phil,
thanks for the very informative post...I just got off the phone with a
ww friend of mine. He suggested for the cupping in the wider fronts to
put screws with washers thru oversized holes in the 4 corners (with the
screw heads inside the box). This should hold the front flat against
the box, and allow movement without cracking. I will have a single pull
in the center, and 2 Blum drawer adjusters also lined up across the
center to hold the middle. I am thinking if there is too much expansion
I can selectively remove the front and joint some more off the
offending edge.
One of the boards is 15" wide, 10 ft long. I plan to use this one
across the top 2 rows of drawer fronts in the 8 ft. long island. The
top row is 5". the one below is 8", so I will have a nice grain match
all the way across...
the trick with the MDF or plywood: are you laying the cupped board on
top of the MDF, then supporting the raised (cupped) edges with blocks or
shims before running it thru the planer?
thanks again,
david
Phil at small (vs at large) wrote:
IF you plane the boards ( I assume you are using flatsawn & not
quartersawn boards) to almost finished thickness & are concerned about
cupping you have options.
1. before planing - other than skip planing -, joint one edge, rip to
3" (or smaller) & reverse the grain every other board & glue up-- (see
Frier Cabinetmaking & millwork-- I think that's where I get my info
besides my experience) - This has the disadvantage of not getting a
perfect grain match on wide boards. It does have the advantage of
minimizing cupping.
2. go ahead & plane to 1/4" above finish-- let stabilize in the house (
where the cabinetry will be used) & replane--(how long to stabilize?--
weigh the boards -- or a sample board when you bring it in. When the
board stops loosing weight it has stabilized to it's enviornment) No
need to face joint-- If the piece is cupped, find a flat piece of
plywood or MDF, Use hot glue to reinforce the cup (cove up) edges -
easy to scrape off later --& run the board with light cuts through the
surface planer. Reverse the board when flat, remove the hot gluw with a
chisel & plane the other side--- I didn't believe this would work
until I tried it on a bowed and twisted piece of walnut I had
carelessly cut from a deadfall tree last year. (never will I face
plane on the jointer again)
What ever you do-- make sure you put equal amounts of finish on all
faces & edges of the finished product or you will be dealing with 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"""
Do you open all the windows when it rains? .
1/8" is really small-- I'd use maybe 3/16" He He-- If the wood is
stabilized before you finish cut & plane, I wouldn't imagine that it
(cherry) would move more than that over 13 inches. ( that woulld be
3/32 each way) I made a couch out of air dried Oak in Houston in an
unheated shop, Moved it North to Plano into an air conditioned
enviroment & it shrank about 1/4" over 30" over a period of a year.
I had some edge grain boards mating with endgrain boards"-- newbie
mistake- This was 35 years ago
Of course Oak isn't Cherry-- just used this example to illustrate
extremes in my situation.. I imagine others who have had more
experience in NC with Cherry will be able to give you more informed
opinions on this aspect of your question.
|