Gluing up cabinet panels

[Brian Carpenter]

Hello Sawmill Creek! This is my first post, so please excuse any faux pas I may commit.

I am about to begin a build that promises to be the most significant project I have attempted to-date - a mid-century liquor cabinet in red oak - but my question is not specific to that. When gluing up larger panels for a project like this (for the carcass say), is it generally better to use as few wide boards as possible? or thinner boards and more of them? I have all the material I will (hopefully) need, but with boards ranging from ~11" down to 5", I'm not sure what my strategy should be. Beyond the obvious aesthetic considerations, is there any sort of universally accepted wisdom regarding this? If not, what are the trade-offs one way or another?

Thank you for any insight you are able to provide.

Cheers,
Brian

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to SMC!

The question you ask is a good one. And, of course, there's no one answer as it's pretty subjective. Personally, I work with wide boards because that's what I prefer for "show". If I can do a two board bookmatch or a single board, event better. Others prefer narrower boards for perceived additional stability. It also depends upon the species and how the lumber was cut. It's easier to piece together a panel that looks like one board with rift sawn lumber that has really straight grain even when there's many pieces. Flat sawn boards are a bit harder to assemble into a panel that doesn't look like it was a bunch of boards thrown together.

Bottom line...and something I've mentioned a "few" times over the years...the first step in finishing your project is selecting the material you'll build it from. Think it through so you get the look your want.

[Paul F Franklin]

A couple of other considerations: If you will be flattening and thicknessing on machines, how wide a board can your machines handle? Is the stock pretty flat already? Or is there significant cupping that will require removing a lot of stock to flatten? You can reduce waste and effort in the latter case by ripping the stock narrower before flattening. The more boards you have in a panel, the more care you have to use when jointing edges to make sure you are not building cup into the panel because your edges are slightly off. (They don't need to be a perfect 90 degrees, but if one is 91 degrees, the one it mates to better be 89 degrees or you will be building in cup).

[Ron Citerone]

. The more boards you have in a panel, the more care you have to use when jointing edges to make sure you are not building cup into the panel because your edges are slightly off. (They don't need to be a perfect 90 degrees, but if one is 91 degrees, the one it mates to better be 89 degrees or you will be building in cup).

I totally agree. What Paul just said is paramont IMO. When I joint edges for panel glue ups, I mark the face that was against the jointer fence and make sure the edges to be glued are always alternated. Jointer fences may not be a whole degree off as in the example Paul used, but jointer fences are never perfect either. By alternating, the panel will glue up flat. This one thing, and Paul nailed it, makes all the difference.

P.S. I use wide pieces for panel glue ups. Also, I don't like my glue line in the center either. Your eye is drawn to a glue line in the center more than if it is off center IMO.

[Ron Citerone]

Welcome to SMC!

Bottom line...and something I've mentioned a "few" times over the years...the first step in finishing your project is selecting the material you'll build it from. Think it through so you get the look your want.

ABSOLUTELY! Advice every novice should hear! (I learned to late.. LOL)

[Brian Carpenter]

This is all extremely helpful. I have an 8" jointer and a 13" planer that I'll be using to mill everything to square and thickness. I'm going to plan on taking a long look at all my material, consider my equipment and determine what makes the most sense before moving forward.

Again, thank you! If this project results in a liquor cabinet that doesn't completely disgust me, I'll post pics.