Thread: Align wood grain before gluing

I would say B. Dont know why it just looks right.

B sounds good?

Jill, if the boards were glued as in A then any cupping of either board is likely to effect the other. If both cup you have a problem.

If glued as in B any cupping meets resistance from the opposing board. This basically keeps the whole thing in balance and flat.

Back in the day when I was a young lad learning the qualities of woodworking from my favorite teacher and mentor (still dead now) Phillip Dillon, The B concept, as it would allow expansion and contraction without distorting the shape of the project.

Agreed - B uses the tendency of the wood to cup against each other to counteract any possible problems.

Thanks for this information, everyone. B it is

regards,
Jill

There's a problem here: everyone agrees.

AlexS, I think this comes in to the category of a right way or wrong way to do something, and everyone knew the right way

regards,
Jill

Well, where angels fear to tread ....

I think it depends on what you're doing. If you are making a thick panel, B looks right.

If you're gluing long pieces together to rip legs on the diagonal, then B would not be what you want. You would want the cups facing away from each other, then each diagonal will look like quartersawn. Quite a handy way of getting lovely legs.

I recently glued two bits together to make bun feet. In that case, A was the go, as the join disappeared due to the grain continuing across. Since they will be supporting the entire piece and are overall only about 70mm diameter, no chance of cupping.

What are you making?

Cheers,

Tex

What are you making?

It is a fence for a drill press table that needs to be 30mm thick to take a 22mm wide track on top, running the length of the fence. That track will be used to take horizontal bars to which are fitted hold down pieces, like the adjustable leg below. This leg will be great for holding down cupboard doors while I drill the hinge hole with a Forstner bit

regards,
Jill

For something where straightness is crucial, like a fence, wouldn't you be better off using plywood or mdf?

great use of a foot

Originally Posted by blackhole

great use of a foot

I agree

The real problem with the foot is that it is going to exert a strong backward bending force on the top of the fence, hence the need for a strong fence out of timber, not MDF or ply. Or so my thinking went

Also a track has to be screwed along the top of the fence for this hold down arrangement.

But I also take the point made above that the fence needs to be as straight as, so not sure if this idea will work. To compensate, the main fence will be 6mm thick 50 x 50 aluminium angle, with a sacrifical timber fence screwed to the front.

I am open to suggestions and comments on how better to do this hold down arrangement from a fence, bearing in mind it may be required to hold down a large panel like a kitchen cupboard door

regards,
Jill