Interior Wood Stress

A couple weeks back, I ripped the 3 quater birch into 2 inch strips to make the face frame for the curb side cabinets. One of the interesting things about working with solid wood is the effect of interior wood stress. Meaning that when you look at a larger planned, jointed piece of wood you don't see the areas that could could cup and bow over time. Rip that same piece and you will see each individual piece acts different (cups, bows, bends) when not part of the larger board, this is inteior wood stress. A good friend and cabinet maker, Bill Andrews, has advised me that I should consider glueing smaller widths for my interior cabinet doors, especially the longer ones.

The process of building this interior has been an eye opener on how the original cabinet makers built their cabinets for the Caravanner. I once thought that the use of plywood for the doors was cheap, but think back 50 years and plywood was an expensive process. They used ply because it was stable and did not warp from interior wood stress over time.

I had thought about using good quality plywood as door fronts but I don't like the look of the edge since you see the individual plys and by todays standards this looks kinda cheap.

Maybe a combination of hardwood edges and good quality plywood would be a good compromise.

Drop me a note and let me know what you use.