All language subtitles for 8 Ways to Attach a Table Top to PREVENT CRACKING

a few months back I put out a video on

joinery techniques and mentioned how one

should not use pocket holes to attach a

table top to an apron because of wood

movement and lots of people ask so what

should we do just like everything when

it comes to woodworking there is more

than one answer to this and it all just

depends on your skill level budget and

how much time you're willing to put into

the project but there's an option for

everyone let's quickly discuss the

problem first boards will expand and

contract width-wise seasonally when the

humidity in the air changes if you

simply screw a tabletop to an apron the

board will not be able to move with the

seasons and it will crack so the first

simplest solution is to attach the apron

with oversized holes I like to use these

pan head screws for something like this

because of the broad washer style heads

there's more surface area holding the

screw in place and it won't compress the

wood there's a few things to pay

attention to here you want the screw to

have enough material to bite into but

you don't want to drill through your top

so first drill a hole that's larger than

the pan head screw with a forstner bit

to the perfect depth you need then using

the point that the forstner bit left

over drill a hole that's a larger than

the shank of the screw all the way

through I typically will do a test hole

put the screw in and line it up in the

material to make sure everything is

looking good before actually drilling

into my work pieces you can see that

this allows for the wood to expand and

contract with the seasons because the

screw can wiggle around in this hole for

most cases just using screws into the

wood will be fine but if you know the

piece will constantly be taken apart and

reassembled you can do the same concept

with threaded inserts the method is

exactly the same only with these there's

an added step of installing the inserts

by marking them out drilling the correct

size hole then screwing them in you can

see when I Loosely tighten a bolt into

the insert the apron is still wiggling

around slightly because of the oversized

hole depending on your project you may

consider making one hole the exact size

of your screws so you can actually

control where the top will move like for

a tabletop you want the movement to be

equal on both sides of the table so you

can drill a smaller exact size hole in

the center of the shorter stretchers and

that acts as the Anchor Point which will

force the boards to move in and out from

the center point you can also opt to

move the Anchor Point to one of the ends

like if you know a project will live

against a wall like a nightstand or if

the project has some sort of feature on

the front that you really want to remain

flush at all times it really just

depends on the project the problem with

this method is it's really only easy if

your stretchers are quite narrow so if

you're using wider material for your

stretchers you have to drill holes

pretty deep with a forstner bit which

just isn't that fun to do so moving on

to Method number two adding additional

slotted stretchers this is the same

basic concept as method number one only

with these you have to Mill up more

material to make extra stretchers that

run across your table top these should

be at least three quarter inches thick

and the same concept as before drill one

anchor hole that's in the center of the

table and then make oversized holes or

slots on both sides of the anchor hole

these slots can be made in a few ways

you can drill two holes right next to

each other then use a chisel to clear

out the pointy bits in between or you

can do a plunge cut at the router table

or you can use an edge guide with a trim

router always options also lots of

options to connect these stretchers to

your main table frame you can use dowels

biscuits dominoes pocket holes mortise

and Tenon you get the idea no matter how

you connect them the concept is the same

the tabletop up is locked down with

screws through the holes drilled out and

the center hole acts as the Anchor Point

and the slots on both sides of it allow

the screws to move side to side when the

table top expands and contracts just

like with method number one if you're

worried about stripping the holes due to

constantly disassembling and

reassembling the pieces you can do the

same concept with threaded inserts as I

showed before before we move on a quick

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policy for you moving along to a few

