Pins or Cross Braces or Both?

[Jan Bianchi]

I have been making a dining room Madrone extension table where the table top slides open rather than the aprons (thus, less stress on the leg/apron joints). I've glued the legs to the end apron and am about to glue them to the side apron using loose tenons. Before final assembly I wonder if I should pin the loose tenons?

I'm using Titebond on tenons that extend a little more than two inches into the apron and 1 1/2 inches into the legs. I had intended to glue and screw a cross brace inside each corner. Should the tenons be pinned as wellor will the cross braces be enough? The screws in the cross braces won't be close enough to pin the tenons. If I pinned them would I need the cross braces? Is there a "preferred" technique?

[Jamie Buxton]

Pegging tenons -- either loose or non-loose -- is structurally helpful if you don't think your glue joints are solid. In the olden days, folks pegged tenons because they didn't have modern glues, or because they were hand-chopping mortises and didn't think they had a tight joint. Today, with modern glues and tight machine-cut joints, pegging isn't structurally required.

[Jan Bianchi]

Thanks Jamie. What about the cross braces? I guess I think tables legs need all the help they can get, or does that just betray a lack of confidence in my joints.

[Jamie Buxton]

Thanks Jamie. What about the cross braces? I guess I think tables legs need all the help they can get, or does that just betray a lack of confidence in my joints.

As I see it, the primary thing the corner braces do is to keep the aprons at ninety degrees from each other. They also do help to reinforce the M&T joints into the leg. It doesn't hurt you to use pegs and corner braces -- y'know, belt, suspenders, and a skyhook. You probably don't need them all, but if they make you feel better, why not?


(As for me, if I were feeling unsure of the ability of my M&T joints to keep the legs strong, I'd probably choose to make the aprons taller. That would give the aprons a taller lever arm to resist the pulls that will happen when somebody shoves the table across the floor.)