I'm working on a memory box and am using wood (about 1/4 inch thick) for the top (oak) and bottom (walnut). These are in dadoes. When I did the glue up, I only put glue in the center (see green dots in this pre-glueup picture). I had cut the top and bottom boards so it wasn't a tight fit BUT in the glue up, things shifted with the side bevels so I'm guessing I lost that extra space. 😕 How concerned should I be? This is a gift (and I already did some woodburning on the inside). I still need to add splines and cut the top free. Plus will add a "liner" in the top so it can fit down into the bottom section.
It's about 14 long by 10.5 wide. I had a bit of space but am thinking that as put on the straps, the corners shifted (had to use the "roll the edges" trick) so likely the panels are no longer floating as I had planned. The issue would be on the 10.5 inch side given how I oriented the board (width).
hmmm, well a tight fit isn't good but it's a small box so hopefully not an issue. was your humidity high at the time ? if so the wood hopefully was expanded and will only shrink in dryer conditions.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Likely should just start over. 😭😭😭 I actually had everything cut correctly and then stumbled with the glueup. Guess I should have gotten some of those space balls to help center the panels while still allowing movement. I thought I could work around that by just gluing the center, but now see that the corners slid when I applied the straps.
barb dont stress. if you feel you need to start over, thats fine. but take the one you did and put it aside and see what happens. ya got nothing too lose ! you might be surprised !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
I’m thinking it’s probably fine. Might not want to ship it to the desert or the jungle, but tangential shrinkage on white oak is 10%, according to the wood database, which is enough that it might be a worry for flat-sawn wood, but the movement is half that in the radial direction, so quartersawn is almost certainly fine. I can’t tell for sure the grain direction from the photo, though.
This is the oak that I glued up (got from a discount table as I recall). Thickness is about 1/4 or so. Walnut getting glued up after resawing (I think this is the one I used)
Just ordered some of those space balls if I redo this next week.
barb those space balls are just for centering a panel. if you glue the center of the panel it wont matter because the pane cant shift, just expand. ive got a bunch of those "balls" and have yet to ever use em !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Dave - that's interesting. When they say 10% shrinkage is that going from harvest to what level of dry? All of this has been in my outdoor, unairconditioned shop (Missouri), I think currently humidity is around 50% (nicer than the high humidity of summer around here!).
well thats good barb because the wood was probably fully expanded and will only shrink ! you said it was tight so it will only loosen up. which is good, right ?
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
For box panels like that I'll usually give a generous gap with deep grooves on the long sides if there is room. For a box of that width, I'd probably do an extra 1/8" on each side. Nothing is ever perfectly square so build in some allowance for skewing. For the glue up, you did the right thing, glue only in the center of the cross grain joints.
Being generally paranoid and hating the over-thinking aspect of "will it hold" after assembly, I'll usually center and glue the panel end into one of the sides, then dry fit the rest to hold the alignment while that glue spot dries. After that, if the panel is square the rest of the assembly should go well. You can also draw small pencil lines on the panels ends and centers of the box ends so you have a visual confirmation of being centered when clamping. Of course, if you are going to spline the corners for strength, the panel can be installed without any glue and left fully floating
The key is something to hold the panel centered for assembly. You could also run a small pin through the bottom to hold the panel centered and do the glue up in a single go.
If this is the kind of box you're doing, I don't glue the bottom in. It would be the same if you're making a box,putting in a top and a bottom, then cutting the top off, again I don't glue it in. The corners hold it together, loose panel just barely loose. I haven't been bit in the backside doing it like this. Maybe I'm lucky.
There's roosters laying chickens,and chickens laying eggs... John Prine
I just got it glued up. Used dominos and found that added a lot of issues. Guessing I did something wrong. Should a hammer be part of the assembly?! Almost gave up.
