Thread: Finger Jointed Pine Boards

Hi Chris, I have not used it myself but have seen them for sale.
You will need to allow for timber movement regardless of the the timber used.

Would certainly agree you need a skirt round the table as it can distort.
A reliable method is to cut a grooves inside the apron and use wooden buttons which can move around in the slot to allow for any movement.

A simpler way is to screw straight through the apron and wiggle the drill so the screwhole becomes elongated in the direction of expansion/contraction at the top so the screw can actually move with the top.

Originally Posted by mark david

Hi Chris, I have not used it myself but have seen them for sale.
You will need to allow for timber movement regardless of the the timber used.

Would certainly agree you need a skirt round the table as it can distort.
A reliable method is to cut a grooves inside the apron and use wooden buttons which can move around in the slot to allow for any movement.

A simpler way is to screw straight through the apron and wiggle the drill so the screwhole becomes elongated in the direction of expansion/contraction at the top so the screw can actually move with the top.

It is going to be a slot and screw through the skirt, there is no room for conventional buttons at all. These are a drop on top onto a sub base so if the top get damaged it can be lifted off and replaced or repaired. I just have a gut feeling that the allowance for expansion is less that would be for a conventional glued up top. If it was not the finger jointed board would go out of shape and split all the glue lines. Experience trumps gut feelings though any day of the week.

There's got to be a cheaper option than those pre formed panels Chris. They seem pretty expensive for what they are.

Originally Posted by NCArcher

There's got to be a cheaper option than those pre formed panels Chris. They seem pretty expensive for what they are.

Tony, I have found a source of them for $30 dollars a board and I can get two tops out of one board. It also saves a lot of time, four cuts on the saw, gang the cut boards on edge and run them through the thicknesser to clean up the glue edges as two sized boards make a top and they need to be glued on one joint. I reckon about 40 minutes per top should do it including finishing with poly.

That sounds better. Make all the tops then spray the lot in one go. Much quicker than hand finishing each one.

The expansion and contraction will be the same as any solid timber tops, they are simply made from random lengths of narrow pine with finger jointing on the ends.
The elongated screw holes should give you sufficient movement so they don't split.

I think Bunnings charge about $100 a board which seems rather over the top so if you can get them for $30 all well and good and will save over $1000 on outlay.

Spraying en mass as already suggested is great idea and will save time over hand finishing.
I think the boards have a good finish as supplied and probably need only a light sand before finishing.

You certainly need to hand select them though as some of the ones I have seen were far from flat.

I've used those panels as wardrobe doors (painted) and so far - 10 years later - they're still flat and straight