Scalable Table - The First Wood Has Acclimated

Finally, the first wood for the scalable table build is acclimated, and ready to build with!

For a piece of furniture to have a chance of surviving without cracks appearing after it's been in the home for a while, the timber should be brought to a balanced moisture content with the home environment. We say it has been acclimated. Centrally heated homes will generally have humidity around 40 to 60%, and a piece of wood left in the home will settle with a moisture content of around 8 to 12%.

This was the inspiration

These figures aren't greatly significant, but what is is that wood will contract as the moisture content lowers. By far the vast majority of this movement is across the grain, and this is the what can cause problems. Consider a mortise and tenon joint, where the grain direction of the components are at right angles to each other. The mating, long grain, glue surfaces will expand or contract in different directions to each other, as the moisture content changes. Either the glue or the wood will end up breaking, and with modern adhesives it tends to be the wood.

So, I shall be taking the first chance I get to make a start on building the first table. Watch out for updates on social media, video on YouTube, and backup information here on the blog.