go buy 4/4 stock, but this stuff is destined for the landfill otherwise)

Thanks in advance.

[Brian Tymchak]

Hi Clint,

I don't see any reason it wouldn't work. The finish on the flooring will likely do a job on your planer/jointer blades though.. Consider the cost of resharpening them, or replacing them as part of the project. Once you do plane the boards, I recommend you stack, sticker, and weight them for a couple days to let them acclimate once again to ambient humidity before gluing them up.

Brian

[David Keast]

Hi Clint,

I don't see any reason it wouldn't work. The finish on the flooring will likely do a job on your planer/jointer blades though.. Consider the cost of resharpening them, or replacing them as part of the project. Once you do plane the boards, I recommend you stack, sticker, and weight them for a couple days to let them acclimate once again to ambient humidity before gluing them up.

Brian

+1 for that, and try to plane roughly equal amounts off each side so as not to release uneven stresses.

[Howard Acheson]

Much pre-finished flooring is finished with a finish that contains metal (aluminum oxide). Yes, the same stuff used to make abrasive sanding paper. This is what gives it its long lasting and damage resistant qualities. It will most certainly beat up your planer blade very rapidly and will not be softened by paint strippers.

If you can identify the manufacturer, it would be worth contacting them to find out the type of finish you will be dealing with.

[Clint Barden]

Hmmm good point about the planer blades. I didn't consider that. The finish is definitely aluminum oxide.

My planer is a dewalt lunch box type planer with reversible and disposable blades. I am still using the original blades on the original side. I might go ahead and plane these down and reverse the blades afterwards.

Got a couple projects to finish up first though.... just planning ahead!

Thanks y'all!

[Scott T Smith]

Clint, you might find that the wood has a lower MC% on the pre-finished side than the other side, especially if it's been exposed to outside or non humidity controlled air recently.

If it were me, I would break your project into to phases. First, do a minimum pass to remove the finish, and a similar minimum on the back side. Stack and sticker for a couple of weeks. Then do your final passes.

[johnny means]

IMO your plan should give you a very stable top with very little possibility of movement. I wouldn't bother with stickering or further acclimating. Your flooring has no doubt been kiln dried and is a little on the narrow side to still be reactive. Further more, the high stave count in your finished piece will do a lot to average out any possible movement.

Of course I am assuming your joinery and finishing are not done in a way that causes problems.

[Danny Hamsley]

A moisture meter is a wonderful thing to have!