Table Top Mounting Secrets

In almost all our projects there is a need to fasten a top to a cabinet or rails and legs. If the top is made of solid wood, you must allow for some provision for it to expand and contract without buckling or cracking a joint. More than one woodworker has forgotten how much wood moves when a gaping hole or crack appears in the table that he spent weeks building. Solid wood tabletops can grow as much as a ½" across their width. Attaching a top to the aprons so that it cannot move is asking for a disaster. It's likely the tabletop will split along the grain or a glue line, or it may bow upwards in the center.

 There are three methods that we use here at AFD and they have worked well for us for many years. The standard for us is the use of tabletop clips. These are steel clips that are offset 3/8" of and inch and are secured with 5/8" pan head screws. The apron or the rails of your project will require that you cut a saw kerf around the inside, 3/8" from the top edge. Set the depth at 3/8" or less. This is by far the best way to secure the top.
                                                                                      

The second method is to cut a series of blocks 1 ½" long with a rabbeted tang that fits in the saw kerf. Because the tang is fragile it is best to make two passes with the table saw to widen the kerf. Drill, mounting holes in the blocks to secure them to the table top.

When you use plywood, MDF, or particleboard, boring pocket holes at an angle in the rails are the simple method to secure the top. The TASK Pocket Hole Drill Guide System is perfect for drilling these holes.