Maple Glue-Up Question

[Ed Bailen]

I built the top of my computer desk out of recycled maple flooring. The strips were about 1-5/8" wide and 7/8" thick, face glued to make a

30" x 72" x1-5/8" slab. All of the wood sat in my shop for several months before the assembly started, and the finished slab sat in my shop for alomost a year before the final project was completed, finish sanded, and sealed with many layers of polyurethane on all sides.

The question:

As I slide my hand across the laminatioins, I can feel ripples. at almost every glue joint. I know the top was dead smooth when I sealed it. My thinking is that since the grain in these flooring strips was anything but straight, I am seeing some micro-warping where one strip of wood is moving ever so slightly in a different direction than it's neightbor as the moisture content in the wood changes. Am I on the right track?

Thanks, Ed

[tom]

Ed wrote: I built the top of my computer desk out of recycled maple flooring. The strips were about 1-5/8" wide and 7/8" thick, face glued to make a

30" x 72" x1-5/8" slab. All of the wood sat in my shop for several months before the assembly started, and the finished slab sat in my shop for alomost a year before the final project was completed, finish sanded, and sealed with many layers of polyurethane on all sides.

The question:

As I slide my hand across the laminatioins, I can feel ripples. at almost every glue joint. I know the top was dead smooth when I sealed it. My thinking is that since the grain in these flooring strips was anything but straight, I am seeing some micro-warping where one strip of wood is moving ever so slightly in a different direction than it's neightbor as the moisture content in the wood changes. Am I on the right track?

That, or the MC in the glue joint isn't changing as readily? Tom

[Robatoy]

The glue-line has a different absorption rate for poly, moisture etc. then the adjoining wood. I see this in butcherblock...sometimes a year later.