Book Matching

[SteveF]

is it worth the effort?

my next project as and when time permits
is to make a box that looks like a book
my timber is 20mm and I would like to take down to about 7 \ 8 mm so it doesn't look chunky...maybe thinner
what sort of thickness before it gets too unuseable?
I think is walnut..not really sure as came from an auction
if I am resawing is it worth book matching
I have enough timber to do about 4 boxes so I don't need to worry about quantity of wood as only need one
does it give the wow factor ?

or can u see the joint, and looks cheap?

Steve

 

[dunbarhamlin]

what sort of thickness before it gets too unuseable?

Minimum thickness that is workable depends on the tools at your disposal: well tuned hand planes can thickness stock to less than 2mm thick without any special considerations; a drum sander can take you down to commercial veneer thickness with careful setup. In either case, edges can be shot for joining most accurately with a hand plane.

How thin you can go from a structural perspective will depend on the size of your boxes. One option to make your book "cover" appear thinner would be to treat the edges so the first and last "chapters" were formed from the lid and base instead of from the sides.

or can u see the joint, and looks cheap?

Let me rephrase:
If you can see the joint it looks cheap.
Depending on the final thickness, either shoot or match plane edges to ensure a tight join. Cramp well after glue up, and do not plane down the glue line for a few days to ensure the joint has fully dried... otherwise can be left with a "score" line highlighting the join.
If the grain is interesting, book matching can be most effective. Remember when preparing the stock to take the minimum material off of the matched faces (to keep a good match) and do final dimensioning from the opposite face.
The alternative is to slip match, which can give the impression of a single wider board.

 

[MMUK]

Whether or not you can see the joint is irrelevant. You could have the perfect concealed joint only for the whole piece to be let down by something else. THEN it looks cheap.

 

[SteveF]

one day I will learn to explain more

I have a piece of what I believe is walnut 800mm x 400mm x 20mm

this is to make the covers of the book \ box A5 size.....so enough to make mistakes and it only cost £6 along with a load more timbers from an auction
I thought of taking down to about 8mm and then running a rebate around the undersides about 30mm x 4mm on 3 sides on both pieces
I was then going to use some white coloured wood for the pages about 10mm in from the edge

I now have a cover that is only 4mm thick that is visible
I have the needed tools..whether I have the skills is another matter

I was just wondering whether to push the boat out and bookmatch to get a "nice" pattern on the book cover

Steve

 

[deserter]

I think you'll be very lucky to get 2, 8mm boards out of a 20mm board.
20mm minus your saw kerf minus your planning and sanding.

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