# Table top separating



## peteknok06 (Feb 15, 2016)

About a month and a half ago I made an 8ft farm table for my dining room. Just recently I noticed that the planks have separated about 1/4 of an inch. I did stain the wood after I made it and put on poly, any ideas of why this is happening?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Assuming the table was made out of pine because of the sap content it resists gluing a little. That being said the most likely cause is the top was too tightly mounted to the base to allow for the top to shrink. Rockler sells some table top clips which you can mount a top and it will allow the top to shrink a great deal without putting the top under stress. Still 1/4" is an awful lot over a few months suggesting the wood had a high moisture content when you made it.


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## peteknok06 (Feb 15, 2016)

Is there any way to fix it this late in the game, or is the damage already done and there is no fix?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

peteknok06 said:


> Is there any way to fix it this late in the game, or is the damage already done and there is no fix?


There is a fix but you won't like it. The top needs to be removed from the table and the edge jointed enough to remove any adhesive residue and glue it back together. What I would do from there if you have a biscuit cutter is cut some slots in the skirt and get some of those table top clips to mount the top back on. Also if the top doesn't have a finish on the underside it would be a good idea to do that. That puts a lot of stress on a table top to be finished on one side and not the other. It doesn't have to be a quality finish but the wood should be sealed. Otherwise the raw wood underneath absorbs moisture from the air where the top side since it has polyurethane on it doesn't.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

Pics would help on situation. There's a lot of variables but the main one sounds like improper MC starting the project. Steve is right, more than likely the top has to be removed and repaired correctly....MC still needs to be corrected or you'll still have issues. I may have overlooked but how did you mount the top??? what wood is used??? finishing procedure???


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## Tman1 (Jan 14, 2013)

I have a chess board that I made as a kid that is completely blued up, including a wrap around frame. Ever winter, it has several cracks that open and then close again in the summer. Depending on how you did your joinery, I think you have up to 3 choices. 

1 - live with it, call it character. 
2 - wait until summer and see how well the cracks close. Patch or fill what is left of the cracks as necessary. Then break the cross grain joints that are causing the problem, and re-attach with proper cross grain joints that allow for expansion and contraction. 
3 - do what Steve said. 

It all depends on how much effort you are willing to put in to it vs what you are willing to live with. How exactly you did your joints could impact how hard 2 and 3 are to do.


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## TerryQ (Apr 8, 2014)

I get the impression you attached individual board to the base, rather than edge jointing the boards, gluing them together and attaching one large top to your base. Again pictures would be helpful.

If you attached individual boards to the base and gaps are opening between the boards, well that's just the boards drying out and shrinking. You can reattach them to fill the gaps, but when the humidity gets high they will swell a little so you may create other problems down the road. Small gaps opening and closing between individually attach boards is just a matter of humidity changes and goes with the territory. The wider the boards, the bigger the gaps. 

If you edge glued all the boards together and attached them as a single top, then you didn't attach the top to the base properly. These gaps will require you to rebuild/repair the top and use a better method to attach the top to the base.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

What type, grade and size lumber did you use and where did you purchase it?
If you used construction grade pine that is the problem. 
If it came from Home Depot, compound that problem by a hundred fold.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

TerryQ said:


> If you edge glued all the boards together and attached them as a single top, then you didn't attach the top to the base properly.



+1 if it had the freedom to float, it would likely have survived.


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