Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
expansion of wood panel
Hobie
>I'm building a door and I have two 10.5 inch wide panels of Honduras mahogany. I'ts winter now with low humidity. I'm allowing 3/8 of an inch for expansion during the humid summer months. Is this enough? or should I allow more room?
Joe
Re: expansion of wood panel
Larry Marker in Alabama
>That should be plenty. Using 70 deg 20 per cent for the initial conditions and 80 deg 80 per cent as the final, the Wood Movement Calculator shows about 1/8 inch movement for quarter-sawn and about 1/6 inch for flat sawn for a 10.5 in wide board.
Larry
More than enough
Ellis Walentine
>Mahogany is one of the most stable woods there is, expanding only about 1.3% in width as the moisture content changes from 6% to 12%, which is a typical seasonal swing for wood in most of North America except the deserts and the coasts. You didn't mention the current MC of the wood or your climate region, a 1.3% dimensional change for a 10" board will only be about 1/8". If the wood is over 6% MC now, the expansion will be even less. Either way, you should be safe with 3/16" to 1/4" of total expansion allowance.
Ellis Walentine, Host