Using Wide Boards

[petertay15]

A professional cabinet maker I know buys oak by the truckload. He tells me that every wide board gets cut lengthwise, one side flipped end for end, then glued back together. He says using wide boards leads to cupping problems. Myself, I love to use wide boards for bragging rights; “Look this table is made of only two boards.” What is your experience with wide boards? By wide I mean 10 to 18 inches.

[CStan]

They'll cup. Even quarter and riftsawn will cup. You orient them so the end grain is 'smiling' and will cup down to the table aprons if you're talking about tabletops. Rather a mushroom than a the Chinese pagoda look, if you get my drift. Nothing looks worse to my eye than a table that looks like it would take off and fly in a strong wind.

[Stwood_]

I might rip and turn them over, but never flip end to end. You'd have such a mess with grain direction, and tearout on the planer......

[KLaz]

This reminds of William Douglas' video he made.  Skip to 2:49 or just take 10 minutes and have a laugh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9bVfkSgW0E

[Stwood_]

This reminds of William Douglas' video he made.  Skip to 2:49 or just take 10 minutes and have a laugh...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9bVfkSgW0E

Looks familiar.

[fredhargis]

I have no problem ripping a board in half, but I don't do it automatically. Flipping end for end (which I've never done) would seem to cause a fairly unnatural appearance. Seems to me like if you rip it, and then just glue it back together you've relieved the possible stress.

[Philip1231]

If you are in a production environment where you machine to final dimensions and go to joinery, then movement may be an issue. For a hobbyist, where for example a board may be taken to final thickness in stages over a period of days/weeks, then I don't think this will necessarily be an issue. I will typically machine wide boards in stages: maybe 3 or 4 stages, after each stage letting the board move the way it wants to move over a period of days. As you approach the final dimension, the movement should be minimal. I could be wrong on this, but this is what I have observed.

[petertay15]

Several have mentioned they would not flip the board. I was probably wrong when I said that. The cabinet maker may have said he turned them over.
Anyway, thank you for your thoughts about wide boards. —Peter

[Handplanesandmore]

The #1 consideration for a fine piece (table top, cabinet doors, say) is not if the top would cup or not. It's appearance that matters ----- grain matching if you may. Textbooks tell you to alternate grains, I don't do that as an intention. If they alternate, fine, but it's not because I alternate them to avoid cupping. A flat but poorly grain matched (aka ugly) top is worse than a cupped top.

Always deal with the appearance first, then the cupping (eg with batten underneath). Boards running in opposite grain directions are a non-issue even if you use hand tools. A cabinet scraper or scraping plane can deal with that, if a high angle plane doesn't. A sander is the last resort.

The same consideration goes with wide boards. If two wide boards or, for that matter, one single wide board gives a bad look, I'll go with a different arrangement.

Simon

[Bill Holt]

I'm a hobbiest (old, dumb, hard headed).  If the piece of furniture is for me and I have a wide board, I will have a very hard time ripping it.  I paid dearly for a piece of mahogany wide enough for the top of my night stands.  They are only 20 years old, if I mounted them correcty, I think they are good.  I sure hope so.