Hi, I am in the process of building a cherry table for my first client, who also happens to be my father-in-law. Hence, I am afraid my perfectionism has set in, and I find myself slow and paranoid while making construction decisions!
The deal is, the table has drop leaves. I have perfected the rule joint for now and for the future. I used David Charlesworth’s technique…which for those who haven’t checked it out is a bit different with a unique attention to detail I find refreshing. See David’s Technique Book Volume II page 87.
At any rate, the question… Should I make the drop leaves from quartersawn material?
The leaves are 15 inches wide across a 40-inch rule joint. I am using 3 hinges on each leave for stability (although I have considered using 4), with the two outer hinges about 2 inches from the edge. I am very careful with wood selection and acclimation. I have beautiful cherry 8/4 timbers about 9 inches wide which I got last summer from Rick Hearne. They are from the same tree! I want to resaw the planks and bookmatch each section of the table. Thickness will be 7/8. One of the planks is primarily rift, and the one next to it (in the log) is more flatsawn.
What do you guys think about using two bookmatched sections of riftsawn material for the leaves? I also have some quartersawn material I got from Rick for another project, but I have thought about using it for the leaves. But then the matching won’t be nearly as nice, and the leaves will need to be glued up from 3 widths of quartersawn material. Am I too worried about these drop leaves that don’t have much support to keep them flat?
Ok, I’ll shut up now…opinions?
Replies
At 15 inches wide, even minor cupping of individual boards in the leaves will produce quite a hollow across such a wide surface, so you are correct in being concerned.
All other things being equal, table leaves built from quartersawn will be the most stable and least likely to cup. Rift sawn, usually defined as wood where the rings can run up to 22 1/2 degrees off of vertical, would be the next most stable, and flatsawn would be almost sure to cup because of seasonal moisture gain and loss.
Personally I tend to be paranoid about unrestrained panels cupping in a situation like this and I would probably use quarter sawn for the leaves, placing function ahead of appearance. Then again, badly cupped panels don't look that good either, even if the grain pattern looks wonderful. Another thing to consider is how well the leaf support will function if the leaves are less than flat at times.
When you glue up the two rift sawn boards that will make each leaf, use those portions of the boards that are closest to quarter sawn at the joint, and alternate the orientation of the rings of the two boards if possible. Glued up this way, the leaves will probably develop a ripple at times, but not a distinct cup which would be more noticeable. Building the leaves out of four boards with the rings alternating would substantially reduce the rippling.
Be sure to sticker the wood and allow it to acclimate to your shop conditions for a week or two before starting and give the wood several more days between roughing it to size and final dimensioning and glue up, especially since you are resawing from a thicker plank. Any wood that cups or twists more than most of the other stock shouldn't be used in the leaves.
Hope this helps, John White
Over 40” two hinges would do fine, three would be high grade workmanship and four would be anal-retentive. Cherry is a very forgiving wood and tends to remain flat no matter what plane it is cut in. You see many the antique cherry drop leaf table with very wide leaves that are perfectly flat. I would worry more about movement after re-sawing the 8/4 stock. However over 9” I do not suspect you will have much problem. I would re-saw, then wait a week two see what happens. If they stay flat, joint and plane to 1/32” over final thickness, glue up and be sure to finish both sides. Have fun and remember that the difference between an amateur and a professional is that the amateur points out all of his mistakes.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled