Planer or sander

[Jack]

I'll suggest it now. First, a 30" piece of lumber is unusual, but, if found, is most likely flat sawn, and will likely warp, and is too wide for all home jointers, planers and drum sanders. My brother scoffed up an old 20" wide 10/4 hunk of oak a while back. I told him I'd use it for sure but would cut it into narrow pieces first. I ended up making a dresser out of it, and for the top. I cut 5/4 strips, 2 1/2" wide. The flat sawn face grain became the side grain, the quarter sawn side grain became the face grain, so essentially, it was now a quarter sawn top. Super stable and very nice looking. The side panels and drawer faces were also from cut down from wide and glued up for best figure. It should be very rare for a cabinet shop to use a 30" board w/o breaking it down unless they are doing some sort of specialty natural edge board room table top or something like that.

[-MIKE-]

I think the point they're making is if you have a 30" wide board, you probably aren't going to do that. You're probably going to find something to make for which you can leave it 30" wide. Yes, glued up panels are more stable, but solid panels are better looking. Unless you're talking poplar or some other very plain wood. But if you have a 30" wide board with any character to the grain at all, it would be a shame to chop it up.

[Jack]

For me, the only reason I would want a wide board is to chop it up. This way, you can make an entire piece of furniture, the top, styles, rails, drawer fronts, doors, door panels from one board from one tree. Looks good, sands the same, stains the same, is stable and so on.

Yes, I get making a 30" table top from one piece of crazy figured wood, but rarely is that done or necessary. If you chop up one huge board for a wide top, and are careful you can re-assemble so it looks much like same board before you cut it up, even if using a magnifying glass to search for seams, which no one does. Much more noticeable w/o a magnifying glass is cupped/bowed/cracked 30" wide, one piece top. Sure it's done, sure it's risky.