# Question about cross grain gluing.



## motsm (Sep 11, 2016)

I am very new to woodworking, but have been doing a lot of research on the subject recently, that said I am hoping someone with experience can give me some input here. 

I have attached a screen grab from SketchUp of the bottom portion of a chest I am building to go under my bed. I have changed the plans a bit since that model, but it should get the point across. My question is concerning wood movement with the bottom boards being glued and screwed to the edge grain of the side boards. Keep in mind, the bottom is_ not_ an edge glued panel, they are individual cedar 1x4"s, which I have read are relatively stable. In addition to this, I made two trim pieces (breadboard ends?) to cover the end grain, that I have tongue and grooved, and planned to glue.

So considering this isn't an edge glued panel, should I be worried about wood movement?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Yes you are correct to worry about gluing wood in a perpendicular direction to your top. This is a classic woodworking no no. What would happen is the boards glued to the ends would prevent the top from shrinking so the top would split to relieve the stress. 

You can do this but not use glue. The boards on the ends could be nailed on or screwed if you elongate the screw holes. Nails would bend to relieve the stress and if the screw holes were elongated would allow for the top to shrink without building up enough stress to split.


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## motsm (Sep 11, 2016)

Steve Neul said:


> Yes you are correct to worry about gluing wood in a perpendicular direction to your top. This is a classic woodworking no no. What would happen is the boards glued to the ends would prevent the top from shrinking so the top would split to relieve the stress.
> 
> You can do this but not use glue. The boards on the ends could be nailed on or screwed if you elongate the screw holes. Nails would bend to relieve the stress and if the screw holes were elongated would allow for the top to shrink without building up enough stress to split.


Thanks for the reply, but it sounds like you are talking about an edge glued panel, which I mentioned I wasn't using for the bottom boards; they are just side by side. Or perhaps I misunderstood you?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

motsm said:


> Thanks for the reply, but it sounds like you are talking about an edge glued panel, which I mentioned I wasn't using for the bottom boards; they are just side by side. Or perhaps I misunderstood you?


I misunderstood that the bottom panel was not glued together however you should never glue solid wood together in a perpendicular direction. Even the individual boards can split from shrinkage.


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## motsm (Sep 11, 2016)

Steve Neul said:


> I misunderstood that the bottom panel was not glued together however you should never glue solid wood together in a perpendicular direction. Even the individual boards can split from shrinkage.


Every time I attempted to find such info, it always referred to edge glued panels, so thanks for the info. I'll make the necessary adjustments.


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