Hello All,
I need some advice, please. I recently made a table with a 38″ x 38″ solid oak top. It has a 3/4″ x 3″ apron perimeter with mitered corners. It was finished with lacquer. Recently, the miter joints started speading apart- probably due to expansion of the top. I had attached 2 cross-grain battens on the bottom to try to contain the movement. It obviously didn’t work.
Any help would be appreciated.
Replies
There is no way to prevent a solid wood board from expanding and contracting. If you put anything across the grain, either the panel will warp, split or in some way, distort.
In other words, you cannot surround a solid wood top with a cross grain perimeter border unless you devise a way for the panel to "float" in the paremeter boards.
You can't fool with mother nature.
Howie's right. a 'breadboard' end might have been a better option. (sorry, I know hindsight is 20/20)
The other posters have accurately described what's going on. The only way I think this would work is if the interior "panel" were made of something like MDF covered with oak veneer. It'd be very stable. But I would much prefer the breadb oard ends, like another poster suggested.
John
You will have to remake the top. No way to make that work. Oak moves a lot! if you want the frame look, you will have to use a floating panel or veneered substrates of MDF or Plywood as was already suggested. Breadboard must pinned in the middle and allowed to float. There's plenty of books on wood movement and it's best to follow some sound plans to learn the rules. Just a simple edge glued panel can be challenging enough for a beginner.
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