I’m making a kitchen island top that is Maple and Jatoba 1-1/4″ thick. The runs are North to South with tongue and groove joints along the run that are flex glued together (been that way for 2+ yrs now with no change with expansion or contraction) and the ends are routed for my breadboard ends; so that would be East to West ends with any expansion/movement being North to South. The island is going to be epoxied sealed (bar top product) at the end of the project.
I would like to join the main island panel to the breadboard end panel with a bow-tie joint that spans the seam (triangle-box-triangle) with ebony that would be a 3″L x 3/4″ w x 1-1/4″ thick pin.
My question is will this work or will there still be movement that will tear the bowtie pin apart?
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If I understand what you are saying correctly, the planks that make up the island top run north-south and potential expansion/contraction is also north-south. This is not correct. Any expansion/contraction of the panel will be perpendicular to the grain. The purpose of a breadboard end is to cover the end grain of the main panel while allowing for potential expansion or contraction. Hence, the breadboard is attached by tongue and groove that is generally glued only in the center maybe 3" and the rest is fastened with pegs through elongated holes. You might be able to place a bowtie in the middle of the breadboard but, putting them elsewhere along the joint may cause something to break if there is any expansion or contraction.
I don't know what flex gluing is.
The flex glue was flexible construction adhesive (liquid nails type product) concur with perpendicular expansion, do you have any idea how the bar top epoxy plays into this? I've never seen a commercial establishment with expansion cracks in their woodwork...I'm hoping that the epoxy material will keep everything in place.
The bar top epoxy is just a type of finish and will do little or nothing to "keep everything in place". The top has been stable for 2+ years likely because it has been in a stable climate controlled environment. If you were to have a prolonged power outage and temperature/humidity changes became more pronounced, you might see some expansion/contraction. It is always good to accommodate this possibility. I don't know anything about the "flex glue" you used but, regardless of how good it is, it will have no positive or negative effect on expansion/contraction. That occurs within the wood itself. However, if the glue line has some flexibility, some eventual cracking of any film finish would not surprise me. You might try asking the glue manufacturer to recommend the best type of finish over their product.
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