X10James
Handyman
Reged: 12/21/03
Posts: 811
Loc: Savannah, GA
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Hi Folks,
I am currently in the planning phases for my first real wood tabletop. Meaning not just plywood with edge pieces but strips of decent wood glued and fitted into strips. I was planning on using those figure 8 things to attach it to the table base to allow for some wood movement.
But then a couple of weeks ago we purchased a new kitchen table that is real wood and made up the same way, but they just used pocket holes around the base frame screwed up into the table top. This wont allow the top to expand will they? Can I just do that? Or is that really wrong... I am pretty sure that the table is actually real wood as you can tell on the unfinished underside and edges that it's real (and it certainly cost like a real wood table)
The main reason I ask is that I have to order those figure 8 things, HD or Lowes dont seem to carry them, and I already have a Kregg jig.
Thanks
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Wouldheart
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 02/12/05
Posts: 3293
Loc: Southern Ontario
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You are right and the furniture maker is wrong. A solid wood top will move. Here in Ontario, we have 90 degrees in the summer and 30 below in the winter with either the AC and the furnace blasting all the time. Wood movement is all about humidity. The finish that will prevent water migration in or out of your furniture? It doesn't exist.
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And of these one and all I weave the song of myself ....Walt Whitman
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ront02769
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 03/03/04
Posts: 8388
Loc: New England
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great article in a recent fine-woodworking about table tops and ways to make them.
ront
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ironside
newbie
Reged: 12/26/06
Posts: 9
Loc: France
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If the table top is made of narrow strips then pocket screws thro the frame are ok as long as they are not a tight fit in the holes and no glue is used. Another common fix is a small metal angle plate with slots rather than holes, and use
a pan head screw so it can slide with the movement.
Peter
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Bob_Fleming
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 06/28/01
Posts: 23977
Loc: Eagle, CO USA
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My educated guess is that screw fastening of any type will allow movement more than you think, particularly if you leave the screws a tad loose.
I think it is more important to thoroughly seal (finish) both sides of the wood, preferably with the same finish. This may not be a perfect seal, but is far better than nothing.
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