Using Floorboards for Woodworking.

[Trevanion]

The endgrain should be alternating when you're gluing them together, as highlighted in this photo:

I must admit I don't consider that to be a hard and fast rule to follow slavishly. Sometimes it's the right approach, and at other times, the arrangement you've marked with a big red X is better. If there are means to hold a panel flat, e.g., a set of table rails, and/or cross-bearers, and selecting purely on best grain match or most attractive pattern match for aesthetic reasons gives an arrangement where all the end grains 'smile' the same way, then the red X marked sketch might be the right choice.

Then there's the choice of selecting all radially sawn boards to make a panel, but that's really outwith the bounds of this thread, except perhaps to suggest it's really best to avoid edge joining something that's 1/4 sawn to a piece that's tangentially sawn because of the differential shrinkage patterns in the boards that can lead to ridges at the join line. Slainte.

This is why I referred him to your article on the subject! :lol: There are very few people with quite as much knowledge on the subject as yourself.

I agree that sometimes aesthetic comes first over anything else, especially where the construction allows for solid fixing of timber that might warp such as a solid oak staircase where the treads and risers are glued up to make the widths with the best faces showing, but perhaps not the best orientation of the timber for preventing warpage, since the threads and risers are wedged into place in a routed housing in the string this causes very little problems since there is no way the ends of the boards can cup.

 

[Sgian Dubh]

The endgrain should be alternating when you're gluing them together, as highlighted in this photo:

I must admit I don't consider that to be a hard and fast rule to follow slavishly..

This is why I referred him to your article on the subject! :lol: There are very few people with quite as much knowledge on the subject as yourself.

I was aware that you'd pointed people towards that wee article at my website, which suggested you are also aware of the discussion there regarding the pluses and minuses for different end grain arrangements of boards to make up panels.

I suspect you'd agree that in that discussion I didn't come to the conclusion that one arrangement was superior to any other, and should be chosen in preference to other options, and that the choice of end grain arrangement was dependent upon a range of factors.

The reason for me making a comment, with what I hope was perceived by you as rather gentle probing, was your inclusion of the image of board arrangements in a previous post. One had a big green thumbs-up tick, perhaps indicating to inexperienced woodworkers, always correct or good, and the other a big red thumbs-down X, suggesting always poor or wrong.

In reality, of course, the choice of board arrangement for making up a wider panel is frequently more nuanced than that graphic suggests. I suspect that not everyone that saw your link to the discussion at my website would follow it, which perhaps benefits inexperienced woodworkers the most, and therefore might not become aware of the various issues I raised there, issues worth considering for a worker making up a wider panel from narrower boards.

In reality, I think I simply wanted to do something here to counter the visually strong, and in my opinion, rather inaccurate 'good'/'bad' message of that particular graphic.

Er, ... you didn't create that image did you? Hope not, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[Jacob]

The endgrain should be alternating when you're gluing them together, as highlighted in this photo:

I must admit I don't consider that to be a hard and fast rule to follow slavishly..

well exactly - it's just a thing you might consider in some circumstances.
Osvaldd says his bits are 2 to 4ft long. Simpler to stick to making something which is only 2 to 4ft long?

 

[Trevanion]

Er, ... you didn't create that image did you? Hope not, ha, ha. Slainte.

No, I pinched it off google where I also happened along to your article which I admittedly glossed over rather than reading too much into it. I'll go read it in full later!

I also need to make a start on that book too.... 8-[

 

[Sgian Dubh]

I also need to make a start on that book too.... 8-[

I suggest then, in relation to this thread, Chapter 7 and maybe 6 (not necessarily in that order) of Cut & Dried, ha, ha. Slainte.

 

[MusicMan]

Long grain shooting board? never knew such thing existed

Have a careful read of this excellent thread by Custard:

making-a-wooden-straight-edge-t102376.html

and this one:

how-to-edge-joint-t112936.html