Is "up" a no brainer for cathedrals?

[rudy de haas]

Assuming I can attach the photo..

I'm making a panel for the side of a jennair 36NX fridge -not that I want to, but I can't find a commercial product and the one guy I know
with a big enough vacuum press to put veneer on MDF for me is excessively busy, probably at least until March.

These Jatoba planks (see photo) are going into that panel. It seems obvious to me that the cathedrals should point up - but is that
right? Is there some rule of thumb or other guideline that's widely applied? "Season to taste" kind of makes sense, but a general rule
would be nice. Anyone?

One minor complication: we get chinook winds here, and they contain a lot of dust. I reduced the photo resolution for this site, but you should still be able 296918 to see that dust collects in the grain a bit (this wood is 220 sanded only) and this too argues for pointing up despit the fact that the wood will be oiled later.

[Mel Fulks]

Lots of ways on this among talented workmen. I've seen fine veneered side boards with grain in upside down position IMO.
What I would do in your case is turn the boards to where the angle of grain at edge of board runs in nearly straight line
with adjoining boards grain . So half of the pieces would be upside down. Sometimes called "slip match".

[Jason Roehl]

Lots of ways on this among talented workmen. I've seen fine veneered side boards with grain in upside down position IMO.
What I would do in your case is turn the boards to where the angle of grain at edge of board runs in nearly straight line
with adjoining boards grain . So half of the pieces would be upside down. Sometimes called "slip match".

A.K.A. "Sine wave". :D

[Phil Thien]

Cathedrals up is the rule of thumb, and what I would do in your case.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Cathedrals up is the rule of thumb, and what I would do in your case.

Ditto.


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[Peter Quinn]

Always up, like praying hands toward god is what I was taught. What I actually do...whatever pleases my eye most. Most of the time I actually prefer cathedrals up, occasionally I'll flip one board or more in a series over to make the edges match better if the grain is not so prominent or suggestive of a direction. I usually try to stick to quarter sawn material just to make the decision easier!

[Steve Rozmiarek]

If you want to make the piece seem top heavy, point them down. It could be interesting on several things, but I agree with the consensus.

[Frank Drew]

I prefer the up look; crotch veneers are oriented up although that's upside down to how they grew in the tree.

[rudy de haas]

I took Mr. Fulk's advice (above). Here's a photo - it turns out I don't have the right clamps so the thing
bowed up a bit, but I'll fix that later. This is the not-yet-fastened together version of one side. it's jatoba with
a light coat (not yet dry) of clear oil.

[Mel Fulks]

You did a commendable job. I've noticed that cameras sometimes don't seem to show panel matches as well as our eyes
do on the job. But those show well, and I'm sure clients are happy.

[Phil Thien]

The middle looks a bit like rotary cut veneer to me.

[rudy de haas]

Thanks - FYI :My wife is the client. None of my work is commercial. When we moved here (lethbridge) we lucked into an absolutely beautiful house whose previous owners maintained only the things others could easily see. Since we can't afford professionals, I'm learning by doing...

[rudy de haas]

Thanks! - it's actually 3/8th (less a bit) jatoba cut from 1 1/8th material with a bandsaw.

[Matt Day]

I like the "sine wave"! Looks great and balanced, to me, an engineer. 😀