I built a dining room table out of cherry. I was just moving onto the finishing step and then had to leave the project for a while (about a year). The table has a removable leaf. Just before I left it, I planed the ends of the aprons where they met, and where they met with the apron on the leaf, so they would fit together nicely.
A year later, I’ve got the time to finish it, but the wood has moved significantly and there is currently a gap of about 5/16ths between the two aprons (without the leaf.) I don’t mind a gap so much when the leaf is in place, as the leaf will only be used on rare occasions, but as most of the time if will be used without the leaf, I’d like to consider fixing this gap somehow.
Looking for advice:
– Did the wood move more than might have otherwise happened if I had finished the project right away? (I’m planning to finish using a combination of wiping varnish and oil-varnish blend.)
– Or is this kind of wood movement to be expected since the grain is going in the opposite direction from the wood in the tabletop?
– If I glue a piece of wood on the end, will the wood just move again so that the table top can’t close?
– The entire table is cherry, I thought about making the wood that is glued on the end a different wood to try and make it so it doesn’t look like so much of a mistake, but I can’t quite convince myself that that will work.
Thanks for any words of wisdom for this beginning woodworker.
– brock
Replies
Brock,
If I understand your post correctly, the top expanded beyond the ends of the aprons, leaving a gap between the apron ends when the top pieces butt up to one another.
If that's the case, why don't you remove the top pieces and refasten them? You'd scoot the tops to the ends of the aprons and refasten them there. That would elimate the gap between aprons.
When you refasten the top pieces, make sure they are held fast where they meet the apron ends. Then, use elongated screw holes or another method to allow the outboard ends to move back and forth with humidity changes. A tabletop of any width is going to expand and contract with the seasons. The trick is to have it do it where you want it to - at the outer edges...
Zolton
If you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
Zolton,
I think you've hit the nail on the head. I had been thinking that the apron had shrunk, but of course it was that the table top had expanded - in both directions.
I built wooden cleats, which I fastened to the aprons. The cleats have elongated screw holes allowing room for the table top to move. But all the screw holes were elangated. I didn't do anything to encourage it to only expand on the outside.
Your suggestion makes total sense. I'll give that a try. One thing that worries me a bit is that the screw may want to wander into it's old hole when refastening. I'm wondering if there is a trick (with a very small peg or dowel maybe) to filling the old hole to discourage that. (I've used #8 wood screws.)
Alternatively I could rip a bit off the end of each table top in order to reuse the old holes, but I've got these brass table leaf alignment pins along the edges, and so I'd have to remove those, potentially deepen the hole and then replace. So a bit finicky and to be avoided if possible, I think.
A #8 wood screw is one of my favorites, because of its small size. But its narrow cross section may allow the wood to crush a bit against its side when expansion occurs. Could you bump up to a 10 or 12, tightening up the cleat opening at the same time as making a stronger fixed connection at the inside ends of the top? Perhaps even adding a second screw alongside at the inside ends to force all the movement to the ends of the table?
Brock, Filling the screw holes with glued wood plugs and then redrilling them to accommodate the screws in slightly different locations would work. As you noted, ripping some off the edges at the middle of the table and then trying to realign the brass pins would be risky.
Good luck with the repair...ZoltonIf you see a possum running around in here, kill it. It's not a pet. - Jackie Moon
Edited 12/14/2009 8:31 am ET by Zolton
brock,
On solid wood tables, the wood will shrink and expand through the course of the dry and wet seasons in your area. As humidity rises, the table will swell, and the gap will be visible. In the dry season, the tabletop will shrink, and you might experience a gap where the two halves meet.
Table construction has to take into account the movement of wood. Anything you do to the apron now will change as soon as the humidity level in your house changes.
Plan accordingly.
Jeff
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