how much waste on board ends after lamination

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Hi, I saw a poste similar to this one but not enough that I was worried about taking over the OP's thread.

I am making a laminated hard maple top 60" in length. I know that if I want 60" I should rough cut for longer and trim for size to take splitting and cracks in the end into account.
this is a hand tool only project, so I don't really expect to deal with issues such as snipe from a power planer.

if I need an end product of 60" how long should I initially cut the board?

Thanks for the help!

[Mel Fulks]

First ,I would trim the end of the board about an inch and tap the piece on the board . If the piece falls apart ,cut again . You want to know
the board is sound . If only a short piece will be unused I don’t bother trying to save it ,I just want to be sure that end is also sound . Not
gonna cut off a foot .... which probably wouldn’t get used . Two feet or more...yeah cut that off. 64 inch piece with no end splits is the
shortest board lengh I would use for your project.

[chris carter]

I trim off any checks first before cutting individual boards to length. I like a couple inches extra to give me lots of wiggle room during glue up. It also saves a lot of time not having to be precise cutting boards to length (just whack 'em off with a 26" crosscut). Sometimes I need other parts out of that same piece of lumber such that things get really really tight. I'll go down to about a half inch on each end - in which case I need to measure and strike a cut line, so it's slower. And I have to be much more careful on the glue up. This is to make sure my edges are are straight so I don't run out when trimming the final thing to length. A half inch gives me just a little wiggle room and makes it easier to cut with a 26" hand saw because when you get too close to the edge you can snap off the waste and it can be tricky to get the saw started again if there's nothing on the other side of it.

So that's my answer: a couple inches on each end, but I can go down to 1/2" on each end comfortably if need be. Lower than that and it's playing with fire.

[Oskar Sedell]

if there is no cracks, you don't need any extra length apart from a little margin for glue-up and squaring up in the end. If there are cracks, cut them out before and then cut to your wanted length. There is no way to say in advance since we don´t know if your wood has cracks or how deep they go.

Might be an idea to seal the endgrain with wax or something when it is cut, to prevent new cracks forming after your boards are cut to length

[Scott Winners]

You are jumping right in Assaf. Smiley face. I would be looking to glue up pieces 61-62 inches long, but I would definitely do a dry clamp up run to make sure I could get it clamped fast enough to be done clamping before the glue sets.

I personally (I am a chicken) would also try gluing up a couple panels at something like 12x15 inches first so I could practice on something less expensive and maybe get tops for an end table or two out of the practice.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Thanks all

I decided that a smart person would leave 2 inches per a side margin of safety. I am not a smart person so I left 3"
the reason I was trying to figure this out was I bought boards that were 130" long whereas I need to make a 60" top. was trying to decided whether I can use the same board for 2 parts oft he laminate. In the end I realized it isn't worth the risk (Maple is about $8 a board foot over here, and I am a broke student) so I decided to leave them long, and also there are other parts to the build that are shorter.

I am absolutely jumping right in and loving it.

thanks for the help

[Warren Mickley]

Thanks all

I decided that a smart person would leave 2 inches per a side margin of safety. I am not a smart person so I left 3"
the reason I was trying to figure this out was I bought boards that were 130" long whereas I need to make a 60" top. was trying to decided whether I can use the same board for 2 parts oft he laminate. In the end I realized it isn't worth the risk (Maple is about $8 a board foot over here, and I am a broke student) so I decided to leave them long, and also there are other parts to the build that are shorter.

I am absolutely jumping right in and loving it.

thanks for the help

Unless there are really bad obvious splits, 130 inches is plenty for two 60 inch pieces.

The cracks you are concerned about we call end checks. They occur during drying because water exits the ends of the boards at a much faster rate than from the faces and edges. The very end shrinks much more than the rest of the board and since it is still connected to the rest of the board it cracks. This kind of cracking ends when the board is dry. When you cut one of your long planks in two, the freshly cut ends will not have checks or checking problems. Only the original ends would have cracks.

My own bench was built in 1979. One of the three planks still has the original chainsaw marks on the end from before the log was sawed at the mill. It has some minor cracks which have gone nowhere since the board was dried 45 years ago.

If I were in your shoes, I would cut the boards in half, cut off one inch at each vulnerable end, and make a 64 inch bench top. You will appreciate the extra length.

[Assaf Oppenheimer]

Sorry I misspoke, length of board was 122 inches, not 130