Since the top will be flattened using hand planes, it is imperative that the grain direction of all the boards forming the lamination run in the same direction. This afternoon I set about determining the grain direction of each board by planing in what looked to be the correct direction and then checking for tear-out. I also measured the MC of each board and recorded the result on each board. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the next week.
The Rain Forest. The boards lying on the floor will become the top. The lumber in the background will become the legs and stretchers
Here you can better see the grain direction as I have marked them on the individual boards
Next weekend I will begin planing and truing the boards to size. The top will be in the order of 1,600 by 600 x 100 - so I expect handling it to be somewhat of a challenge - another good reason to complete the top first.
