# joining two pices of oak



## jwdewy (Oct 26, 2014)

How important is it to oppose the end grain when joining two planks of oak


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Err... How important is it to what?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*to prevent warp*

If the boards show arching growth rings they are more prone to cupping and therefore warping. So yes, opposing them may have some effect on that issue. Usually ripping them down the center and regluing them will work better. That's why multiple boards work better than large single or double boards to keep things flat. with only two boards it may prove challenging.

The best solution is to look for boards with vertical grain on the ends... quartersawn or sawn from the near the center of the log. 
Also make certain the boards are equalzed to the shop environment before assembling them
In spite of taking all the best precautions...wood moves and is unpredictable.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I get the impression you have already glued the boards together. It wouldn't be worth the trouble to cut them apart. The two boards you have may not warp even if you didn't alternate the grain. It's just safer if you do alternate the grain. While it's true if you alternate the grain the panel is less likely to warp when I glue panels I'm more concerned with matching the grain so it looks like a single piece of wood. Normally it's when you make a large panel like a table top you need to be more careful.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

There are different schools of thought on grain orientation, some say that if the wood moves they would rather have it curl than have a rippled effect. Others prefer to arrange the boards according to which side looks best and which boards look best beside each other totally ignoring grain orientation. 
Ideally you would not use material that you would worry about excessive wood movement.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

epicfail48 said:


> Err... How important is it to what?


Good question.

George


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