(Welcome Johnny! — Johnny Williams is our new columnist for WoodWise, a weekly post exploring furniture construction and woodworking.)
Wood is never quite willing to stray from its roots. Each time a furniture maker transforms a tree into a table, they must defy the rules of nature, always bound by the simple dynamic that wood moves. Heirloom quality pieces made from solid wood take this movement into account, expanding and contracting with the grace of a sleeping lover (ed. note: you've been spending too much time in the woodshop!). So be careful furnishing your bedroom with high quality pieces — you might wake up spooning the bedside table.
As a woodworking student, I’ve been staggered by how much wood movement impacts design and construction. Expansion caused by seasonal fluctuations in humidity causes constant shifts in size and shape. In the northeast, furniture reaches its peak expansion following the dog days of summer humidity. You may have noticed your drawers are a bit snugger these days, and I'm not talking about all those Shake Shack burgers you've been eating. In solid slab construction, such seasonal movement is inevitable, and always occurs across the grain of a board.
A tree just wants to be a tree; once milled, it will always try to strike its original pose. Wood warps in one or more of the five following ways:
• Cup: to warp along the width of a board
• Bow: to warp along the length of a board
• Twist: to warp in opposite direction at either end
• Crook: to warp along the edge of the board
• Check: to split along the length of the board (often due to improper drying)
Furniture makers employ a bevy of techniques to control wood movement. The most basic is to orient their various parts such that the entire piece expands and contracts in the same directions. The solid slab entry table that I’m currently building, for instance, was designed to breathe downward and upward, and not forward and backward.
Larger slabs of wood move more, so I utilized a frame and panel technique to break up the tension. Panels sit loosely, or float, in grooves inside the frame, free to expand seasonally across the grain but trapped from warp.
For many modern furniture makers, wood movement has become a non-issue. Using fiberboard and plywood has allowed for a whole new era of visionary form and function largely free of motion. But in my very humble opinion, nothing compares to the organic beauty of solid, moving wood. Now enough with all the innuendo, I have some spooning to do.
(Images: 1 Johnny Williams, 2 Wood Magazine, 3 Johnny Williams)
Johnny is currently blogging his experience as a student at Maine's Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. You can keep track of his projects on his blog, Woodlearner.
This takes me back to my woodworking days. Thanks for the a very informative blog. I hope next time you can give tips on how to select lumber to watch out for these things.
BTW, that is an interesting cabinet. I like your use of sapwood.
view Comicgeek's profile
What a great idea to create a series on woodworking. I love to DIY and this could help me tackle projects that use wood. Could you explain a bit more about this statement "seasonal movement is inevitable, and always occurs across the grain of a board".
When you say "across the grain", I am not sure what you mean.
view RobinD.'s profile
what is your favorite type of wood? and why?
view iheartwood's profile
how do i become a woodworking student in nyc?
view pkyc0's profile
My interior doors have just started getting harder to close...it's an annual cycle, I feel.
I love the woodworking series...so many people love wood pieces, I think this was long time coming!
www.donkeehouse.com
view bitdot's profile
when i was working as the director of a commercial wood door supplier and living in south florida, this issue is of constant concern, especially near the water. for projects that insisted on receiving their products early, we'd go on site constantly with one of those little moisture guns to check conditions. not properly controlling stored temperatures for wood products or furniture can be a VERY expensive mistake. interesting article.
kelly
http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com/
view k51279's profile
A resounding YES on this new feature! I, too, want to learn more about woodworking in NYC.
Thank you, great start.
view olga's profile
I agree -
More of this type of information is hightly appreciated!
view bepsf's profile
This is great. Excited to read more.
view moira's profile
I like this article, and I like the writing. Great to have this informative feature.
Now return to your spooning.
view msjessiemeghan's profile
The lumberyard guy made sure I knew about cupping when I purchased wood for an outdoor table. Water runs off the sides of each board instead of collecting in the center.
view JoeyBrill's profile
this is a great new feature. thanks.
view kdkaboom's profile
Hey Johnny!
I was also student at the CFC. Say hi to Peter Korn and Brian Reid from Vanessa. Isn't the CFC wonderful? I miss it there.
:) Vanessa von Hessert
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/vanessa-von-hessert-at-offline-090408-new-york-062764
Pkyc0,
You can take some basic woodworking classes at the 3rd Ward in Brooklyn, but I would suggest taking some time off from work and instead going to the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockland, Maine. It is an amazing school. You will learn so much there.
view Vanessa in New York's profile
You can woodwork in NYC at a number of places in Brooklyn:
3rd Ward
Makeville
Beagle and Pots
Treehouse
I've tried 3rd Ward and Makeville. Makeville runs a beginners class that takes you through the rudimentaries of running the machines in the shop. They have other classes too, which you would probably want to do if you had never woodworked before. (The beginners class is just a few hours long). Then you can rent studio time for $35 for 3 hours, which is pretty decent. It's clean and the lady who runs it, Robyn, is really nice.
view Kah's profile
hi readers! sorry for the late response, this whole blogging thing is a lot of work!
vanessa, we should definitely meet up when i'm back in NYC -- us CFC folk gotta stick together! i told PK and Brian you said hi...
robin d, when i spoke of movement occurring "across the grain," i basically meant that wood expands across a board's width. (since the grain runs along its length.)
iheartwood, so far i've only worked with ash, walnut, oak, cherry and maple. i love walnut for it's beautiful purple color and golden sapwood, but maple has some really gorgeous/quirky figure. oak is a difficult wood to work -- we don't get along so well anymore.
view woodlearner's profile