Table-top attachment (bowling alley)

[stevenross]

Recent thread on table top attachment gave me some pause to think about my project. I have a 42" by 96" by 2" section of an old bowling alley I am turning into a casual dining/gaming table. Legs will be galvanized pipe with cross supports.

The question based on the discussion about wood expansion: My plan was/is to attach the legs to a 1" by 6" board running across most of the 42" dimension. Should this board be firmly attached to the table top or given some "freedom of motion"? TIA.

 

[DSWalker]

I'm still relatively new to this, but would think you could just secure the legs directly to the tabletop. Securing the 1x6 to the table 'could restrict' any expansion needs of the lumber.

However, I would think, an old bowling alley would be so dry that there wouldn't be much expansion/contraction considering the short widths of individual boards. I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[mbromley]

I would agree that based on the grain orientation for a bowling alley that you would see little if any movement. You could always firmly attach one end and slot the opposing through hole on the 1x6 to allow for movement.

Out of curiosity where did you source the bowling alley piece? I've got a project that would work great for.

 

[stevenross]

I picked up the bowling alley from

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When I picked up the piece of bowling alley there was a piece of "T-iron" screwed to the bottom side (was there while alley wa in use). When I removed that I noticed that it "sagged" when not supported as the glued/nailed to the adjacent pieces but nothing runs through a significant part of the width. I replaced the "T-iron" with three pieces of lower profile channel iron (ground smooth and painted) which provides the missing stability. The 1x6 is intended spread the support. Table top weighs close to 200 lbs.

 

[Jeff]

" Legs will be galvanized pipe with cross supports."

The channel iron is preventing sagging and I'd guess that the iron pipe will provide plenty of support. However, there's nothing wrong with your 1 x 6 idea. Movement of the top should be almost unnoticeable.

 

[Gofor]

Simplest way to allow for movement in the cross support (be it 1 x 6 or channel iron) is to drill the center hole sized to the fastener, and elongate the remaining holes. As for the amount, my 40" wide black walnut table top, which was glued up at about 12% MC, shrank about 3/8" over the total width (3/16" from each side) after moving it in to air conditioning. I would imagine yours will shrink even less, if any, so not a lot of elongation in the remaining holes is necessary. If the 1 x 6 cross support is soft wood (i.e pine), it will give some also.