Did I make a design mistake?

[keith ouellette]

The shop cabinet I am building has sides made of flat birch 15/32 panels trimmed with 11/16 thick 1 and 1/4 wide white oak. The panels are rabbited in to be flush with the with the trim so they will be glued in place and not floating.
Was this a bad design?

[Sam Yerardi]

If I understand your description correctly, I think if you did see a problem it could be any place where the panels are glued across the grain of the oak. Given the mositure content of the material, where it will be used, you might not ever see a problem.

[keith ouellette]

If I understand your description correctly, I think if you did see a problem it could be any place where the panels are glued across the grain of the oak. Given the mositure content of the material, where it will be used, you might not ever see a problem.

That is what I am worried about. whether or not the oak can expand/contract well enough while glued to the panel. If the panels warp a little thats ok but I started to worry if the oak frame might crack.

[Greg Muller]

15/32 birch ply won't expand measurable, IMHO. It is pretty stable stuff. If you are talking about solid stock glued up, then maybe you can leave a little room for expansion and only glue the center area and leave the ends dry to expand.

Greg

[Sam Yerardi]

That's a good idea

[keith ouellette]

15/32 birch ply won't expand measurable, IMHO. It is pretty stable stuff. If you are talking about solid stock glued up, then maybe you can leave a little room for expansion and only glue the center area and leave the ends dry to expand.

Greg

I was thinking of that, maybe only glueing the panels in the center but the panels won't lay flat unless they are secured around the entire edge.

[Jason Beam]

I wouldn't worry about it - the oak isn't very wide to begin with - it doesn't have to move very much. At only 1 1/4" wide, you can pretty much rest at ease. Now, if it were 8" wide, you might have a problem.

[Sam Yerardi]

I saw a technique that Christian Becksvoort demonstrated that might help. He cut a key-hole T-slot in the trim near the front and another one near the rear. He then drove two screws into the adjoining panel and the trim rode on those screws. You could still glue in the center as well.

[keith ouellette]

I saw a technique that Christian Becksvoort demonstrated that might help. He cut a key-hole T-slot in the trim near the front and another one near the rear. He then drove two screws into the adjoining panel and the trim rode on those screws. You could still glue in the center as well.

Now thats a clever idea. I don't know if I'm good enough to make it all fit.

[Sam Yerardi]

The nice thing is you can remove the trim and adjust the screw depth until you get it where it's snug. As far as lining the screws up with the keyholes, just leave plenty of room in the slots in both directions. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to hold.