Worried about wood movement

[Jim Stastny]

I'm building a red oak desk, it will be 27" wide, and I want to put edging around the border. I fear that the normal, seasonal wood movement will cause the banding to crack. Is my fear justified? Any advise?

[Jerry Miner]

If the top is solid lumber, and the edging goes across the end, then yes, you will have a problem. Don't do it!

If the top is plywood, or veneer on a similarly stable substrate, then you're OK

Read a little on "breadboard ends" if you want to add solid wood to the end of a solid wood panel

[Kent A Bathurst]

Unless you want to go whole-hog and do it as breadboard end. Even then, though, the edging on the end does not move, while the desk top expands and contracts - so the 27" dimension matches only part of the year, as the desktop moves past that dimension.

Beyond that - you need to build is like a frame-and panel..... which would be a bit strange for a desktop.

Advise - just leave the edging off.

[Wade Lippman]

Beyond that - you need to build is like a frame-and panel..... which would be a bit strange for a desktop.

Advise - just leave the edging off.

My wife has a 150 year old desk that was made by some distant ancestor. The desktop is frame and panel; the panel is flush with the frame. It was in poor repair and I replaced the panel with plywood.

[John TenEyck]

If you use solid wood for the desk top, you can put edging on the ends but you need to let the top expand/contract. Bread board construction is one approach, but another that works well for narrower edging is to use a sliding dovetail. Route a male DT on the ends of the top and a corresponding female in the edging. Slide on the edging and glue it only where it meets the edging at the front.

John