If you were going to make a small table, say less than 20" square, out of Oak and wanted to put Oak edging around the perimeter, how would you attach the 2 pieces that go against the grain? Would you use glue? What do you think is the best/easiest way?

Thanks

Howdy Ron, yep, for the easiest way I would bisquit or slot cut it and use some spline. And glue it to the top. For a more dramatic affect and a bit more work, I am a big fan of Bread Board ends. It secures the end grain of the table top, preventing it from warping, but with a small 20 x 20 top, I don';t think you have to be too concerned with warp-age.

Thanks Larry, I have made about 10 small tables and none are the same. While some have edging, others don't. If you read my post about my planer messing up, you can see why an edging would hide the different thicknesses that my planer caused. I still have one flat surface. In the past I have used good ole glue and have had a lot of success when I applied edging. Still I figured that there must be a more successful way, as I have had one failure.

It was suggested that I "pin" it like a bread board. I am not sure what that is, maybe using a dowel? I am also considering a biscuit. If so, do I glue just the biscuit and not the whole edge?

Ron, there is one missing element here to determine if the bread board method would work or not, and that is the width of your edging on the end grain side. How wide is your edging going to be? And one more final tidbit of info from you, how thick is the table top?

Ron Altier said:

Thanks Larry, I have made about 10 small tables and none are the same. While some have edging, others don't. If you read my post about my planer messing up, you can see why an edging would hide the different thicknesses that my planer caused. I still have one flat surface. In the past I have used good ole glue and have had a lot of success when I applied edging. Still I figured that there must be a more successful way, as I have had one failure.
It was suggested that I "pin" it like a bread board. I am not sure what that is, maybe using a dowel? I am also considering a biscuit. If so, do I glue just the biscuit and not the whole edge?

You could dovetail the edges to the tabletop.

you could box joint it to the tabletop.

you could Dowel it to the tabletop.

you could spline it to the tabletop.

you could put in butterfly plates to the tabletop.

you could sliding dovetail it to the tabletop.

you could lock miter joint it to the tabletop.

you could screw it to the tabletop

Wow, now that is a list of possibilities. Just looking at the list, I can pick out several that are too complicated and time consuming for me to do on this small project. Besides that, my skill level at some of them, is lacking. I love the idea of box joints and may make a jig to do that on my next small table project. Thanks

dragon1 said:

You could dovetail the edges to the tabletop.

you could box joint it to the tabletop.

you could Dowel it to the tabletop.

you could spline it to the tabletop.

you could put in butterfly plates to the tabletop.

you could sliding dovetail it to the tabletop.

you could lock miter joint it to the tabletop.

you could screw it to the tabletop

H Ron, have you decided on a method yet, and if not, can you tell me how wide your end edging is to be and how you plan to edge the long grain sides? Thanks.

After fixing my planer, I was able to salvage the top with an inconsistent 5/8", but I do have one perfectly flat surface. I put a rabbit on the edging which will overlap the top. The rest will cover the uneven surface of the bottom. I am thinking about putting a 45 at each corner and a center dowel or biscuit in the pieces that cover the end grain.

By the way, the salvaged top is now 12" square. Would a butt joint, rather than a 45, at the corners, allow for better movement? Being as small as it is, maybe I don't even have to worry about movement.

The American Woodworker said:

H Ron, have you decided on a method yet, and if not, can you tell me how wide your end edging is to be and how you plan to edge the long grain sides? Thanks.

Hehe, Ron I have been in this same exact place before, quite a few times I started with something that was a good size and from boo boo's and "Aw Craps" I ended up with a different design and size, so pardon me for my giggling, I find this humorous as I can completely relate.

The whole expansion thing is a non issue at this point, especially with Oak, oak is very stable in the first place and in that size it would be negligible. I think at this point, you should edge it to the eye now, whatever looks great, whatever feels right, and however you want without any concern for movement.

That being said, 45 it, that would look great and you can add some width to the table. After you have the table framed out with your 45 edging, slot the corners of the 45's about 1/2" deep or more and put some nice contrasting corner splines in the corners, this will add a nice touch and give you some insurance on preventing those 45's from separating. That is what I would do anyway.

Here is a decent illustration of a basic Spline Joint Jig.The jig is used on your table saw, very handy and cheap to make from scrap wood, and you'll use it many times over once you see how easy it is to use and how beautiful and classy the joints look.

I forgot to add Ron, since the table is the size it is, you could attach the edging anyway you like, run a solid bead of glue along the entire length of the edges if you like, expansion is virtually a non issue at this point, so a rigid strong joint that is un-movable would be fine.

Just food for thought.

As a woodworker, you might design and build a dresser with a solid white oak top which is 24 inches wide. If you build the dresser during the humid summer months when the wood has acclimated to the ambient humidity of 11%, when the dresser is finished and installed in the bedroom and acclimates to the dry winter air at 7% humidity, your table top will have shrunk down to 23.65 inches (that's a loss of 3/8"!).

I discovered that when I moved from some furniture from Ohio to Colorado. My daughter had a very nice solid Cherry dinning room table with chairs. The move from moist Ohio to dry Colorado caused some very sightly cracks in the table top. I couldn't figure out why it was so bad, after all it was finished/sealed top and bottom. I was told by a woodworker that some of the old furniture was only finished on the top and they used an oil on the bottom. The top finish lasted, but the bottom oil didn't. That is how the moisture got in/out of the wood.

Richard McComas said:

Just food for thought.

As a woodworker, you might design and build a dresser with a solid white oak top which is 24 inches wide. If you build the dresser during the humid summer months when the wood has acclimated to the ambient humidity of 11%, when the dresser is finished and installed in the bedroom and acclimates to the dry winter air at 7% humidity, your table top will have shrunk down to 23.65 inches (that's a loss of 3/8"!).

Finishing the top and bottom of wood only slows down the process but does not eliminate it. The wood will still absorb and lose moister from changes in humidity in the air. Just does it slower.

Ron Altier said:

I discovered that when I moved from some furniture from Ohio to Colorado. My daughter had a very nice solid Cherry dinning room table with chairs. The move from moist Ohio to dry Colorado caused some very sightly cracks in the table top. I couldn't figure out why it was so bad, after all it was finished/sealed top and bottom. I was told by a woodworker that some of the old furniture was only finished on the top and they used an oil on the bottom. The top finish lasted, but the bottom oil didn't. That is how the moisture got in/out of the wood.

Richard McComas said: