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This might give you a giggle...out of curiosity I wanted to know what my tables were like...(keep in mind it's almost 10:30 at night and nobody else knows I'm watching this) I get up from the couch, pulled out a kitchen chair and crawled under muttering to myself...lol...my son was watching me. He's like "ummm what are you doing?" I've been getting back to woodworking for my Dusty wood adventures...I'm like "Just checking out my table construction "...Apparently my kitchen table has a veneer on top of plywood which I didn't know. Mine is attached with straight up blocks and no movement. Thanks for your knowledge!
Finally!! Someone clearly explained the interaction of wood movement and fasteners. I’m new to woodworking and was torturing myself over the need for an anchor point with these types of fasteners, but wasn’t sure if that would eventually lead to other problems. You explained it perfectly. Thank you!! Wood dowel buttons are a great idea BTW. I wish that Domino took wasn’t so ridiculously expensive. It looks very handy.
The dowel button is pretty clever. It is interesting how woodworking at its core is just variants of the same principles. For the most part, it's all just different ways of doing mortise and tenons. Some ways are stronger, some are cheaper, some look prettier. Even hardware and fasteners are still, in principle, simply mortise and tenons (even pocket holes :D).
You are the prettiest carpenter on UA-cam not to mention lots of very smart idea. Also you would make a great teacher as well. Thank you for the good work you are doing.
I have watch your videos from when you started, your knowledge level and abilities to research are extremely impressive. However what really sets you apart is your clear and exact explanation of what you are doing. When I go to build something you have made it seems to always good without hitches.
That dowel button is BRILLIANT! I almost didn't watch this video because I figured this was just a list of everything I was already familiar with. But I watch all of your videos, and I am SO glad I didn't skip this one. Thank you!
Thank s for taking the time to explain why I need to attach the top a particular way. The expansion in multiple directions is not some thing that I had thought of before. Great, humble teaching style.
So glad you clarified about the pocket hole table top issue! Also the buttons are great because you can make them in a pinch and you dont have to wait for shipping or running to the store. Great ideas as always! Thank you! If practical, I might suggest warmer lighting in the new shop for filming.
I'm the same. I use very dry wood and the humidity doesn't change much where I am BUT I'm thinking I should start taking the expansion into account because I might accidentally get some not so dry timber and a customer or myself might change location. (And the know-it-alls will have to destructively criticise something else).
Thank you so much. I have watched several videos on this subject and was leaning towards the mortise button. I was thinking to custom shape the buttons for use in my biscuit jointing machined slot. After being exposed to at least 10 different methods by 4 different men, yours was the last video watched. You have sold me on the "Skinny Fit Dowel" technique. I needed this for my current build. You seriously need to name this method!!
This video just popped up at the right time. I'm building a chest like coffee table and wasn't thinking about the wood shrinking and expanding. Thank you for saving my behind!!!
Thanks for making my life better, used your dealt tablesaw to fine tune works better than ever😊😊😊😊😊 so I was looking thru my wood pile and found a very old piece of Douglas fir it is 25” wide, was in an old Victorian house built in mid 1800’s, when I look closer at the grain there were very tight rings. I believe it came from an old growth tree that likely was over 400 years old. I was struggling on how to keep it from warping and here is Tamar with many solutions.
Wow, almost 700k subs, and you are taking the time to comment / like as many comments as you can. I hope people realize how much work that must be. Thanks for staying grounded, while becoming YT famous, all at the same time.
Tamar, I really enjoy your posts not only for the content, but that you talk and explain what you are doing. There are other creators that could learn from you. thank you for not just playing repetitive music. Again I really enjoy your work.
Thanks for the great tips ... I think the dowel button idea is very handy for those of us that don't have all the tools or skill sets. I am building a desk top table from live edged cedar in a epoxy table which offers challenges on the expansion aspect so this helps a whole lot on solving that problem.
The dowel buttons are a great idea and I plan use them with the table I'm building. I had been stuck because I had planned to use one of the metal type fasteners with threaded inserts because I wanted to be able to remove the legs from time to time without stripping out the screw holes. However, I discovered that the slots and holes in all the metal fasteners were all to small to fit the threaded inserts screws. Then I watched your video and realized that your dowel button idea should work just fine with my threaded inserts. Thank you.
