Old Oak that is too thin

[John Reeves]

I have surfaced several pieces of old oak. (John, I showed you a piece when I took your finishing class.) Most of it ended up being about 3.8" thick. With the new Rigid jointer set up properly and the plainer working right it looks pretty good. The surface is much better than you saw.

LOML wants 2 "under the counter" bookcases for her cook books (30" h, 24" w, 12" deep) with fixed shelves and on casters for accessibility. They will roll in sideways so only the sides are visible. I said that I would use the old oak and that I needed the jointer to surface it.

Now that I have run it, I think it is too thin to use without some sort of substrate. Is edge gluing it together then mounting the panel onto a 1/2" piece of ply a good idea? The ply will be visible from the inside of the book case so the surface will matter some.

I will rabbit the shelves in if I have enough thickness otherwise I will just use some cleats. I also remember your, John, suggestion of putting a runner under the front edge of the shelves.

I have red oak and white oak cut into 33" and 28" lengths. I have more if I need it so the supply is not a question.

For the finish, I plan to use oil and varnish. I may have to do some grain filling as some of the pieces are showing lots of small splits.

John

 

[DaveO]

I would laminate the thin pieces together to make thicker. At 3/8" thick it is too thick to be used as a veneer and attached to plywood the movement of the solid wood will be to great. If you have enough stock, face glue 2 3/8" thick pieces together to give you 3/4" and then edge joint everything flush.
Dave

 

[John Reeves]

Dave,

Should I edge glue one 3/8" thick panel then glue it to another or face glue two 3/8 " pieces first?

Would lapping or staggering the joints make a difference?

 

[DaveO]

I think that either method would be just as strong. You'll have long grain to long grain glue joints, which are stronger that the wood itself. BTS, staggering the joints can only result in a stronger joint, like laying brick. I would go with what ever is easiest. Consider the width that your clamps can span for the face glue ups, you'll want good even pressure over the entire surface.
Dave

 

[Travis Porter]

I would face glue two pieces, joint the edges, and then edge glue them together. Seems like that would be easiest to me. Just my .02

 

[John Reeves]

The pieces are not the same width so face gluing first means that I would have to trim the pieces to the same size. Seems to be a wast of material? OR, it it so much easier to do it this way that it is worth it to wast the material?

John

 

[Travis Porter]

You can do it either way, just do what would be easiest for you and makes the most sense to you.

In my opinion (which is just that an opinion) it is easier to face glue narrower boards than wider boards. Try to match up widths that are close and trim them down. Yes, you are going to have some waste regardless of how you do it, but I wouldn't want to waste too much of it to your point.

 

[John Reeves]

Thanks Travis, need all the help I can get!!