Problems with Edging Around Tabletop

[Eddie Ormerod]

I made this table for a customer about 8 months ago. Sorry for the sideways pic.
Rachel's table.jpg

She told me this happened on the corner. The top is 3/4" thick but I put an 2" wide edge around the whole edge..I assume this happened because the wood contracted.
corner.jpg

She wanted a thick top like this.
X table.jpeg

How do I go about making her table to look thick like this one? I can't find 2" thick wood around here to make a complete top. And if this pic has a false wider edge, is it not moving because the slats in the table don't appear to be glued together like the one I made? I see lines in this top where the boards might be butted together but obviously in my table, the whole top is glued.
Closeup.jpg

I need some advice because I've made several tables like this and I'm worried I might need to make them over. Nobody else has called me yet.

Thanks

Eddie

[Andrew Hughes]

Mix up some stain bring a artist brush to touch up the spot. Hopefully the table hasn’t cracked,bowed or lifted up on one corner.
You can find thicker kiln dried wood at any decent lumber yard. Not so much at the borg.

[Kevin Jenness]

Solid wood expands and contracts across the grain with changes in relative humidity. You seem to have attached the end cap in a way that allows the field to move, and that is good and natural. Explain this to the client, touch up the bald spot and move on. If you had attached the cap so that the field could not move you would have had splits, probably at the glue joints, impossible to fix permanently.

If you want a solid top that remains flush with the end cap you will have to use unglued tongue and groove joints on the central boards. Otherwise. wrap a veneered top or source thicker lumber and dispense with the end cap.

This would be a good, dare I say essential, investment.

https://www.tauntonstore.com/underst...d-edition.html

[Mel Fulks]

Agree with all. Only thing I can add to educate her is "Mam , ALL the railroad trestles are like that" I don't understand
how some of the people who want rustic stuff can be so picky.

[Eddie Ormerod]

I told her I will make her a new top. I noticed the whole top had a bow across the width.
I used glue and brads to attach the false edge.
I'm just worried this is going to happen to other tables I make.
And I do like the tongue and groove idea.

[Kevin Jenness]

Yes, the other tops will probably show the same behavior. If you go with t&g planks and an end cap I would suggest using a stopped spline glued at the center of the plank ends, dominos, biscuits or similar.

[Mark Bolton]

I told her I will make her a new top. I noticed the whole top had a bow across the width.
I used glue and brads to attach the false edge.
I'm just worried this is going to happen to other tables I make.
And I do like the tongue and groove idea.

Youve unfortunately broken the most basic rules of wood construction and yes, you will likely lose any other furniture you have built this way. Time to start reading, learning, before you start selling.

[John TenEyck]

Besides Hoadley's excellent book you also should study a couple of furniture construction books. There's no need to painfully relearn what furniture makers before you already figured out. Go to school on them and save yourself from more failures. And there are lots of knowledgeable folks here who will gladly offer help, too, before you build something you're not sure about.


John

[Frederick Skelly]

I told her I will make her a new top. I noticed the whole top had a bow across the width.
I used glue and brads to attach the false edge.
I'm just worried this is going to happen to other tables I make.
And I do like the tongue and groove idea.

Eddie,
I think your question is hard to explain briefly. I agree that some of the books recommended would be a good idea for anyone to read over and that they will help you too. But short term, why not google "how to make a flat wood table top"? I did and saw several videos come up.

(Like anything else, some videos appeared to be made by knowledgeable people and some appeared to be made by hacks. So look at several for common tips and methods - dont just grab what looks easiest or fastest.)

Good luck man.
Fred

[Bruce Wrenn]

In making a top like that, I make it extra long, cut both ends off, and fold under and glue. Grain will match perfectly. On outer two boards, rip length wise, fold under and glue. Then glue outters to field boards. To help make top sound thicker, in area where it single thickness, use a sheet of 3/4" MDF. Use screws to attach MDF to bottom of top. Be sure and elongate the holes. Attach legs and rails to MDF with pocket screws. DAMHIK, but I did learn after only one try.

[Mark Bolton]

In making a top like that, I make it extra long, cut both ends off, and fold under and glue. Grain will match perfectly. On outer two boards, rip length wise, fold under and glue. Then glue outters to field boards. To help make top sound thicker, in area where it single thickness, use a sheet of 3/4" MDF. Use screws to attach MDF to bottom of top. Be sure and elongate the holes. Attach legs and rails to MDF with pocket screws. DAMHIK, but I did learn after only one try.

What does 3/4 mdf do? It would do nothing to save the top as made. The top as made is doomed from the start for flatness l and expansion. The frame around the perimeter is an HGTV/Pinterest recipe for failure that the poor OP had no idea about and has now possibly sold a bunch of work that will self destruct.

This story has been playing out for years since the pallet wood movement and pinterest hit hard.

There are endlessly posts on numerous forums of individuals and husbands and wives thinking they are going to make some side money with home center lumber furniture and in short order they are being threatened to be sued because they cant afford to make replacements after their unprofitable initial sales and the work is falling apart.

Bummer. But is what it is.

[Bruce Wrenn]

What does 3/4 mdf do? It would do nothing to save the top as made. The top as made is doomed from the start for flatness l and expansion.

Go back and READ my post. It says NOTHING about saving this top. A true case of hoof and mouth disease.

[Mark Bolton]

I did read it the first time. I still would have no idea what MDF would add to the folded edge or otherwise. No matter. Is what it is at this point.

[Jacob Reverb]

It doesn't matter whether the wood is kiln dried or air dried. The problem is that it changes with seasons and wood moves as it gives up, or takes in moisture. It gets wider across the grain when it takes up moisture (typically in the summer when indoor relative humidities are higher) and it gets narrower when it dries out (typically in the winter because indoor RH values are lower). But it only gets longer/shorter ACROSS the grain (length along the grain doesn't appreciably change), which is why the end pieces are now longer than the width of the table. OP needs to change design.

I would recommend the OP google "humidity, wood movement and furniture design" before building any more furniture. After reading and understanding that, maybe venture into "bread board table design."

In the near term, I like Andrew's suggestion for a kludge as much as anything else. Short of redesigning and rebuilding, there is no way to "fix" this table. The best one can do is shmutz a pretty face on it, plead ignorance, beg forgiveness and hope for the best. I don't think anyone who ordered such a table based on the Pinterest photo was expecting Fine Furniture. It is what it is, and caulk (with maybe some foam carpet padding behind it) may be the OP's best friend. Good luck.

[Bruce Wrenn]

I did read it the first time. I still would have no idea what MDF would add to the folded edge or otherwise. No matter. Is what it is at this point.

The MDF adds bulk to table so it's weight matches looks. It deadens sounds, and allows a surface to attach the apron too, along with top layer. The elongated holes in MDF for fastening top allow for seasonal movement