Sam Murdoch
08-02-2013, 12:01 PM
I will soon be attaching some Osborne Equalizer slides to a table top that I am building - so here is a question :confused:
How does one accommodate wood movement with these things?
It is a 54" diameter cherry table - so 2- 27" x 1" thick halves with the grain running perpendicular to the slides. Each 1/2 will be made up of 3 boards. There will be 4 screws holding the slides to each half (so 8 screws per half). If I elongate the holes through the slides to allow for some modest wood movement I expect that over time and repeated opening and closing of this pretty heavy table top that the position of the slides will change due to sloppy holes. That could - and very likely - effect the proper closing/alignment of the 2 halves.
What to do? 1) Screw them down tight and expect that the top will be OK? 2) Leave them loose and expect a call back or a Howler letter from an irate client in a year or 2? Is there an 3rd option?
Please help if you have an idea on the subject. Thanks.
How does one accommodate wood movement with these things?
It is a 54" diameter cherry table - so 2- 27" x 1" thick halves with the grain running perpendicular to the slides. Each 1/2 will be made up of 3 boards. There will be 4 screws holding the slides to each half (so 8 screws per half). If I elongate the holes through the slides to allow for some modest wood movement I expect that over time and repeated opening and closing of this pretty heavy table top that the position of the slides will change due to sloppy holes. That could - and very likely - effect the proper closing/alignment of the 2 halves.
What to do? 1) Screw them down tight and expect that the top will be OK? 2) Leave them loose and expect a call back or a Howler letter from an irate client in a year or 2? Is there an 3rd option?
Please help if you have an idea on the subject. Thanks.