methods that require purchasing extra

pieces of Hardware let's start with

z-clips these are metal brackets that

form a z-shape hence the name and the

only caveat when using the z-clips is

that you have to think ahead because the

easiest way to prepare for their

installation is to make a Groove at the

table saw before your table is assembled

simply use your actual z-clip as a guide

for setting up your fence you just want

to make sure your blade is in line with

the bottom part of the Z then you can

use the clip again as a guide for the

blade height and make the cut obviously

do this on a scrap piece first and make

any adjustments if you need to the clip

should be able to go into the groove

fully and when set down on the tabletop

the bottom should sit flush on the

surface to install them put them in the

grooves then pull them out of the

grooves ever so slightly like an eighth

or so and use an awl to Mark out the

center of the holes then lock the Clips

in place with screws you can see here

how this works the table top is held in

place because the Z shape of the clips

this end is just floating in here it's

not being held in playset At All by

anything but pressure on the groove from

the clip being screwed to the top when

you look at a mock-up of how these would

be installed on a table the clips along

the long grain will remain in the same

position along the groove but they will

be able to move in and out of the groove

and that's why I pulled it out about an

eighth so there's room for it to go in

the clips going across the grain will

remain the same depth into the groove

but they will be able to move along the

groove if need be if you want to use

z-clips and you forgot to make the

grooves before or assembling your table

all is not lost if you have a biscuit

joiner you can set that up to cut slots

in your aprons at the correct height or

you can use a slot cutting bit in your

router or use a router with an edge

guide and a scrape it or if you don't

have any of those you can use figure

eight Fasteners that don't require any

special tools and can be applied after

assembly

but there's a catch when using these

I'll explain later after I show how to

install them line them up on your table

apron so most of the round portion is on

the wood Mark out the center of the hole

and drill them out with a forstner bit

just until it's ever so slightly below

the wood just keep Drilling and checking

and Drilling and checking the whole

point of these Fasteners is that they

can rotate with seasonal changes so you

have to notch out these little points

with a chisel so the Fastener can rotate

freely Now using the point that the

forstner bit left over pre-drill a hole

that is then used to lock the Fastener

in place or the screw lastly you would

put your tabletop on top and lock it in

place does anyone see the problem here

yet so if you install them on the short

stretchers that are going across the

grain you have no problem because the

wood is moving along the width so these

Fasteners are rotating along with the

movement now if you put them on the long

stretchers that are running with the

grain the wood is moving in and out from

the apron and that's not how these are

designed to work these only pivot side

to side not back and forth so you have

options here depending on your project

you can add additional short stretchers

and only attach the Fasteners on those

and that totally works or you can still

install them on the long stretchers but

make sure you install them on a slight

angle you can see by angling the

Fasteners on insulation I can push this

board from side to side which is an

exaggerated example of what will happen

with wood movement I have done this on a

few desks and tables in the past with

zero issues at all moving on to

something I have never used before but

found when I was ordering all this

hardware and just thought it looked

interesting

on Amazon these were just called wood

table top expansion brackets I thought

they looked cool because it looks like

you don't have to prepare any slots or

holes to use them but they're also more

expensive than the z-clips and the

figure eight Fasteners this eight pack

was about twelve dollars and it didn't

come with screws compare that to the

figure eight Fasteners at Woodcraft

they're 450 for a pack of 10 which

includes the screws and the z-clips

elbow craft are also 450 for a pack of

eight that also includes the screws I've

never used these before so I can attest

to their longevity or quality but they

intrigue me because of how the slots

were laid out one side has the slot

running back and forth and the other

side the slot is running from side to

side I'm just going to assume how you

would install these on the short

stretchers I would put the slots running

side to side facing down towards the

table top this would enable the top to

move width-wise along the grain for the

long stretchers running with the grain I

would have flipped them over and install

them with the slot running back and

forth down towards the table top this

would allow the top to move in and out

towards the apron or maybe just install

them all facing the same direction if

you flip these brackets on the short

stretchers the screw can still move in

the elongated hole that's on the

stretcher whatever I think that both

could work but these definitely seem

like the easiest of the bunch because

there's no prep involved only drawback I

guess is the price all of these Hardware

options are totally fine and acceptable

but if you want to impress your friends

with your woodworking skills you can

make these tabletop buttons these work

very similarly to the z-clips the button

has a tongue that fits into a mortise in

the apron then a screw is inserted and a

cam Dr Sun coal connecting it to the

table top the button can move side to

side because the mortise or the slot is

wider than the tongue and the button can

move back and forth because there's only

pressure holding it in place making

these buttons is pretty easy the most