Thanks Tamar for the thorough explanation behind the need to account for wood movement in this application. As always, I appreciate your focus on various options available and your outside the box thinking. The button/dowel solution was brilliant!
Brilliant idea to use dowels. I have learnt so much from you over the past couple of years, thank you for sharing your work. Respect and Regards from Pakistan
Holy crap your brain must be huge to be thinking of all these ways to secure a top to legs. Those all all awesome ideas!!!! Thanks for putting out your ideas!!!! Dave
I could not wrap my head around doing this without messing the wood up. Honestly the first method is what I will do because it’s easy and cheap. Great content.
I really like the dowles. Practical, cheap but still fulfils the need. Again you open up a topic and discuss different options, commercial and workshop. Thank you
I like your creativity and emphasis on "options". The dowel button is a great example of that. It made me think of another option that might be quicker. Make little blocks as you did with the dowel button, but instead of a dowel, pre-drill a small hole, pound a stout nail in, then clip off the head of the nail with a bolt cutter. Use the shaft of the nail similar to the dowel button. Does that make sense? Seems like it would work. Thanks for super videos. I'm learning a lot from you.
I am currently in the middle of a build and was thinking of the best way I wanted to attach the top. This video popped up at the perfect time! Thank you!
This couldn’t have come at a better time! I’ve just cut up everything to make a reclaimed wood table and I was trying to work out how to attach the base to the legs (I’m a metal worker so don’t have many woodworking tools) I’m going to steal the dowel buttons as I have the dowel and some scrap wood. I’ll be sure to tag thank you on Instagram when I make it!! Thank you so much for this!
I've been thinking of making a cherry table/desk as my next woodworking project, and I get the feeling I'll be watching this video several more times when I do. Thank you!
Love the dowel Button, would definitely seal them and wax the holes. As you know dowels are wood and can expand and contact. Great instructional video. Very nice to have you back. Thank you.
This is what I like about your video you take your time and explain step by step everything no love music playing in the background to distract The Listener this way anybody can learn something from you and that's why I love your channel I can learn something from you because you take your time and explain it
Thank you for your hard work.♥ This is a great demonstration of all options available. This makes a great reference point / video to refer back to when building my next table. Imho the oversized holes with or without the slotted stretchers makes the most sense. However the other options are just as viable.
Video is okay...but I personally love cracks in my pieces and get excited when I constantly have to repair my work so it's never done. I deem it "perpetual perfection". This channel is full of ideas to tear my dreams apart..... Great video by the way. Thanks for the tips and education. I also LOVE your new shop.
You are a great woodworker! Keep up the great content. I've watched hundreds of woodworking UA-cam videos and your channel is simply one of the best. Probably top 3 for me. Thank you!
Thanks! I ordered some of the "expansion" brackets. I didn't know they existed. I'm in the process of making a small table and was planning on going to the hardware and finding some off-the-shelf L brackets that I could rework with a slot to do this. Didn't know I could just buy them if I knew what to search for.
Cool ideas. I have seen the dowel in slots before but never the button idea. I never realized why it was done but knew my kitchen table is assembled with screws through oversized holes.
I used the slotted L brackets 10:30 for the first time and found the installation to be very easy and very solid. 20 clips with screws for $15. For me - well worth it.
I've been looking forward to a new video from you, and this one delivers wonderfully. Right now, sadly, I'm doing more of the carpentry (my garage needs a *lot* of work) than finer woodworking, but this is great for me to see and have available to me for when the garage/workshop is ready. Thank you!
@@3x3CustomTamar Yeah, but that's part of the fun. Well, a little bit, anyway. At some point, it's more fun to make stuff in the workshop than it is to make the workshop itself :)
The dowels are a great idea but I really love the sliding dovetails. That would make some really awesome serving trays, box feet, foot stools, or any smaller items like that! You're a fantastic woodworker and I love your brainstorming and creative ideas. Keep up the great work!
