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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sgian Dubh" data-source="post: 1560758" data-attributes="member: 599">Doing that probably wouldn't make much difference to the splitting problem, but it would most likely create an additional one, i.e., it would induce cupping of the MDF with the concavity on the upper face.Solid wood parquet flooring frequently includes that herringbone pattern, and to cope with the inevitable cross-grain movement the blocks aren't packed together tightly - without going into too much technical detail they are essentially laid on to an adhesive base with all the blocks simply butted up together and with the whole assemblage stopping short of each wall by 12 - 15 mm to allow for expansion and contraction. In old parquet floors it's common to see that small gaps have developed between each block.Herringbone type pattern panels (a table top for example) with real wood grain as the display are most commonly approached as a veneering job over a base of some sort, e.g., plywood, MDF, etc and, historically, veneer applied to a solid wood panel best made of something relatively stable, although I've seen quite a number of antiques in which the last strategy hasn't worked particularly well over the centuries, although other examples have survived very well. Slainte.</blockquote>

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