Expert: Jamie Yocono - 4/5/2007

Question
Hi I am building my own dining room table and am wondering what might be the best method for attaching the leg assembly to the table top.  My plan calls for a 42W X 84L X 1 5/8T top with a leg assembly consisting of four 4 x 4 s box legs joining the leg tops with  1 x 4 skirt pieces, and an H assembly joning lower leg assembly side to side and end to end  using  2 x 3 for side and 1 X 6 end to end. I intend to use either cherry of alder for this project.  I have seen different methods for attaching top to legs...but my experience is limited in the realm of tables so I am asking for your informed thoughts on this question.  thanks Chris

Answer
Hey Chris,

Wow, that's a big table, it makes my back hurt just thinking about lifting that top into place. It's wise to put some thought into how you're going to attach the top. Something that wide will have quite a bit of seasonal movement, and it's just a guess, but I'd say that table top could shrink or swell an inch or so between seasons. So you can't just screw the top down, like some woodworkers do!  Doh!

The top needs to float, so that when the size fluctuates, it won't affect anything that it's attached to. You can float the top a few ways- with metal clips, called table top connectors, or with home made wooden buttons. I made a table a little smaller than your table (48" x 70") and I used a ton of the metal clips, so if cost is a concern, the wooden buttons are just as effective.

Here is a link to the metal connectors: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=784

In the picture, it's actually upside down. The way this is used is a groove is cut on the inside of the apron, all the way around. I usually cut the groove about 1/2 way through the apron wood, and about 3/8" from the top. In a pinch, when I forgot to cut the groove in the apron before I assembled the table base, I've used a biscuit cutter to cut the slot for this fastener.

Think about how wood moves- if you look at the end of a board, it has a tendency to curl across the grain. But end to end, it doesn't move much. So when installing these connectors, I usually put more on the ends than I do along the edges. Space them out evenly, but make sure you place ones far out on each end, so that the corners are held flat against the apron.

If you want to make your own buttons, they are quite easy to make. Tage Frid goes over this in his "Furnituremaking" book, and shows you exactly how to make them. Make sure you make them using the strength of the wood, meaning that you need to orient the grain so that if the button undergoes some stress, it doesn't snap in half on a grain line. If you read Frid's book, you'll see that I mean. They're easy to make, but I've sort of quit making my own. They take more time than they're worth, to me at least. I'm a perfectionist, so it's WAY more sanding than I need to put into 50 tiny parts, know what I mean?

Here's a better picture of the metal clips: http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=1036

OK, good luck, I hope this helps. Please feel free to write back if you have any further questions after reading this. And if this answer was helpful... please take a minute and rate my service. Thanks!

Jamie Yocono
Wood It Is! Custom Cabinetry
Las Vegas, NV
www.wooditis.com