Replies

1. 
   Walnutburl | Jul 07, 2004 04:05pm | #1

   Ericl, from what I read you are gluing the tops right to the frame, thereby not allowing the movement of the top. Make sure you use clips to hold your top so it will allow movement.

   Jim

2. 
   YesMaam27577 | Jul 07, 2004 04:05pm | #2

   and using a cleat to glue then to the apron.

   If you are in fact gluing the top to the apron, then that is one of the problems. Use only the cleats, and no glue. This allows the top to float on the apron. If you glue the top to the apron, you will be gluing a cross-grain joint.

   Unless you're the lead dog, the view just never changes.

3. 
   RickL | Jul 07, 2004 04:17pm | #3

   You cannot put a frame around a glued up table top! Research breadboard ends for more info. You can only put a plywood, MDF, etc in a restrictive frame due to expansion, contraction issues. A door panel allows for this movement.  Rule of thumb is typically 7-8% for kiln dried wood. Obviously you don't want to glue a 7% board to a 12% board. Hoadley's book on Understanding Wood is well worth the money. Cheaper to do the research before than to research after the problem. Joyce's book on Furniture Making gives fundamental rules on basic furniture construction techniques.  Those two books should give you the answers you seek and prevent future problems. 

4. 
   johnhardy | Jul 08, 2004 04:35am | #4

   The others have pinpointed your problem ... you're not allowing the top to expand and contract with moisture changes.

   What I do, in addition to using shop-made wooden buttons to hold the top down (the buttons have a tongue which goes into a kerf made by my biscuit jointer, and the button's tongue can move into and out of the kerf) is to use a dowel at the mid point of the ends (in the middle of the apron) to register the top. The dowels protrude up from the apron about 3/8th of an inch and are not glued to the top. They're for registration only. Note that my grain runs the long way, so I'm adding dowels in the long grain, and there isn't movement in this direction. If I were to make a top with the grain running the short direction I'd change my dowel location likewise.

   I simply always want my tops to be centered on the base, and the above does just that. (I use one dowel on one end, and two dowels, an inch apart on the other, so that the top goes on only one way.)

   John