frame and panel coffee table design question(s)

[bluedawg76]

Hi all,
Got a design question. My wife and I have been talking about building a new coffee table and came up with the following design, made from maple, walnut and cherry.

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I like the thought of having the solid maple/cherry panel within a mitered walnut frame. My thought was to have the ~15" panel float (unglued) via tongue/ groove along the length leaving an expansion gap within the groove for the cross-grain movement. Will this work or will a gap develop between the panel and the walnut frame or worse yet, have those mitered joints split open. I was thinking of using breadboard ends, glued/pegged in the center only to allow for movement of the panel. Note that the frame would use ~6" wide boards and of course the miters would be splined for stability.

The alternative is just not to have a mitered frame, but include the walnut in the "panel" and have breadboard-style ends.

Haven't thought too much about the apron/ leg attachment, other than the apron would be attached to the top via cabinet-maker buttons, inset a couple of inches from the edges i.e. attached to the walnut frame.

Thanks in advance for any comments/ suggestions.
Sam

 

[merrill77]

I've never seen any way to do a solid wood frame-and-panel tabletop that would not result in either (a) gap on the top during the dry season or (b) splitting the frame in the wet season. Now, if you use plywood for the panel and veneer your pattern on it - then you can get a gapless top that will be seasonally stable.

Combining the sides with the panel and then adding breadboard ends would work. Depending on the moisture fluctuation in your environment, you'll have the problem of the ends either being too narrow or too wide...but that is inherent to the breadboard end design.

I really prefer solid wood for my projects, but this would be a case where I'd probably go with some premium plywood and veneer.

 

[bluedawg76]

that's what i figured, but just wondered if there wasn't some way around it. I have the lumber already and was trying to come up with some way to incorporate them into a top.

Sam