Making buttons on the CNC is the way to go! Those angle brackets looked pretty interesting, I might try those on a small night stand or dresser sometime. The dowel was a clever idea and probably faster if you didn't have the jig you showed for the table saw.
love the 'dowel button' idea... 👍i have been following your channel for a while now and am impressed by your knowledge and on camera presence; you know your woodworking stuff...! 👍 also, thank x3 for NOT letting youtube interrupt your videos with their annoying mid-roll ads...! your sponsor ads you do are acceptable because they relate (and support!) what your videos are about...! thank you again for great videos and congratulations on your new shop... looking forward to your future videos...! 👍😉😁🌷
Your dowel button idea looks like a winner. If I was to make a single table, instead of producing them, I'd give it a try. The metal versions that need a slot in the rail are likely a better time-for-cost trade. It's a good story overall, too.
The dowel buttons are a great idea, good thinking. What I do often is to put two or three pocket holes about 1 1/2" apart in the center of the end rails. This holds the top securely and helps resist pulling the top off when lifting the table and keeps the top centered. If you want one side pinned down, put the pocket holes along that side. Then use one of the floating methods everywhere else.
Good tips. I have a large table I rescued from the dumpster that uses pocket holes to attach the apron to the top. It didn't act like MDF when I repaired a pocket hole in one of the aprons. It hasn't split, but even though it didn't act like MDF when I put the screws back into it, it could have a laminate on the top to make it look like hardwood.
I've done some table top work, and being sort of a snob about using hardware, came up with the idea of using wooden buttons with a side slot, but instead of using a screw to attach it, use a wedged tenon into the top. You could go all the way through the top, so you can see the work, or you could just bury the tenon using a wedge or just glue, I suppose, but I'd hate to rely on glue to hold it together. I love the idea of just using a dovetail, but on a wide table, your joinery had better be perfect or you'd never get it together. I suspect that is why you don't see it too often. If you pare down your dovetails to make the fit easier, the joint will be too loose. Thanks for the vid!
Thanks for giving all these options! I knew the method using buttons (the dowel version is genius!) but I’m about to put some seats onto triangular stool bases, and the oversized hole seems the best for that. I had been wondering how to install them for a while - thanks for posting this vid just in time for me :-)
I am new to woodworking and I really appreciate your time and content. The dowel button method is great, but shouldn't it be cut with the grain rather than across the grain. Thank you in advance for your reply.
Great stuff! I really like the dowel button idea. Seems sturdy & very easy to batch out. Once again, you always impress with the innovation you bring to the craft!
My dining room table and matching coffee table split right in half over time because I thought movement was a myth. Definitely going to re-watch this video before my next project.
I used the dowel buttons on a project. Works perfectly. The top has seen more than 2 years of all the season changes. Top is as flat and clean as day 1
I enjoy very much watching You building things and the jigs, lots of interesting ideas specially for the beginner who has not too many tools... About the last method You showed, The Button Dowels seem pretty good specially where I am there is not much hardware I can find in stores.. The question arises: if I have to move the table (assembled) and I pick it up from the edges... how much the different holders will stand raising the whole weight of the assembled table??? Thanks for sharing all Your knowledge and being such a great teacher...
Thank you Tamar for showing different ways to attach a table top, I've never seen the dowl button method before. I always wanted to know the different method to do this, Thanks for the time to show us this, I always enjoy your viedos, I've made some of your jigs in the past and have use them to attach a bread board end on table tops
This reminds me of your early sessions with a desire to learn. I.e. reminds me of all the the options to put edge trim on plywood. To bad this is such a sad day. 😢
Thanks for the video. I like the dowel version the best cheap easy and gets the job done. If you do not glue it together and the dowel breaks you can pull out broken dowel and replace. Take a snack sized plastic bag and put a few spares, that way after a move or other rough use of the table and a few break you do not have to go and find them, and if you make the table for someone else they will thank you for spares.
I like to use my biscuit joiner for Z-clips; It can be done after everything is done and glued up, as long as there's enough room inside the aprons to get the biscuit joiner. Works great, and I don't have to think ahead! I love the dowel buttons, that's the only one I hadn't seen before. Seem pretty quick once they're made.
@@3x3CustomTamar yeah, just confirming it works well! In fact, it's probably the only thing I've used the biscuit joiner for in the past... 9 or so years...
@@instantalbums Just friction. They're not really meant to hold the aprons from flexing themselves, just hold the top to the aprons. By nature, they're supposed to let the top move with relation to the aprons, so it's not supposed to be a 100% solid connection between the two.
