Does species matter for sliding dovetail tabletop battens?
rusty_irons
| Posted in Joinery on
Question on sliding dovetail batten for tabletop. Tabletop is cherry panel, three boards, ~40″ wide. Want to add sliding dovetail batten to attach legs, mostly for aesthetics but also to allow for wood movement.
Does it matter what species I use for the batten? I have some quartersawn white oak I could use but I was also trying to use up some quartersawn pine that’s been lying around.
I imagine pine, being softer and more flexible is going to do less to “keep the table flat” but how much should I be concerned with that, assuming the wood is well acclimated, etc?
Replies
I would go with the hardwood. The reason for that is there is a possibility that in dry fitting the softwood you can more easily crush the fibers and end up with a loose joint on the final assembly. As to strength the hardwood will be stronger. The legs are attached to the batten? How?
I am going to attach the top to a standing desk frame. As fabricated, the frame is attached using some screws. My plan is to put these screws through the tapered battens (glued only at the "fat" end) to allow the panel to do its thing as the humidity fluctuates.
No question you should use the denser wood.
Unless your leg structure is totally rigid (is there such a thing?), there will be racking forces applied to the battens, trying to compress those relatively small, side-grain surfaces. Also, any attempt by the top to cup will also compress the batten surfaces. If the battens are soft, they will loosen over time. Make them from dense, hard wood.
Thank you both for your helpful suggestions and explanation. White oak battens it is.
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