Tongue and Groove Joinery

Before beginning to make your tongue and groove joints, it is advisable to lay out the boards to try and find the combination that will look the best. Place the boards in an order that will align similar colors, grain patterns and knot locations that will look the best. Also, to avoid issues with cupping or warping down the line, alternate the end grain patterns (as shown in the image above) so that one board's grain faces up, the next down and so on.

I like to number the boards left to right at this point, so I know which way is up on each board and the order that I decided upon. I simply write the numbers 1, 2, 3 and etc. on the end grain of each board. You can also label them A, B, C and so on.

TIP: If you use numbers to label the ends, be sure to write a formal #1 (rather than just a vertical line), or you may not remember which side is up.