Thanks for the video, it explains the options well. I am just starting design of a table, and htis gives some ideas. I did find some washers at Lee Valley that are elongated, and can be milled into the skirts to provide motion. It would depend on the skirt width though. I like the dowel idea, nice and simple.
Dowel buttons and all those fixtures are good. For smaller projects like top of the wooden chair, old craftsmen in my country used something similar to non-dowel buttons, from hardwood, but slot in apron/stretcher was more like made by bisquit jointer, slightly anled like to uphil on one side, and button was pivoting on thicker bolt locking the top to frame, allowing wood movement. And such joint could have been disassembled in no time, just by turning all those nobs away from their slots in frame.
Great tips and such an appropriate time of year as well. As the seasons change literally everything expands and contracts glass, metal, wood, plastics, ceramics, just at different rates. I have used the slotted clips for years, usually stainless steel, but prices and availability are not so simple any more. They are an easy, practical way to fasten rails to flat surfaces without any special tools or processes.😉 The dowel button is the perfect square Peg round hole scenario.👌 I started using these about 40 years ago for adjustable shelves. Most finish carpenters would just use the dowels for the quick simple solution, but exposed piece left options for design features. Fastening table tops is basically the same thing as attaching shelves (with the exception of support) so why not be creative.🤪😁 The button dowels allow you to be as creative as you want to be not only with shapes and sizes, but types of materials as well. Of course some materials work better than others, but the options are many. Great video Tamar! I imagine this will be one of those "Go To" videos that will be viewed multiple times over the years.🤙
@@3x3CustomTamar There are so many things you can do creatively. I do recommend using stainless steel or brass/bronze pins for any situation needing strength, but I've used many types of hardwood that work quite well. I think the sheer weight is around 300 pounds per shelf which means your kids can safely climb up, camp out, or whatever they might do.🤪🤣 And if they haven't, you know they've thought about it.😂🤣 I have made all kinds of shapes on the button side from octagonal, triangle, oval, pearls, stones, marble, as well as metals like gild, silver, platinum, and nickel. I had one client who bought a collection of figurines and wanted them made into button pins for a collectibles case. Absolutely amazing the things you can do with button pins. One client wanted giant push-pins on a pegboard for an interactive art project. The best part about all of this is imagination!!!!!🤙
A method to possibly add to your list. Back in the old days (early in the Norm Dynasty), I was taught (I don't remember from where) to use 2 washers in the same way as the figure-8s that are available now. The washers are larger and have to overlap. One is screwed to the rail. The second is screwed in position on the top to overlap the first. It's the friction of the overlap that keeps the top on the base. Shallow mortising on the rail helps to hide, just like the figure-8s. I just always assumed that the figure-8s were a gadget based on this method. PROs: 1) Cheap! ...especially in quantity. 2) Works for both grain directions. CON: Takes a some fiddling and experimentation in the beginning to figure out the best way to mount them. Fender washers can make it easier since there is more area, but have to be cut/filed down to not be visible on the outside of the rails.
Great video, thanks! When I was shown how to make buttons to fix a top to a piece I was making in a carpentry course, I had access to a Domino, so actually used it to make buttons that used the dominoes themselves, and by making the domino holes slightly wider by just moving along a little. Not sure if they'll be as strong as your dowel buttons, but I'm happy that I am at least thinking in similar ways to begin with :)
I’ve seen a method to make the buttons that is basically making two at once. Fingers crossed I can describe it. It starts with a rectangle of wood about as long as two of the short dimensions but only one of the long. The two pieces will be cut nestled together. Basically it makes two with no waste. To start, cross cuts are made about 1/3 in on opposite and opposing sides. Drill the holes, then hit it the middle with a chisel to separate the two long pieces. Well, I did a horrible job with that explanation, but maybe it makes sense. Enjoyed the video!
Thank you this video couldn't have come at a better time as the wife has me putting legs on live edge that I was in a dilemma about assembly of the legs
Great video - thanks much. I'm intrigued by the sliding dovetail option. I'm planning to make a workbench and am trying to determine how to fasten the top. Perhaps sliding dovetail - would that work for the workbench top? And if so, I'm not clear how to attach them at the ends. Can you help? Thanks again. Your videos are always helpful for this rather new woodworker.
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Good I'm happy to watching your videos thank you I'm from Morocco
Great idea!!
