tongue and groove them and put the panel in a dadoed frame...
skip the full backer and go w/ inlayed 1½'' wide perpendicular furring made from the pickets installed 6''OC...
no glue but do screw them on and slot the cross pieces for the screws to allow for wood movement..
be careful not to make your panels while the MC is elevated..

 

Thanks Stick.

My moisture content is about 6% to 7% right now. That's about as low as I can get them to here on the Gulf coast.

I had thought about the inlay process but wasn't sure it would work. I'll do them as a half lap so the back is flat. Since the furs would be thin (about 7/32" thick) should I look at putting in maybe 3 rows rather than 2 rows of them?

 

6-7% MC is great...
use the full thickness of the slat for the furring.....
inlay all of an eighth inch and the dado a bit loose..
nothing stopping you from adding more furring.. install furring on the ends of end grain......
the frame is for aesthetics and wood movement camo...
a ship lap will be more prone to open at the seams and the edges may curl/split...
an offset T&G will leave more wood to your favor...
less issues w/ the T&G...

 

Do like Stick says, don't try to restrict the expansion or contraction. put the screws in little slots from the bacck sideto allow movement of the face.

 

But I should still laminate the edges, right?

 

I was thinking gluing the flat edges. But now I will buy me a T&G bit set and give it a go.

But I'm still a little confused on the "use the full thickness of the slat for the furring.....inlay all of an eighth inch and the dado a bit loose.."

If I envision this correctly, I will cut a tongue and groove on the edges, glue and clamp them. Then I will cut three 1/8" deep dado from top to bottom, slightly wider than my fur strips. Then I lay the fur strips into these dados and fasten with a screw in a slotted hole into each of the laminated boards....no glue, just the screws.

Am I "seeing" this correctly?

 

1... I was thinking gluing the flat edges.
2... But now I will buy me a T&G bit set and give it a go.
3... But I'm still a little confused on the "use the full thickness of the slat for the furring.....
4... inlay all of an eighth inch and the dado a bit loose.."
5... If I envision this correctly, I will cut a tongue and groove on the edges,
6... glue and clamp them.
7... Then I will cut three 1/8" deep dado from top to bottom, slightly wider than my fur strips.
8... Then I lay the fur strips into these dadoes and fasten with a screw in a slotted hole into each of the laminated boards....no glue, just the screws.

Am I "seeing" this correctly?

almost...

1... got it...
2... good... make it an adjustable set...
3... what ever your finished thickness of the slats is now leave then that thickness ans make your furring strips fron them...
4... cut the dadoes an eighth of an inch deep in the back of the panel and a playing card or two too wide..
you want free movement on the joints.. a snug or tight fit will bind...
5... correct... slightly off center towards the back of the panel...
6... no glue... clamp and caul then to make your dadoes...
7... correct...
8... correct..
two screws... place one each about ¼ of the width of the panel boards in from the edge of the panel seam/joint and centered in the furring strip...

 

Frank, mail the boards to Stick and he will be only too happy to fix it all up for you! >

 

darn...
no do not like button...

 

If you t & g the edge joints and the joints run horizontal remember to orient the board so that the tongues point up into the grooves, otherwise you are creating a water trap.

 

or make the T&G's vertical...

 

"no do not like button..."


Oops....I misread that as "No. Do not 'like button'." Too late.

 

Frank; nobody here is going to try and talk you out of re-purposing perfectly good Cedar! Nice find.
When you make the sign(s), ensure that the tongues are pointing UP! If you reverse it there's always the possibility of rain working it's way DOWN into the groove. This is not desirable.

 

Thanks everyone for the input.....especially you Stick, for your patience with this old man.

I also see I need to invest in a router table, too. Or maybe build myself one. Hmmmmm

 

yur welcome...
RT's, we can delve into that too...

for now cut your T&G's on the TS...
Use an FTG blade..

 

Frank I edge glued two pieces of WC together for another project about two months ago. So far there has been no cupping. I could be just lucky or they may just not cup that much. I don't know.

 

I'm gonna' go against the flow here, Frank, and suggest you stick with your original idea of edge gluing the pieces together and adding a backer board.

You didn't mention how large a panel you want to end up with but you are starting with thin boards that are less than 1/2" thick and all the operations suggested seem like overkill for a sign that will end up being pretty thin. I like Stick's idea of furring strips but if they are inlayed, as he suggests, they'll be about 1/4" thick and leaving you only a 1/4" thick board to carve into.

If this is an outdoor sign, the wood you are using seems too thin. Eric's outdoor signs are usually about 1 1/2" thick and his plywood backer boards help eliminate warping.

 

I (almost) never disagree with you, Oliver, but in this case I see so many issues with the plywood ~Cedar combination that I have to respectfully (always!) disagree.
The plywood and Cedar have dramatically different expansion rates when wet. The Cedar, if mounted with the T&G running horizontally will only have one edge fully exposed to water sitting on it. The plywood on the other hand will have every other veneer layers' end grain wicking up the water. If Frank does mount the sign in a loose frame that'd basically resolve the edge issue.
I don't know what conditions, woodwise, are like down in Texas, but here in the Pacific NorthWest the plywood will crap out eons before the Cedar...unless it's pressure treated.
Just my (unasked for opinion)

 

Well, after careful consideration of all the suggestions given me, I chose to proceed with my original plan. I edge laminated the boards together to make my sign blank.

I am going to hang this in my computer room so it will not be exposed to the elements. So I am pretty sure gluing these together will be fine. If it fails then y'all can tell me "I told you so!" LOL

The board is 21" tall X 24" wide. I did all the carving freehand and used my 60° beveled bit that I bought from Dave's Signs. I love this bit!! I can get pretty detailed in my carvings with this bit when needed. All the paint was hand painted using acrylic.

I still need to clear coat it before I hang it up.

I really do appreciate all the suggestions I received. Just because I did not use y'all's suggestions doesn't mean I didn't take them into consideration. I did.....but being a hard headed person, I chose to try it my way anyway.

Thanks again guys. I will make sure and review your suggestions if I ever need to make a large sign for a paying customer.

 

Frank - looks like you made the right decision - great looking

 

Nice job, Frank. My thoughts were based on it being exposed to weather; indoors? You're golden!

 

Your sign turned out great, Frank. Nice job.

 

I really do appreciate all the suggestions I received. Just because I did not use y'all's suggestions doesn't mean I didn't take them into consideration. I did.....but being a hard headed person, I chose to try it my way anyway.


Frank this is what this forum is all about. All these suggestions more than likely helped others.

By the way I think your sign turned out great.

 

Great sign frank, you got some nice fine grained old growth cedar boards to work with, looks like very close to VG cedar. You did those old fence boards proud.

Herb