wood movement an issue?

[Roger Barga]

I am building a hallway table with two drawers in the front. Both the back and sides will constructed with two cherry rails that will be attached to the legs with loose tenons, along with a panel of maple between the rails. My original plan was to cut the back panel and sides to fit between the rails and legs, and simply glue these panels in place - the back panel is 5" tall by 40" wide, while the side panels are significantly smaller. Hopefully the stick figure drawing I attached will illustrate this.

My concern/question is related to wood movement. Will a 5" wide piece of maple move enough to put significant pressure on the rails or is it too small to be concerned with?

Thanks,
Roger

[Jim Becker]

Assuming that you have about a 4% swing in MC where you live...not listed ;) ...that 5" could vary in width as much as just under 1/16" if hard maple; less if soft maple. Cherry moves slightly less than soft maple. I think that I'd float the panel, gluing only to the bottom rail. You'll get enough strength from the two parallel rails, IMHO, to support the piece as a hallway table.

[Roger Barga]

Thanks Jim, good to hear this now before I've glued everything up.
roger