Attaching hard woods to soft?

[Ross Lowry]

I would like to make an end table and have the center piece a soft piece and the surounding edge pieces a hardwood.
How can I do this without have the woods expand differently and causing my soft wood to crack?
I thought about biscuit jointing it and sealing the whole thing really good?
Thanks for any advice!

[Ross Lowry]

Surely someone has some advice on this?

[Tom Young]

I would like to make an end table and have the center piece a soft piece and the surounding edge pieces a hardwood.
How can I do this without have the woods expand differently and causing my soft wood to crack?
I thought about biscuit jointing it and sealing the whole thing really good?
Thanks for any advice!

Ross,

If you glue your a solid wood panel into a frame as you describe, eventually either the frame or the panel will fail. To avoid this, build your frame so the panel can float. The photo is an example of a frame and panel I built as the bottom of a hope chest. The three panels are the same thickness as the frame and float in grooves cut in the frame to match the tongue cut on the panels. Alternatively, you can use veneer over a plywood or mdf substrate for your center panel. Then you can glue your frame directly to the panel.

Tom

[Jim Becker]

Surely someone has some advice on this?

Um...people do sleep...
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Whether you are using hardwood, softwood or a combination doesn't matter. What does count is the specific species and it's normal seasonal movement factors. No matter what you choose, even if the field and the frame are of the same species, you run the risk of issues if you fully surround the field by a fixed frame.

One technique to get around this for a table (particularly one that will have one side to a wall and assuming the grain direction of the field is parallel to the wall) is to glue the front and back frame rails to the field and put the side pieces on a floating dovetail and only mechanically fastened to the front rail. This allows the whole top to expand and contract. At some times of the year the side rails of the frame may appear slightly longer or shorter, but since that variation is towards the wall, it will be least noticeable. This is a technique that is very often used for moldings installed on casework.

Your other solution is to use a veneered field that is on a stable substrate like MDF. The widths of your frame will generally not be wide enough to have issues with seasonal wood movement then.

[Ross Lowry]

Thank you guys very much, and sorry to of awakend you Jim :>)

[Dewayne Reding]

Um...people do sleep...
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Keep sassing us Jim and we might just have you moved to 11-7. You'll get your shift differential of course.