# Jointing table top



## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

After a bit of advice please if anyone is able to share.
I purchased 2 elm burr slabs from a timber merchant yard / onsite furniture makers as I was looking for a burr edge table top.
It used to be one long slab but was cut in half at the timber yard before I purchased it unfortunately.
I want to join them back together to create the 1 long slab again, making the join as invisible as possible.
I’ve been quoted £550 to do this on site, with no finish etc applied, literally just rejoining.
My gut feeling is that’s a lot of money, but not knowing much about woodwork I didn’t know if there’s more involved than I thought?
They haven’t told me how it would be joined, but as it’s end to end, taking the total length to 3 metres, I’m assuming dominoes will be used as opposed to just glue.
Is that a reasonable price or should I look for a quote elsewhere?
Thanks in advance


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Your wanting to join these end to end?


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Rebelwork said:


> Your wanting to join these end to end?


Hello, yes end-to-end, to make one long slab that will run the length of the wall. Thanks


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Going end to end you probably want dog bones underneath to help keep it together...


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Rebelwork said:


> Going end to end you probably want dog bones underneath to help keep it together...
> View attachment 424571


Ahh thank you, I guess that kind of work is costly?


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Not really an hour or so to make the joint and fit it...


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## Zeus_cat (May 1, 2020)

I think they quoted you a price to make you go away. 550 Pounds? Good grief. 

With all the "defects" in the board the joint will still be noticeable, but who cares. I love wood that has character and this has a bunch.


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Zeus_cat said:


> I think they quoted you a price to make you go away. 550 Pounds? Good grief.
> 
> With all the "defects" in the board the joint will still be noticeable, but who cares. I love wood that has character and this has a bunch.


Thank you, yeah I thought £550 seemed like a lot! I just didn’t know if I was missing something. It’s beautiful wood isn’t it, fell in love with the edge on it.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Keep in mind that the dog bones will hold the 2 ends together on a horizontal plane so that they will be even and level and flat. The joint line will always be visible and the joint will not be self supporting. You probably will not be able to lift the boards from the two far ends, depending on weight. The 2 boards will have to be supported pretty much along the whole length.

How much is £550 in US. dollars?


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Tony B said:


> Keep in mind that the dog bones will hold the 2 ends together on a horizontal plane so that they will be even and level and flat. The joint line will always be visible and the joint will not be self supporting. You probably will not be able to lift the boards from the two far ends, depending on weight. The 2 boards will have to be supported pretty much along the whole length.
> 
> How much is £550 in US. dollars?


Hi Tony, thank you so much. I didn’t realise that even if it had the dominoes or dog bones it still won’t be self supporting. So it could sit on table legs at either end? £550 is about US $770.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Odgens455 said:


> Hi Tony, thank you so much. I didn’t realise that even if it had the dominoes or dog bones it still won’t be self supporting. So it could sit on table legs at either end? £550 is about US $770.


If you make a standard table design with an apron, it would be just fine because the weight of the table top and the joint will be resting on the horizontal members of the apron.

$770 US dollars? Fly me over there and I will do the job for free. LOL
Like @Rebelwork said, around an hours worth of work. All the dog bones do is pull the 2 pieces together. The dog bones are just one of many forms of 'draw bolts' - they draw two pieces of wood together.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

When u get ready to build the legs and apron, pop back in here first so that we could advise you of exactly how to make the connetcion of the top to the apron. It must allow for expansion and contraction of the table top. Which, incidentally brings up another topic - do you know if the boards were kiln dried or not? and more importantly, what is the moisture content of the table top? Furniture grade wood should be approx 6 - 8% MC (moisture content).


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Tony B said:


> When u get ready to build the legs and apron, pop back in here first so that we could advise you of exactly how to make the connetcion of the top to the apron. It must allow for expansion and contraction of the table top. Which, incidentally brings up another topic - do you know if the boards were kiln dried or not? and more importantly, what is the moisture content of the table top? Furniture grade wood should be approx 6 - 8% MC (moisture content).


Hahaha 😂😂 yeah I thought so 😩 he just said it would be 4 hours work and with tax it just bumps up the price. I’ve been trying to get other quotes. I know it’s very old wood, been air dried for 35+ years and has been kiln dried too. Thanks I really appreciate the input and advice 👍🏼


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Hang on a Minute

There seems to be some major confusion here. Your very first photo shows a board with a live edge on both sides. The second photo shows 2 boards that dont have live edge on both sides. So was this board cross-cut (Cut across the grain) across the narrow direction or was it sliced in the long direction (Ripped)? This dont like like the same board though.

So are you tryiing to attach the narrow end to the narrow end or are you trying to re-attach the 2 long sides together again?


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## Zeus_cat (May 1, 2020)

I assumed the far end of the board on the right mates to the near end of the board on the left. The white lines don't line up that way, but the grain looks like it does.


