Crossgrain inlay vs. expansion

[Andrew W. Thomas]

Is there an issue applying a solid cherry inlay from '1/16" deep, 1/4" wide, 2' long piece, across the grain on a 2' panel?

I was told rule of thumb is hardwood can expand 1/8" per 1'. On a 2 foot wide panel, does that mean the panel would expand and leave 1/8" at each end of the inlay or does the inlay get pulled with the expansion of the wood.

Specifics: I was considering an inlay like this on the top of a solid maple toybox I'm building for my son. Cherry would be ripped from a 1/16" by 6" by 4 foot piece.

Thanks in advance

Similar to the following:
218099

[Mike Henderson]

You say that the inlay would only be 1/4" across the grain. Wood expansion will not be a problem with something that narrow cross grain. If you want to make sure, use a glue that cures plastic (that has some give and take), such as Titebond.

But with that narrow a cross grain, I wouldn't worry about expansion and would use any glue you want.

Mike

[Andrew W. Thomas]

You say that the inlay would only be 1/4" across the grain. Wood expansion will not be a problem with something that narrow cross grain. If you want to make sure, use a glue that cures plastic (that has some give and take), such as Titebond.

But with that narrow a cross grain, I wouldn't worry about expansion and would use any glue you want.

Mike

Sorry Mike, my explanation must not have been clear....

I was wondering if the panel would expand under the inlay and leave the long grain inlay shorter than the crossgrained (expanded) panel.

[Andrew W. Thomas]

Can anyone help me with this?

[Lucas Barr]

Andrew,

There was an article on finewoodworking.com where someone was using small sections of endgrain holly to do crossgrain inlay. That way the inlay expands with the panel. I'll see if I can find the article.

EDIT: The article was called "A Graceful Hall Table" by Kevin Kauffunger in Fine Woodworking #212. However, after re-reading your post I'm not sure this technique would work with 1/4" wide cherry inlay. There would probably be too much difference between the apperance of the long-grain inlay and the end-grain inlay.

[ian maybury]

Hi Andrew, can't help with experience based advice, but maybe the likes of these guys http://www.joewoodworker.com/veneering/faq-veneering.htm (or one of the other specialist inlay/marquetry suppliers) can advise - and maybe supply the inlay strip too.

Taken at face value laying long grain over a cross grain base seems very likely to result in problems. Use a glue that moves and gaps may open at the ends.

Maybe a cross grain inlay strip is an option on cross grain wood, although it'd be harder to handle.

There's perhaps also the possibility that a highly flexible and not too strong strip strongly glued to a cross grain base might be OK if it can tolerate the movement. I wonder if there's a veneer equivalent of bendy ply?

Another possibility if its got to run across the grain in solid wood panel might be to laminate the panel from say 3 sheets of the solid with the grain perpendicularly oriented to each other using a very strong adhesive.

It's probably not by accident that a lot of the strip inlay you see is with the grain in legs etc - with only short cross grain strips. Chances are too that there are preferred wood combinations for this sort of work - strip that's pretty flexible, and substrates that don't move too much.

There's very mixed advice out there which at least temporarily put me off, so any 'expert' needs careful choosing - judging by the bit of reading I did some years ago anyway. Lots of the intarsia/marquetry manuals don't address the issue at all, or side step it by advising the use of an MDF or chip board base.

ian

[John Coloccia]

1/4" for a 2' wide panel seems like a lot, but yes, the panel will expand more than the inlay. The inlay will stretch to some extent. I don't think you'll end up with 1/8" gaps at either end but I do think you could end up with gaps. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. Wood is wood...it's a natural product. It moves and sometimes has a mind of it's own.

A simple thing to do is to recognize the motion and simply not connect the lines. Don't make a continuous rectangle. Any movement will not be noticed.

A great book is "Understanding Wood" by Bruce Hoadley. Easily one of the most boring books I've ever read, and also one of the most informative.

[Andrew W. Thomas]

Thanks everyone for your replies.