This might give you a giggle...out of curiosity I wanted to know what my tables were like...(keep in mind it's almost 10:30 at night and nobody else knows I'm watching this) I get up from the couch, pulled out a kitchen chair and crawled under muttering to myself...lol...my son was watching me. He's like "ummm what are you doing?" I've been getting back to woodworking for my Dusty wood adventures...I'm like "Just checking out my table construction "...Apparently my kitchen table has a veneer on top of plywood which I didn't know. Mine is attached with straight up blocks and no movement. Thanks for your knowledge!
Finally!! Someone clearly explained the interaction of wood movement and fasteners. I’m new to woodworking and was torturing myself over the need for an anchor point with these types of fasteners, but wasn’t sure if that would eventually lead to other problems. You explained it perfectly. Thank you!! Wood dowel buttons are a great idea BTW. I wish that Domino took wasn’t so ridiculously expensive. It looks very handy.
The dowel button is pretty clever. It is interesting how woodworking at its core is just variants of the same principles. For the most part, it's all just different ways of doing mortise and tenons. Some ways are stronger, some are cheaper, some look prettier. Even hardware and fasteners are still, in principle, simply mortise and tenons (even pocket holes :D).
Yup! Once you understand the “why” the “how-to” can be figured out in many different ways
I like the dowel button because it seems to give more wood movement and that seems to be the point of the whole video
I think the dowel buttons are a great idea. And I'm always impressed by workflow tips like drilling holes first then cutting.
Glad you appreciate it!
Your channel has the clearest and most thorough videos that I’ve found for a beginner like me. You’re a great teacher. Thank you :-)
Wow, thank you!
You are the prettiest carpenter on UA-cam not to mention lots of very smart idea. Also you would make a great teacher as well. Thank you for the good work you are doing.
Thanx
I have watch your videos from when you started, your knowledge level and abilities to research are extremely impressive. However what really sets you apart is your clear and exact explanation of what you are doing. When I go to build something you have made it seems to always good without hitches.
That dowel button is BRILLIANT! I almost didn't watch this video because I figured this was just a list of everything I was already familiar with. But I watch all of your videos, and I am SO glad I didn't skip this one. Thank you!
Thank s for taking the time to explain why I need to attach the top a particular way. The expansion in multiple directions is not some thing that I had thought of before. Great, humble teaching style.
So glad you clarified about the pocket hole table top issue! Also the buttons are great because you can make them in a pinch and you dont have to wait for shipping or running to the store. Great ideas as always! Thank you! If practical, I might suggest warmer lighting in the new shop for filming.
The dowel idea is worth a million bucks. I really like to watch your experiments and tricks and tips. Please keep them coming.
These videos are very informative. I've been learning from them for the last three years now. Much Love from Kenya...
I never thought about wood movement and luckily it hasn't been an issue for projects I've done, 😬. Thanks, very informative!
I'm the same. I use very dry wood and the humidity doesn't change much where I am BUT I'm thinking I should start taking the expansion into account because I might accidentally get some not so dry timber and a customer or myself might change location. (And the know-it-alls will have to destructively criticise something else).
@@Goalsplus I am in WI so humidity is all over the place. I think I've just gotten lucky with the types of projects and dryness of wood.
This lady is an amazing teacher. Thanks for show me what to do these past few months.
Thank you so much. I have watched several videos on this subject and was leaning towards the mortise button. I was thinking to custom shape the buttons for use in my biscuit jointing machined slot. After being exposed to at least 10 different methods by 4 different men, yours was the last video watched. You have sold me on the "Skinny Fit Dowel" technique. I needed this for my current build. You seriously need to name this method!!
This video just popped up at the right time. I'm building a chest like coffee table and wasn't thinking about the wood shrinking and expanding. Thank you for saving my behind!!!
Awesome
I'm going to use the dowel buttons for an end table I'm making for my wife. Thank you for showing a great method for fabricating them. Awesome stuff!
Thanks for making my life better, used your dealt tablesaw to fine tune works better than ever😊😊😊😊😊 so I was looking thru my wood pile and found a very old piece of Douglas fir it is 25” wide, was in an old Victorian house built in mid 1800’s, when I look closer at the grain there were very tight rings. I believe it came from an old growth tree that likely was over 400 years old. I was struggling on how to keep it from warping and here is Tamar with many solutions.
