Help Please: Attaching slightly warped top

[M Smith]

Greetings all,

I am in need of the help of the collective wisdom of this board with my current project.

I am in the midst of constructing a rather simple, Shaker-style night stand. It has a been a somewhat tumultuous project, involving stops, starts, a few miscalculations, and the shedding of the tip of my thumb. Definitely not my best work by any measure.

I am close to finishing, except for one small issue. The cherry top was jointed using two pieces of cherry. It measures about 21" x 21". Because of the stops and starts over the summer, the top became slightly bowed (warped) at the joint. This obviously presents a problem when trying to attach it to the frame. There is about 1/8" gap on both the left and right sides of the front.

I used my Kreg pocket hole jig to attach the top to the back of the frame, but because of the drawer runners (see photo), the jig was too long to fit in the space between the runners and the top edge.

So, I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out a way to accurately get some screws or something else in that space to secure the top. I should say that I have already glued and attached the top (mistake #57), so at this point it's a "rescue operation."

I'm very open to ideas from those of you here who are way smarter than me. Hoping this project can be saved, because I have another duplicate nightstand in the beginning stages of construction and I want to avoid the same mistakes.

Thanks all!

[Joe Jensen]

If I read this correctly, you've glued the top to the base already and the top is solid wood and not veneered ply. If this is the case I strongly suspect you will have ongoing issues with the top as it will not be able to expand and contract.

If you did glue the top, I would find a way to separate the top from the base. Then I would use a rabbiting router bit to cut 1" long rabbits around the perimeter of the top, say 2 on each side. Then I would make small cleats. The cleats go in the rabbit in the side of the base and screw to the top. My rabbits start 1/2" below the bottom of the top on the side of the base. They are 1/4" wide and 1/2" deep. I use 3/4" hardwood and cut it to leave a tongue that is 1/4" thick by 1/2" long. On the sides that are parallel to the grain, slide the cleat 1/2 way in the rabbit and screw it to the top. On the other two sides slide the cleat all the way in the rabbit.

On a 21" wide american hardwood top you will see 1/4" or so of expansion/contraction from the driest months to the wettest. On a 36" wide kitchen table top I made I see 3/8" of movement and this is in Phx where it is never very humid. On some sapelle night stands I made, the 18" wide side panels move over 1/8" over the seasons and these are fabircated from quarter sawn Sapellel which moves less than most woods with humidity changes.

[Denny Rice]

I know this doesn't help much now, but I think your first mistake was gluing the table top to the base. The top being made from wood must have the ability to expand and contract with humidity,ect. I like the idea on the post by Joe about screwing the top down with cleats. If your dead set on making the top flat again you can but it will be a little work. I would probably remove the top, and take the top to the table saw and cut the top at the glue joint, or even cut the top into sections at a width your jointer can handle and run 1 face over the jointer until flat , then both sides and send the other face through the planner. Re-glue stock, sand and attach top. I don't know how much of an overhang the top has from the base of the unit so you might lose overhang on the front, back and sides due to cutting and jointing, but it might be worth a shot. Just a thought.

[Wayne Cannon]

If you think screws will be sufficient to flatten the top and keep it flat, you can try a right-angle drill or right-angle attachment for a regular drill to get clearance to drill pocket holes or vertical holes straight through the front rail.

I've had to shorten drill bits in order to get the clearance I needed, and use two different lengths to drill deep enough. I used an abrasive disk in a Dremel tool to cut the butt end off of drill bits.

Hex-shanked drill bits require a much shorter chuck than a traditional three-jaw chuck, but mean you will be cutting off the cutting end of the bit and then re-sharpening it. After a while, all the extra effort isn't worth it.