upnorthhandyman Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Hey everyone, I am a novice woodworker, and have a question on wood movement. I have been learning about wood movement lately, and decided to look at our recently purchased kitchen table as an example since I would like an understanding of how to build tables in the future. I believe the table is made of solid maple all around, and appears to be well built. Upon looking at the bottom of the table top to see how the builder addressed any wood movement of the table top, I was a little confused. Now the table top boards are running along the width of the table, and it appears that the builder has pocket screwed batten boards on the insides of the side aprons running down the length of the table, appears to be a pocket screw every 6" or so. I do see a split in the side aprons, which appears to allow for wood movement. However, it doesn't appear that the holes in the batten boards are bored larger to allow for movement. Would these screwed in batten boards disrupt the wood movement of the table top and possibly cause splitting in the table top? Again, I am a novice and I could very well be wrong here and just misunderstanding this. The table is 72" L x 40" W. Pics below and thank you in advance for your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 What makes you think solid vs ply? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upnorthhandyman Posted February 12, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 Appears to be solid. We were told it was an "amish" built table. I feel like that term may be used loosely at furniture stores Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted February 12, 2023 Report Share Posted February 12, 2023 The pics in the original post are not showing for me, but I suspect the screw holes in the batten allow more movement that you realize. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 13, 2023 Report Share Posted February 13, 2023 I'd like to help out but i don't click on strange links. Uploading directly to the site would allow better viewing of the pictures. You'd be surprised how often bad links get shared here. Odds are there is some expansion and contraction accounted for if it's from a commercial builder. Returns or warranty claims on issues relating to wood movement would be incredibly high if it isn't accounted for given the size of the table. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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