Wow, almost 700k subs, and you are taking the time to comment / like as many comments as you can. I hope people realize how much work that must be. Thanks for staying grounded, while becoming YT famous, all at the same time.
Love the dowel idea. Looking forward to seeing how you've laid out your new shop.
Glad you like it!
Tamar, I really enjoy your posts not only for the content, but that you talk and explain what you are doing. There are other creators that could learn from you. thank you for not just playing repetitive music. Again I really enjoy your work.
Glad you appreciate it
Love the dowel butttons, been working with wood for 60 years & never thought of what you did. Great idea. Love ur show & I'm 80
So glad you like it! I thought it was cool
The best woodworking channel on UA-cam. Always instructional and inspirational . Thank you Tamar!
Awesome to hear!
1000% agree
Thanks for the great tips ... I think the dowel button idea is very handy for those of us that don't have all the tools or skill sets. I am building a desk top table from live edged cedar in a epoxy table which offers challenges on the expansion aspect so this helps a whole lot on solving that problem.
The dowel buttons are a great idea and I plan use them with the table I'm building. I had been stuck because I had planned to use one of the metal type fasteners with threaded inserts because I wanted to be able to remove the legs from time to time without stripping out the screw holes. However, I discovered that the slots and holes in all the metal fasteners were all to small to fit the threaded inserts screws. Then I watched your video and realized that your dowel button idea should work just fine with my threaded inserts. Thank you.
I really appreciate someone offering solutions to this problem rather just scolding people and telling them not to do it
Glad you appreciate it
Thanks Tamar for the thorough explanation behind the need to account for wood movement in this application. As always, I appreciate your focus on various options available and your outside the box thinking. The button/dowel solution was brilliant!
Smart lady.
Brilliant idea to use dowels. I have learnt so much from you over the past couple of years, thank you for sharing your work. Respect and Regards from Pakistan
☺️☺️
Holy crap your brain must be huge to be thinking of all these ways to secure a top to legs. Those all all awesome ideas!!!! Thanks for putting out your ideas!!!! Dave
I like the comparison you give. We don’t have to masters to make things. I really like that you give options for skills, and tools.
Thanks
I could not wrap my head around doing this without messing the wood up. Honestly the first method is what I will do because it’s easy and cheap. Great content.
I really like the dowles. Practical, cheap but still fulfils the need.
Again you open up a topic and discuss different options, commercial and workshop. Thank you
So glad you like the dowel idea! I thought it was pretty cool
You truly have the soul of an educator. Thanks
Dowel buttons, yes. More amazing thoughtful woodcraft that is completely inspiring. Thanks, Tamar.
☺️☺️
The dowel idea is ingenious! It's one of those head smacking "WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT! "
Hah glad you think so!
Can’t believe the perfect timing on this. I have to attach a desktop to a frame this weekend.
Thanks!
Awesome
I like your creativity and emphasis on "options". The dowel button is a great example of that. It made me think of another option that might be quicker. Make little blocks as you did with the dowel button, but instead of a dowel, pre-drill a small hole, pound a stout nail in, then clip off the head of the nail with a bolt cutter. Use the shaft of the nail similar to the dowel button. Does that make sense? Seems like it would work. Thanks for super videos. I'm learning a lot from you.
I am currently in the middle of a build and was thinking of the best way I wanted to attach the top. This video popped up at the perfect time! Thank you!
Awesome
This couldn’t have come at a better time! I’ve just cut up everything to make a reclaimed wood table and I was trying to work out how to attach the base to the legs (I’m a metal worker so don’t have many woodworking tools)
I’m going to steal the dowel buttons as I have the dowel and some scrap wood. I’ll be sure to tag thank you on Instagram when I make it!! Thank you so much for this!
still one of my favorite channels. Love the dowel method, but those butterflies look amazing.
Glad you like them!
Tamar, you are such an excellent instructor. Thanks for this video.
I've been thinking of making a cherry table/desk as my next woodworking project, and I get the feeling I'll be watching this video several more times when I do. Thank you!
Haha glad it’s helpful!
Aaannnnd Tamar is back doing what she does best! Just at a point when I was building up my mental strength to make a table. Thank you
Birdy
Haha awesome
They all look good. But the dowel button looks like the easiest and yet admirable way of doing it. Thank you for sharing all of these ideas.
