# Figure 8 usage



## MrRyan (Jan 2, 2012)

My wife wanted a small side table built before Christmas (but then complained about me spending too much time in the shop!). I'm ready to attach the top. The top is roughly 14 by 14 and was done in a checkerboard pattern pattern like a cutting board. It's got two pedestals or legs it will sit on (4x4 posts). I've been told to use Figure 8s to attach the table top to allow for movement. Okay. Then I start looking around the internet, and there are debates about where to put them--parallel to grain, perpendicular to grain, depends on if both sides are finished, size matters, you're an idiot if you don't use Z-Clips, what's it matter today it the last day of the Mayan calendar, etc.....

With my top being checkerboard and of small size, do I need to worry much about movement? Where would the fasteners be placed most advantageously?


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

A picture would help.

Is the table being attached to the two 4x4 posts directly, or does it have an apron which is attached to the 4x4 posts.

The apron or frame would normally be structurally attached to the legs.

The figure 8 or Z clips would then be just to hold the top to the apron. These are not really designed for large loads.

Wood moves most in the direction which is at right angles to the grain. I am not sure if your pattern has grain running in a single direction or multiple directions.

As you say the small size of the table means any movement will be small.

It is hard to advise where to place figure 8 clips without a picture of the table assembly.


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## MrRyan (Jan 2, 2012)

Sorry, no pictures right now. No apron, wife requested it specifically that way. Best way to describe it--two 4x4 posts as pedestal legs, spaced about 6 inches apart. The table top--which is really nothing more than a cutting board in a checkerboard pattern, would be placed directly on top of the two posts. The two posts are wrapped at the bottom with some leftover 2 inch thick hardwood to provide stability. The top is about 1.25 inches thick, so not much weight or load to this set up at all. The grain is is all in the same direction.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

MrRyan said:


> Sorry, no pictures right now. No apron, wife requested it specifically that way. Best way to describe it--two 4x4 posts as pedestal legs, spaced about 6 inches apart. The table top--which is really nothing more than a cutting board in a checkerboard pattern, would be placed directly on top of the two posts. The two posts are wrapped at the bottom with some leftover 2 inch thick hardwood to provide stability. The top is about 1.25 inches thick, so not much weight or load to this set up at all. The grain is is all in the same direction.


The load I would want to design for is not the top, but the force when a person trips and stumbles into the top, or just leans on the top while doing something. Happens all the time in my home.

With the detail you provide I would glue dowels to attach the top to the pedestals. The effective movement you have in the design is only the movement between the pedestals, which will be hard to measure.


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## Fred Hargis (Apr 28, 2012)

If I understand it correctly, I agree with Dave...wood movement isn't the concern. Fasten it securely using whatever method you prefer.


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