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Tony B said:


> Hang on a Minute
> 
> There seems to be some major confusion here. Your very first photo shows a board with a live edge on both sides. The second photo shows 2 boards that dont have live edge on both sides. So was this board cross-cut (Cut across the grain) across the narrow direction or was it sliced in the long direction (Ripped)? This dont like like the same board though.
> 
> So are you tryiing to attach the narrow end to the narrow end or are you trying to re-attach the 2 long sides together again?


Sorry yeah that first photo is a close up it is cut straight(ish) on the left side. The bottom of the first board matches up to the top of the second 👍🏼


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Odgens455 said:


> Sorry yeah that first photo is a close up it is cut straight(ish) on the left side. The bottom of the first board matches up to the top of the second 👍🏼


Joining the 2 narrow ends


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I know in photographs, everything gets distorted. But still, something donr look right. or i am not looking at this properly.

The first photo shows a board which is relatively broad compared to it length and both sides have a natural edge.

Look at the middle photograph only. I am looking at 2 long skinny boards. Both have a busy looking left side. Right sides of boards are not busy at all, Does not match top photo. Also if I took the left side board in middle photo and moved it the the end of the right side board, it would be way way too long and narrow to match the first photo. 
Even if I flipped the right side board over and stuck its new left side against the right side board edge, I still cant get any kind of a match to the first photo. 

My conclusion is that these 2 boards in the second photo are in no way related to the board in the first photo. Even the white lines would not match each other..

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

He wants to join the "end to end".


Odgens455 said:


> Hello, yes end-to-end, *to make one long slab that will run the length of the wall.* Thanks


Disregard the photos:


Tony B said:


> Hang on a Minute
> There seems to be some major confusion here. Your very first photo shows a board with a live edge on both sides. The second photo shows 2 boards that dont have live edge on both sides. So was this board cross-cut (Cut across the grain) across the narrow direction or was it sliced in the long direction (Ripped)? This don't look like the same board though.
> So are you* tryiing to attach the narrow end to the narrow end* or are you trying to re-attach the 2 long sides together again?


End to end would require some support like an apron underneath as well as "dog bones" or "butterflies" above or below. End grain to end grain has viturally no structural strength. It will hold for maybe a long while depending on how well the glue can penetrate the pores, but it is NOT the preferred method. A spline would be best which would provide long grain to long grain surfaces. Dowels would be my last choice as would biscuits/Dominos. The figure of 500 Lbs or $770 U.S. does seem high and I suspect it was "meant to scare you off". But a serious woodworker skilled with a router and a means to make long grain splines could accomplish the job. I would look for other quotes and see what happens.
It would make an interesting table and may be worth some expense, just not "excessive".


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

Tony B said:


> I know in photographs, everything gets distorted. But still, something donr look right. or i am not looking at this properly.
> 
> The first photo shows a board which is relatively broad compared to it length and both sides have a natural edge.
> 
> ...


😅 okay, I’m not sure what’s happening but it’s the same wood. 1st photo is just zoomed in, I’ll attach the wider view. The 2nd photo is just the reverse side of the slabs. I’ll add another photo that shows the ends that will be joined if that will help 👍🏼


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

woodnthings said:


> He wants to join the "end to end".
> 
> 
> Disregard the photos:
> ...


Thank you, would a spline like this suffice? Or would the tongue and groove need to be carved from the slab? I just wanted the join to be as seamless as possible so I didn’t want to lose the grain continuity?


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)




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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

Odgens455 said:


> Thank you, would a spline like this suffice? Or would the tongue and groove need to be carved from the slab? I just wanted the join to be as seamless as possible so I didn’t want to lose the grain continuity?


You will lose some small amount of length if you make a tongue and groove, but not if you use a spline...... roughly the length of the tongue. Probably not enough to be noticible. The tongue will require some extra steps as opposed to the slot or groove for the spline which will be identical in both slabs. Of course making the spline is extra work, but a completely different operation. However, a tongue will have the correct grain direction right off. If you use a spline with the grain running length wise, the easiest to make, it won't have the same strength as a spline with the grain running crosswise. Lengthwise grain will tend to break right along the grain direction, unlike crosswise where it would be all but impossible to break the spline. The slab wood will break before the spline.


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## Odgens455 (Feb 25, 2021)

woodnthings said:


> You will lose some small amount of length if you make a tongue and groove, but not if you use a spline...... roughly the length of the tongue. Probably not enough to be noticible. The tongue will require some extra steps as opposed to the slot or groove for the spline which will be identical in both slabs. Of course making the spline is extra work, but a completely different operation. However, a tongue will have the correct grain direction right off.


Thank you


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

A spline will held align it up, but not keeps it together...


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