Using Floorboards for Woodworking.

[Trevanion]

Look no further than Richard Jones' (Sgian Dubh on this forum ) excellent article on the subject on his site:

www.richardjonesfurniture.com/Articles/panel-glue-ups/panel-glue-ups.html

 

[Ttrees]

That's called grain runout Osvaldd.
Not really a problem unless you're making guitars or longbows or anything else that requires strength from forces.
If your laminating those pieces in the previous posts I don't see a problem with staggered laminations.
What are you planning to do with the timber?
Tom

 

[Osvaldd]

I want to edge joint these 4 boards to make a table top. The grain and colour is kinda wild.

 

[Ttrees]

As long as you have a design that will allow for expansion/contraction then I don't see the problem.
The question is...
Is that the most aesthetic configuration of the boards you can achieve...is this going to be close to the final dimention?
Worth spending time on this, and makes good practice too.
Looks like you have done this already with the dark section in the middle, hardley coincidencidental I think.
Tom

 

[Osvaldd]

I only have these four long boards for now, have to make the best out of them. Still trying different variations, its going to be impossible to make it look seamless though.

 

[Ttrees]

I don't know how your going to make breadboard ends with that thickness though, looks impossible or not sensible at that thickness.
I would take off the t&g myself and edge joint as normal, if it were thicker stock or laminated t&g you had.
Surely you can look on Gumtree or the likes for "firewood"
Pine won't be hard got.

 

[Osvaldd]

those two end pieces were just to show the length of the panel, I wont do breadboard ends. I like exposed endgrain. I will definitely remove t&g and edge joint as normal.
p.s. the suggestion of getting pine "firewood", why? Are these boards cursed? everyone who replied to this thread were very critical of these boards. I still dont understand why.. They look lovely to me.

 

[Ttrees]

Nout wrong with them if they're flat enough to get an acceptable finished thickness your after.

 

[MikeG.]

No, Osvaldd, people aren't being critical of the boards, which are fine. We're being realistic about what they can be used for, and sceptical of your plans. They look lovely boards, and I would definitely store them if I came across them, but I 100% would not be proposing to make a door or a table out of them.

 

[profchris]

I like the boards too.

I think the problem is that you're thinking what you'd like to make, and then trying to persuade those boards to fit in with that plan.

Why not turn it around? Look at the boards and ask yourself what they would like to be turned into. And don't forget that (with a lot of effort) you can resaw and book match a board, which might give you a fine looking coffee table, for example, if you could find a related pair in looks so your table was four boards wide.

If these were my boards I'd be focusing on something which didn't require lengthwise jointing. Something shorter/narrower than the boards. Edge jointing is fine though, if you allow for wood movement.

 

[Osvaldd]

I think the problem is that you're thinking what you'd like to make, and then trying to persuade those boards to fit in with that plan.

Sometimes you have to make do with what you have.

Book-matching a 20mm thick board, that is splitting it in to two 10mm boards is way beyond my ability, maybe if the boards were 30mm I could give it a go. But I do appreciate all the replies and suggestions. I'm glad I didn't go ahead with all my weird jigsaw puzzle glue-ups. I'll get thicker/longer wood for legs and frames and such..It will most likely not be oak, but sometimes you have to make do with what you have.

 

[Jacob]

My experimental chest of drawers was made mostly with old floor boards and other recycled bits n bobs. Some off-cuts of new stuff which would have ended up in the firewood pile. Knobs and feet from small hedgerow stuff (ash - not the best for turning, fruitwoods better)
post1312163.html?hilit=finished#p1312163
trad ordinary furniture makers used whatever was available and made sturdy structures from stuff thin as possible (saves wood!)
IKEA carries on the tradition - large bed frames which look like solid wood are glued together from lots of short lengths.
So it's a good idea!

 

[MusicMan]

I've made a lot of stuff from floorboards, mostly recycled antique stuff left over from wood-flooring my house a long time ago. Nicely seasoned now (about 170 years!) and good quality. It also gives a nice supply of very stable teak, pitch pine etc for jigs.

There's no problem edge jointing if you are aware of one thing. The tongue and groove design of floorboards, at least all the 19thC ones I have used is intended to make a good match at the top surface of the joint, not at both the top and bottom. The bottom is designed to have a small gap. This makes the floor look better. But if you cramp them up as edge-jointed boards, the joints will tilt a bit and the overall board won't be flat.

If you are edge jointing them for furniture, the top and bottom edge of the grooved part should be aligned by planing or routing on a table. A long-grain shooting board is useful. If you take too much off you then have to take a bit off the tongue.

Keith

 

[Jacob]

.......
If you are edge jointing them for furniture, the top and bottom edge of the grooved part should be aligned by planing or routing on a table. A long-grain shooting board is useful. If you take too much off you then have to take a bit off the tongue.

Keith

Better if you take off all the tongue, groove, v moulding, and butt join the plain faces.

 

[MusicMan]

Indeed that's what I do unless I want to squeeze every millimetre out of the board!

 

[Osvaldd]

Long grain shooting board? never knew such thing existed

 

[Sgian Dubh]

That's called grain runout Osvaldd. Tom

Tom, I think Osvaldd's rough sketch is intended to illustrate the grain pattern as seen at the end of the board, rather than a face or edge. I'm just wondering if you're seeing a board face rather than the end, hence your 'runout' description?

If it is an end grain view, I'd describe what's on show as displaying end grain that has a mixture of, from left to right, 'figured' (i.e., not quite 'radially' or '1/4 sawn') passing through 'rift or 'bas-tard' cut to 'tangentially sawn' aka 'crown cut' or 'plain sawn'. Slainte.

PS. Edited because the original 'child born out of wedlock' descriptor (not a swear word or insult in a timber technology context) was transmogrified into 'turnip' by, I'm guessing, the automated word police.

 

[Osvaldd]

thats right, I suspect the sides will expand/contract differently, im just curious should I try to match them when edge jointing?

 

[Trevanion]

thats right, I suspect the sides will expand/contract differently, im just curious should I try to match them when edge jointing?

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

This is so that any warpage of the boards is counteracted by the other board which will result in a more even panel. If the grain was all going the same way the panel would warp tremendously in one way.

A bit of an exaggerated diagram:

 

[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. 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.