I’m building an Arts & Crafts buffet and having a very hard time finding quartersawn white oak plywood. The stuff I’ve found is serious $$$ and shipping charges. I’m not new to woodworking, but I’ve never done much with large solid panels.
But, I’m considering making my panels out of solid white oak or quartersawn. Could someone share some “best practices” for this type of work?
Should I build the panels out of quartersawn (for the stability) or is the plainsawn white oak fine?
I’m considering buying a tongue and groove set for my shaper to get the boards correctly aligned. (I do have a biscuit cutter, but I’m not that crazy about biscuits.) Or would a slotting cutter and splines work better?
I’ve got a large sliding table saw to square the ends. But, should I get a couple of the larger Bessey K-Body clamps to help keep everything square?
Anyway, I’d like to do this right the first time. Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated and at $6.00 bft my checking account will appreciate it too!
Thanks!
Patrick
Replies
Corri,
I've only been in the hobby about 5 years but I stopped buying plywood 3 years ago and glue up almost all my panels..the point being even a newbie can do it..
I flatten on the planer, resaw on the bandsaw, square up on the TS with a straight edge and miter, glue up on the workbench using cleats and wedges....and some weight to keep flat. I belt sand on the diagonal, plane, scrape, sand to 220 and they are good to go.
I don't find the flat sawn to be any more difficult than the quarter sawn in oak.
Quartersawn white oak was commonly used in Arts and Crafts furniture, so it would add to the look as well as adding to stability.
Glueing up panels isn't a mysterious superchallenging thing. A jointer to get edges straight and square, and a planer to ensure that thicknesses are all the same make the job easy. You will need a lot of clamps and Bessey's or other self squaring ones are good, but pipe clamps will work OK.
Don't bother with the shaped edge. Cauls (and a rubber hammer) can generally keep the boards in alignment and if the edges are truely square it will be a piece of cake. Remember you don't have to glue all the boards at once.
Steve's got it. Forget tongue&groove. You won't need biscuits. I edge-glue lots of panels. You need to joint the edges square. The whole project is a cinch if you use a pair of lifts as described in Tolpin's "Working at Woodworking" book. I use light-duty bar clamps and alternate which side of the board the clamp is on. Make sure the lifts are in a plane before you start (by eyeballing and shimming). I don't use cauls anymore but they can give you some confidence. You'll see if the glue-up is out of whack if it's not laying flat on the lifts. Use titebond II and don't clamp to tight.
For Craftsman style, the wood should be 1/4 sawn white oak.
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