I thought it seems pretty easy too!
Love the dowel Button, would definitely seal them and wax the holes. As you know dowels are wood and can expand and contact. Great instructional video. Very nice to have you back. Thank you.
Awesome tip! Wish I knew this when I made my dinning table 😀 I make these adjustments when I refinish it.
The idea for the button with a dowel is a hit! Well done!
Huge thanks! I've learned a lot from you over the last few years. Attaching my raw wood table top today.
Glad to help!
I am not a wood worker, but still I like to watch your video because I love your work!
Ha. Nice!
This is what I like about your video you take your time and explain step by step everything no love music playing in the background to distract The Listener this way anybody can learn something from you and that's why I love your channel I can learn something from you because you take your time and explain it
Thank you for your hard work.♥ This is a great demonstration of all options available. This makes a great reference point / video to refer back to when building my next table. Imho the oversized holes with or without the slotted stretchers makes the most sense. However the other options are just as viable.
THIS!!! Tamar you rock! This video was SO helpful. Great job and thanks for helping us learn.
Video is okay...but I personally love cracks in my pieces and get excited when I constantly have to repair my work so it's never done. I deem it "perpetual perfection". This channel is full of ideas to tear my dreams apart.....
Great video by the way. Thanks for the tips and education. I also LOVE your new shop.
😂😂 that would drive me nuts. Glad you like it!
Tamar always makes the newbie feel like we can do it. Great channel awesome mom and instructor. Thank you
Awesome to hear
This is a superbly explained video, thank you. I was thinking though, would it be important to not overtighten the screws (especially #5) ? thanks!
Dowel buttons are exactly what i needed. Thank you.
You are a great woodworker! Keep up the great content. I've watched hundreds of woodworking UA-cam videos and your channel is simply one of the best. Probably top 3 for me. Thank you!
That’s awesome to hear! Thanks!
Thanks! I ordered some of the "expansion" brackets. I didn't know they existed. I'm in the process of making a small table and was planning on going to the hardware and finding some off-the-shelf L brackets that I could rework with a slot to do this. Didn't know I could just buy them if I knew what to search for.
Thank you Tamar for sharing all of these joints. Really interesting.
Cool ideas. I have seen the dowel in slots before but never the button idea. I never realized why it was done but knew my kitchen table is assembled with screws through oversized holes.
👍👍
So good to have you back, Tamar. Looking forward to more of your work.
👍👍
I used the slotted L brackets 10:30 for the first time and found the installation to be very easy and very solid. 20 clips with screws for $15. For me - well worth it.
I've been looking forward to a new video from you, and this one delivers wonderfully. Right now, sadly, I'm doing more of the carpentry (my garage needs a *lot* of work) than finer woodworking, but this is great for me to see and have available to me for when the garage/workshop is ready. Thank you!
Have fun setting it up. I know the drill ha
@@3x3CustomTamar Yeah, but that's part of the fun. Well, a little bit, anyway. At some point, it's more fun to make stuff in the workshop than it is to make the workshop itself :)
The dowels are a great idea but I really love the sliding dovetails. That would make some really awesome serving trays, box feet, foot stools, or any smaller items like that! You're a fantastic woodworker and I love your brainstorming and creative ideas. Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much! I love a sliding Dovetail too
I vote for the dowel buttons! Thanks for sharing and giving us more options to think about.
Making buttons on the CNC is the way to go! Those angle brackets looked pretty interesting, I might try those on a small night stand or dresser sometime. The dowel was a clever idea and probably faster if you didn't have the jig you showed for the table saw.
love the 'dowel button' idea... 👍i have been following your channel for a while now and am impressed by your knowledge and on camera presence; you know your woodworking stuff...! 👍 also, thank x3 for NOT letting youtube interrupt your videos with their annoying mid-roll ads...! your sponsor ads you do are acceptable because they relate (and support!) what your videos are about...! thank you again for great videos and congratulations on your new shop... looking forward to your future videos...! 👍😉😁🌷
Tamar,your dowels are an ingenius breakthrough! Go girl go!
Oops,omitted the "o"..... oh sorry
Your dowel button idea looks like a winner. If I was to make a single table, instead of producing them, I'd give it a try. The metal versions that need a slot in the rail are likely a better time-for-cost trade. It's a good story overall, too.
