Sapele end block grain orientation?

[Drew Streip]

Searched but couldn’t find a real comprehensive answer. I have a nice piece of 8/4 sapele and I’m wondering whether the “face” or the “edge” grain should be the gluing surface for the top and back plates.

The “edge” grain is the classic quartersawn sapele figure:



While the face seems to be tighter, less porous, less prone to tear out with my planes:


And if the answer is “resaw and laminate”, or even adding a lighter wood into the lamination, that’s cool too. Just not sure if there’s a consensus on this. Thanks!

[billhay4]

If you resaw and laminate, you avoid any issue here at all. That's what I would do.
Bill

[sunburst]

I wouldn't laminate. It doesn't really matter which way you orient the grain. If you want to go to the trouble to look up the dimensional stability of your side wood, top wood and back wood and compare them to radial and tangential stability for sapele you will probably find that the difference in stability is so small that it really doesn't make any noticeable difference. Besides, the block gets glued to the rim, the top and the back. We can't optimize the grain orientation for all three glue joints.

If we must stick to perfectly sound wood working principles we cannot build instruments as we know them.

[Drew Streip]

Thanks John -- I'll probably use the face grain then, as the depth is closer to my needed dimension. A few good strokes of a jack plane or a pass at the saw and I'll be there.

And thanks Bill -- I'm not worried about this chunk moving, just wasn't sure if there was a "more" optimal glue surface for a porous wood.