Narrower boards more stable?- Question of the Week

July 10, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week 

This week’s question comes from Nicholas. He writes:

I have been making some tabletops for customers lately and have been gluing up 5″ wide board to get the final width of the top. I do this, because I am under the impression that you should not glue up boards wider than that for fear of cupping and warpage. However, in watching a recent episode of The New Yankee Workshop, I noticed that Norm was gluing up cherry boards that were 12″ wide. So, my question to you is this: Is is allright to use wider boards in a tabletop glue up? It would save a bit of time with the jointing and clamping of all the pieces. Thank you for your opinion on this. I appreciate your time.

And here was my reply:

“Hey Nicholas. I suppose there is something to that theory (using narrower boards to prevent cupping). But in reality, with properly seasoned boards, the chances of cupping and bowing are at a minimum. As a result, I would never cut down a large board just for the sake of future stability. If you can get boards wide than 6″, you should show it off with pride. Wide boards are hard to come by these days and your work will look that much better if you use the wider boards. It would be a darn shame to cut them up. So if they are fully dried, flat and stable, I say the wider the better. Good luck.”

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