Advice for seat back wood movement

[Dave Rosner]

Been really struggling to get this seat back to fit flush with these curved back support pieces. Eventually a combo of bandsaw and hand tools is getting me there but I’m thinking I’ll need to use epoxy since it’s not flat wood to flat wood connection.

Now I’m wondering if I epoxy these will I have to worry about wood movement in the future? This is Sapele and it’s 8” wide with 1” overlap at the top. Im in NE Pennsylvania and it’s hot and humid so I think it will only shrink in future when put in heated and conditioned final resting spot.

am I’m overthinking this or am I asking for trouble later on and need to account for movement now? I’d REALLY hate to add screws with slots if I can help it…

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[Lee Schierer]

Unless your seat or back support boards are curved, why cut a curved attachment location for them? With regard to wood movement, elongate the screw hole on the back side of the board only to allow some movement.

[Jamie Buxton]

It looks like the back is thick enough that you can use screws going through slotted holes, with the head of the screw buried a half inch or more inside the back. The slotted hole is in the bottom of a cylindrical recess. Glue in a round plug to close the recess and conceal the screws;