Tabletop from reclaimed wood

Wood moves.

I would not build a table top of solid wood over ply. Plywood will be more stable then the solid wood, and you can count on the solid wood moving around 1%, or roughly about 1/8” for a 12” wide board. This could be more or less in your area, and depends on the humidity. 1/2 should not be treated as veneer .

This sounds like a great project, and good use of material. An alternative could be to laminate two of the 1/2” inch boards, edge join the 1” laminates and let your table top move with the changes.

-- Nicky

I think laminating two together is a good Idea too.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I hope you dont mind me askign the next question but im in search for a little knowledge here myself …. Would you guys (Jim /Nicky) keep the grain in the same direction when laminating the w 1/2” boards together? What would happen if the were oppposing directions?

Good thread Glatz, thanks for the post.

-- "there aren’t many hand tools as awe-inspiring as the #8 jointer. I mean, it just reeks of cast iron heft and hubris" - Smitty

Most wood movement will be in the width of a solid board. You would ideally want to glue two boards together, so that the grain is in the same direction. With changes in moisture, both boards (the laminate) will expand and contract in a similar manner. If you were to glue boards together, where the grain is in opposing directions, the expanding and contraction of the wood will be in opposite directions, and that will lead to checking/cracking of the top and bottom surfaces.

Plywood gets its strength and stability by alternating layers of veneer and having the grain running perpendicular to each layer, and the glue between layers is a brute force method of keeping the material more stable.

I hope this answers your question.

-- Nicky