"david" wrote in message
nk.net...
Hi,

I am making solid cherry (planed to 3/4") drawer fronts for my kitchen
cabinets (25 drawers in all). The heights will be 5, 8, 10, and 13
inches. For most of them I have wide enough boards to use a single board;
a few will be glue-ups.

The cabs are face frame, with full overlay fronts, but no horizontal
members other than the top and bottom rails. I had planned to leave 1/8"
gap between the drawer fronts as they stack on top of each other.

My questions:

how concerned do I need to be about the wider boards cupping? What can I
do to minimize the chance of that happenning. I read of someone who would
plane the lumber almost to final thickness, let it sit ahile to do
whatever movement it was going to do, then do the final planing (although
wouldn't you also need to face joint it again before planing if it did
cup?)

How much seasonal variation in width can I expect? In other words, is 1/8"
enough gap, or will the fronts expand across the grain and swell the gap
shut? The house is in Greenville, SC. We use the AC in the summer, but
there is always some fall and spring time when we dont need to heat or
cool.

Can I screw thru the box into the cherry fronts in all four corners, or
will that cause problems if there is expansion.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions...

david


Quarter sawn wood will minimize the cupping.

If rift sawn is used, be sure and finish the fronts on all sides.
If one side has no sealer on it, the moisture content can rise on the board
and cause the cupping.