Cross grain/Long Grain Question

[Carl Eyman]

My current project is a tall clock (see post http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=10124)
I have the base constructed and am about to start on the waist. The design calls for a molding or shelf to separate the two parts. Because the waist consists of vertical boards and the shelf is made up of horizontal boards we have the classic expansion-contraction problem. I hope my drawing will be clear enough to understand my proposed solution. I propose to fit the waist into the shelf with a tenon on the waist and a mortise (dado) on the shelf without glue. Then to cut a kerf on the inside of the two sides of the waist a fraction of an inch above the bottom and join the shelf to the waist with fasteners similiar to those used to fasten a table top to the apron of a table.

Can anyone suggest a better way? Will this work?

[Donnie Raines]

I made a Shaker Tall Clock and faced the same issue. What I did was apply the waist mouldings useing sliding dovetail joinery. This requires little to no glue and just one small brad/pin at the mitre. The joint is still perfect.

This is actually a pretty traditonal way of applying mouldings that can experience the wood movement issue. As far as supporting the top section, I simply screwed to cleats two the inside of the case(I elongated the holes to allow for wood movement) and fasten the top through the top into the base.

I hope this helps. Sorry no pictures. :rolleyes: