Working on a kitchen tabletop made out of 4/4 hickory. I’ve done all I can in terms of prep before glue up (acclimation, planing, stickering, etc) and am ready to glue up the panels. I’ll be doing one half, then the other before joining both panel sections for the full width of the top. The shop manager that helped me with planing them threw out the idea of cutting dados for the battens to recess them to keep the top flat. In my mind, recessing means not using hardware (and therefore using glue but you know what they say about assuming). I was mostly wondering if anyone has tried something like this? And furthermore, do battens have to be a harder wood to be effective?
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Post a drawing or description of your table's base design. Lotsa ways to go, and of course "it all depends". The aprons of a standard 4-leg design should keep a well-made top flat, a pedestal base has less structure at the outer areas.
If battens are added they'll be across the glue lines and attached with screws. Recessing them is more of a design decision than a structural one.
"Harder" wood is not necessary, but harder is usually stiffer and would require less cross section to do the same job. The same stock as the table is normal.
I can get a drawing later but I’m doing a traditional 4 leg design with aprons; I heard that normally will keep the table flat but with as much time and money as I’m putting into it I figure doing a few more steps to keep it flat is worth it.
It’s my first time working with something other than pine, so I’m learning a lot as I go about picking the right kinda wood species for the job. Thanks!
I'm not sure I follow what you are asking, but here are my observations.
You have a top made from 4/4 wood so finished thickness is approximately 3/4". Battens are usually at least as thick as the top so they would also be 3/4", but the thicker they are the more they are able to resist cupping and bowing. Obviously this does not work if you are thinking the battens would be flush.
Now here is where it gets a little fuzzy; you say the shop manager threw out the idea of recessing them, is that threw out as suggested or threw out as discarded? Are you hoping to recess them?
Next you say that recessed means no hardware in your mind, I'm not sure why, but we are all individuals. Since battens are applied perpendicular to the grain glue is a big nono, the boards must be allowed to move. This requires some type of mechanical fastener, usually screws in slotted holes. This applies whether the battens are recessed or not. The only way I know of to use a batten without a mechanical faster would be to cut sliding dovetails, but still no glue.
“Threw out” as in put the idea out there, I guess the idea of recessing made me think of something like a sliding dovetail.
The aprons will keep the top flat. I’d consider the addition of battens as overkill.
I suggest that you learn standard table construction before attempting sliding dovetails, which are technically very difficult, and unnecessary when there are aprons.
Your top will be fastened to the base with screws, to accommodate seasonal dimensional change. Recessing whatever the screws pass thru to go into the top will only reduce the thickness of wood that the screws thread into, reducing the strength of the attachment. I usually try to get a little extra thickness (beyond 3/4") when making a top to give more wood for the screws to bite into (without coming thru the top!)
You can use metal clips, table top blocks (that engage a groove in the aprons), or a batten glued to the inside of the aprons with slotted screw holes. I usually do the last one, with the center screw in a snug hole to keep the top centered on the base. Don't put any screw into a glue line. If the table is fairly long, I usually put a structural member across the middle of the base, and fasten the top down to it using the same method as to the aprons.
With your design, there is no need for battens. The end aprons are, in effect, battens.
When battens are recessed in thick stock, they are put in as sliding dovetails, not dados. And they are never glued. Something will end up cracking.
I agree with comments that battens are totally unnecessary. The aprons keep the top flat. Attach the top to the aprons using wood blocks glued to the aprons, drill an oversize hole for the screws and you're done.
I’ve seen thousands of solid maple 4/4 wood tables being made from logs to the store and 40 years later, the ones I see occasionally in a garage sale or in a friends place are still flat. In addition to the apron there was the wood extension rails that helped keep them straight and a flat 3/4 X 2 inches wide batten screwed to the underside in oversized holes.
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