Subject: Glue-ups from curly maple: bad idea?

From: [email-masked] (Steve Rehrauer)
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 17:35:19 GMT

I'm building a small table for my daughter, using plans from the latest
Woodsmith.  The top will be 19x19" square.  There's a ~6" tall drawer
under the top.  I'd planned to use cherry for the top, and light woods
for the legs & remainder.  I'd planned to use curly maple for the drawer
front and "apron" (sorry, don't know what to call it -- the part of the
table that frames the drawer).

I found a nice 4/4 piece of curly hard maple yesterday.  It has nice
curl from edge to edge.  (I can see why some folks call this "tiger"
maple.)

I'm thinking I might like to reverse the color scheme on the plans,
and use cherry for everything but the top.  That curly maple piece
*could* be glued-up to make the top.  My question is: Will I regret
trying it?  I've never worked with a curly wood before.  I'm warned
that it's very prone to tear out.

The plans call for rounding the top and bevelling the bottom edges
of the top.  I'm a little worried about chip-out.

       ---------------
      (
       \   (edge view of top)
        --------------

Any words of wisdom?  Thanks in advance, --Steve
-- 
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All software is bug-free, assuming          | Steve [email-masked]
 sufficiently clever definitions of         | Massachusetts Language Lab
 "feature" and "expected behaviour".        | USDA Zone 5, more or less

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From: keevmk <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 23:50:15 -0600

> of the top.  I'm a little worried about chip-out.

I think I would glue up the top carefully and find find someone with a
wide belt sander,instead of a planer, to even it up (this would be a
great opportunity to get the wife to let you buy one) then careful
sanding and scraping. On the edge detail I would experiment with your
scraps and test for the best speeds and take several light passes
regardless of the other factors.  Looks like the bottom portion of the
edge could be done on the tablesaw.

Buzz

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From: Karen Byrne <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 16:48:05 -0500

Not at all! I just got done with one I made it has a curly maple top
made up of 1 1/2" strips, face glued to look like butcher block. The
apron and drawer were out of curly cherry. But I did use a wide belt on
all my pieces, then just touch up with a orbital              Jim