important thing to take into account is

grain direction if the grain is running

across the button it will defeat the

purpose of using them as a hold down

because they can easily snap along the

grain so you have to make them so the

grain is running along the button and

now it will be super strong all right

let's make some buttons you can make

them one at a time using a small scrap

like this cut a rabbet or Notch at the

end creating the tongue then cut to size

repeat for the next one that seems

pretty tedious to me though so there are

a few ways to batch them out the best

way would be to find a short wide scrap

like this this way you can make a rabbet

across the end grain either at the

router table people or by taking two

passes at the table saw now you can cut

them all to length at the same time at

the table saw and I would probably add

the countersunk holes at this point

because the work piece is easy to hold

when it's bigger then you can cut them

into their individual buttons and you

can see how cutting that rabbet on the

end grain easily created the tongue with

the grain oriented in the correct

direction but I don't always have short

wide scraps like that so here's another

way using long skinny scraps you can use

a miter gauge but I'll use a cross cut

slide this technique is basically going

to be like making a box joint take

multiple passes creating a notch going

across the grain or use a dado stack if

you have one then you can place a pin on

your sled that you can butt your work

piece against to easily make repeatable

notches just keep going down the line

until you can't go any longer once again

this piece is easier to hold while it's

still in a state so I'll drill all the

countersunk holes before using the cross

cut sled again to cut them to their

final shape there are also multiple ways

to make the mortise for the buttons you

can use chisels or a router I'm gonna

demo this using the Domino though

because the Domino makes a perfectly

sized slots at a fixed distance from the

top of the apron so it's a great tool

for this job besides for grain Direction

the biggest thing to pay attention to

here when making these is the distance

from the top of the slot in the apron

and the thickness of the button you want

to make these so that when the tongue is

pressed up on the top of the groove

there's like a teeny tiny maybe 30

second Gap there that's what's really

going to hold your tabletop down now

while I was making these I was trying to

think of an easy way to accomplish the

same thing thing with simpler tools and

I think I thought of something where I

could incorporate dowels and it would be

super simple let's test it out first

I'll drill some holes in a scrap that

will fit a dowel that I have on hand

then cut a long dowel into smaller

pieces and I chamferred one end just so

that it will go into the apron more

easily then I can glue them into the

holes I first drilled out just like the

other buttons I countersunk some holes

while it was still in this larger State

then cut them into their individual

buttons and they're ready to be

installed no measuring here I simply

place the buttons on the stretcher so

that there will be a slight gap between

the top of the button and the bottom of

the table top and then I eyeballed the

center of the dowel I made a mark and

drilled a hole you can see how this

works exactly like the other buttons

once screwed to the top through the

countersunk holes the pressure from the

dowel in the apron locks everything

together when installing these on the

long stretchers I would just make sure

to back them out a little bit so the

dowel has room to move in and out on the

short stretchers going across the grain

the dowels would need to move side to

side so I drilled two holes next to each

other and chiseled out in the center

just to keep it simple but this could

totally be done with a router or Domino

and you can see how the button can now

move side to side in the slot so I don't

think I've ever seen this done before

but I think the concept is pretty cool

because you really only need a drill and

some hand tools to make them work let me

know what you guys think of this one I

think they are pretty cool and

conceptually I think this totally works

all right moving on to the last but not

least method a sliding dovetail I

mentioned impressing your friends with

the tabletop buttons before well a

sliding dovetail will even impress your

enemies this is the most complicated of

the bunch but it's a great traditional

way to eliminate breakage in Cross grain

attachments I've showed how to make a

sliding dovetail many times on my

channel but here's a gist cut dados

going across the grain of your work

piece then use a dovetail bit to make

the sides of that dado angled now for

your mating piece don't change the

height of the bit but make sure to take

multiple passes so you can sneak up on

your foot obviously this joint can be

cut using hand tools as well but I don't

have that kind of time but when cutting

these you want a friction fit because

you don't need to glue these two pieces

together you're simply relying on the

mechanical strength from the angled

sides you can totally use glue though

just make sure not to put glue through

the entire joint that defeats the

purpose of allowing the top to move you

really would only want to add glue to

one end and this way it will stay in

place in one spot and the top can still

expand and contract through the whole

joint there are definitely more ways to

attach a table top that I didn't cover

but these are the basics that have been

working for me on my projects so I hope

this helps you out as well oh and uh let

me know what you think of the dowel

buttons this seems like a super simple

idea that anyone can achieve with

minimal tools I think I like it so

that's it for this one huge thanks to

Woodcraft and policy genius for

sponsoring this video and thank you guys

so much for watching I will see you on

the next one

foreign

really okay thanks

a call that totally could have been a

text