Planning a kitchen for a client that wants CVG doug fir fronts on everything, and the drawerfronts are to be breadboard style.
You know breadboard . . . horizontal grain board across, end-tenoned with a groove each side, receiving a tongue-detailed vertical edge. See the attached pic.
My cab supplier says he’s done plenty of these, but will not stand behind the drawerheads if made this way, because of the grain-against-grain detail, and differential wood movement.
I have made tabletops this way, and always pinned the center, but let the edges float, but a drawerhead won’t be made this way. It’ll simply get glued.
Have you any experience with this detail? My thought was that the CVG doug fir might make it OK, certainly better than another species, not quartersawn.
Replies
I think he's right. What makes it work is that it can float. You have grain trying to expand and contract perpendicular to each other. One of them has to float, or give. If you glue it, it will give, eventually.
If you're married to the detail though, why not just do it more conventionally and pin it? If the client doesn't want to see a dowel on the face, you could blind pin it from the rear by setting a depth stop on the drill bit so it's shy of punching thru the face.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Another solution would be to veneer the center panel over sheet goods. A thick veneer would work well.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
More of what VaTom said.
Why not use plywood cvg doug fir. Edge band it, make your breadboard ends with ply as well.
You'll have to be a little more precise in your fitting the pieces but you should be able to do it and not get the seasonal movement that you would with solid wood.
Doug
I bet you'll be ok for drawer fronts up to 6" or so. Vertical grain fir isn't going to move much, and PVA glue can handle a bit of flexing. For anything wider than 6" though I would go with a floating tenon or the veneer idea.
Mike
Use a sliding dovetail joint, it may have a tad of uneveness when seasons change, but honestly, in newer climate controlled homes, it mostly is not an issue.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks