Resawing placemats for the dining table

[Mark Drayton]

I thought I'd put my new Agazzani 24" Bandsaw with Laguna Driftmaster fence and Lennox Woodmaster blade to work resawing some Bubinga into 1/4" thick placemats for the table. The Bubinga slab is 2" thick and has been standing around in my wood store for a couple of years - 11% moisture level. It's sawn through and through (not quarter-sawn).

Question: Do you think the 1/4" slices will be stable enough to keep flat in this application in our normal central heated house? Would it be a better idea to laminate two thinner slices together heart-side to heart-side (or bark-side to bark-side) to counteract any tendancy to cup?

Thanks for any advice or experience,

Mark

[Matt Day]

I'd be willing to bet they'd crack at that thickness. I wonder if you could resaw/sand/plane them to a more normal veneer thickess then apply them to a stable waterproof substrate - like some kind of polycarbonate or something?

[Larry Fox]

I think they would turn into potato chips inside of a week. I agree with Matt, cut them thinner and press them onto something stable and more moisture friendly. I would also be concerned about cleaning them, I know the cloth ones in my house find their way into the washer quite frequently.

[Mark Drayton]

Yes, I think you are confirming my anxieties.

I have seen these things for sale in craft outlets, Christmas gift stores etc., but haven't studied them in enough detail or taken measurements. They are often Hard Maple with Purpleheart or similar contrasting bands. Maybe they were thicker, approaching the thickness of similar ornamental hardwood chopping boards to be found in the same places.

Perhaps I'll experiment resawing a less exotic board first to see what I can get away with - I have some poplar around.

Perhaps gluing thick veneers onto both faces of 1/4" MDF substrate would work although I'd prefer not to see the edges of the core?

I'm not too worried about the cleaning - a few coats of oil/poly/mineral spirits gives a quite durable finish such as I have on the dining table itself,

Thanks, Mark

[Zach England]

I think they would turn into potato chips inside of a week. I agree with Matt, cut them thinner and press them onto something stable and more moisture friendly. I would also be concerned about cleaning them, I know the cloth ones in my house find their way into the washer quite frequently.

Really COOL potato chips.

[Josiah Bartlett]

So... here's a strange idea. It would allow you to keep the overall thickness and keep them from warping.

1. Face joint the bubinga chunk so you have a flat surface.
2. Rout out a uniform 1/8" depression of what will be the bottom to within a half inch or so of the finished edge.
3. Epoxy in a 1/8" piece of steel or aluminum plate
4. Resaw to 1/4 or 3/8 or something, leaving enough thickness bubinga between the metal and the finished top so you can plane it flat.
5. Pass the whole mess through a surface planer or sander and finish.
6. Repeat 1-5 until you have enough placemats.

Sure, you waste wood for the "kerf" of where the metal plate would be, but you get something that looks like solid wood and won't potato chip. Plus, it keeps your tablecloth from blowing away when you use your leaf blower to clean the dining room after a particularly gluttonous Thanksgiving dinner.

[Dave Novak]

it keeps your tablecloth from blowing away when you use your leaf blower to clean the dining room after a particularly gluttonous Thanksgiving dinner.

Well put Josiah