The dowel buttons are a great idea, good thinking. What I do often is to put two or three pocket holes about 1 1/2" apart in the center of the end rails. This holds the top securely and helps resist pulling the top off when lifting the table and keeps the top centered. If you want one side pinned down, put the pocket holes along that side. Then use one of the floating methods everywhere else.
Yup!
Your ingenuity always amazes me, Tamar. The dowel button is another great idea. Another great video!
Glad you liked it!
Good tips.
I have a large table I rescued from the dumpster that uses pocket holes to attach the apron to the top.
It didn't act like MDF when I repaired a pocket hole in one of the aprons.
It hasn't split, but even though it didn't act like MDF when I put the screws back into it, it could have a laminate on the top to make it look like hardwood.
Maybe. I had a table split when I used pocket holes
I've done some table top work, and being sort of a snob about using hardware, came up with the idea of using wooden buttons with a side slot, but instead of using a screw to attach it, use a wedged tenon into the top. You could go all the way through the top, so you can see the work, or you could just bury the tenon using a wedge or just glue, I suppose, but I'd hate to rely on glue to hold it together. I love the idea of just using a dovetail, but on a wide table, your joinery had better be perfect or you'd never get it together. I suspect that is why you don't see it too often. If you pare down your dovetails to make the fit easier, the joint will be too loose. Thanks for the vid!
Great tips! Dowels are nice and easy. The square buttons are my choice and not hard to make with hand tools
I really like the new graphics. They're great to help make the point.
Thanks for giving all these options! I knew the method using buttons (the dowel version is genius!) but I’m about to put some seats onto triangular stool bases, and the oversized hole seems the best for that. I had been wondering how to install them for a while - thanks for posting this vid just in time for me :-)
Glad it was helpful!
I am new to woodworking and I really appreciate your time and content. The dowel button method is great, but shouldn't it be cut with the grain rather than across the grain.
Thank you in advance for your reply.
Super wood connection idea, very simple but with a good effect. Thanks for the video Tamar
Glad you liked it!
Great stuff! I really like the dowel button idea. Seems sturdy & very easy to batch out. Once again, you always impress with the innovation you bring to the craft!
Glad you like it!
I’m going to refer to this video repeatedly; thanks for the great reference! Side note: wonderful and consistent Lund quality in the new shop.
My dining room table and matching coffee table split right in half over time because I thought movement was a myth. Definitely going to re-watch this video before my next project.
Haha. I had the same thing happen when I attached bread board ends with pocket holes in my early days 😂
I used the dowel buttons on a project. Works perfectly. The top has seen more than 2 years of all the season changes. Top is as flat and clean as day 1
Awesome
I enjoy very much watching You building things and the jigs, lots of interesting ideas specially for the beginner who has not too many tools... About the last method You showed, The Button Dowels seem pretty good specially where I am there is not much hardware I can find in stores.. The question arises: if I have to move the table (assembled) and I pick it up from the edges... how much the different holders will stand raising the whole weight of the assembled table???
Thanks for sharing all Your knowledge and being such a great teacher...
Thank you Tamar for showing different ways to attach a table top, I've never seen the dowl button method before. I always wanted to know the different method to do this, Thanks for the time to show us this, I always enjoy your viedos, I've made some of your jigs in the past and have use them to attach a bread board end on table tops
Awesome to hear!
I want to try the sliding dovetail method. Such a clean and elegant solution.
This reminds me of your early sessions with a desire to learn. I.e. reminds me of all the the options to put edge trim on plywood.
To bad this is such a sad day. 😢
Very sad… but we will dance again.
Thanks for the video.
I like the dowel version the best cheap easy and gets the job done. If you do not glue it together and the dowel breaks you can pull out broken dowel and replace. Take a snack sized plastic bag and put a few spares, that way after a move or other rough use of the table and a few break you do not have to go and find them, and if you make the table for someone else they will thank you for spares.
I like to use my biscuit joiner for Z-clips; It can be done after everything is done and glued up, as long as there's enough room inside the aprons to get the biscuit joiner. Works great, and I don't have to think ahead! I love the dowel buttons, that's the only one I hadn't seen before. Seem pretty quick once they're made.
Yup! I don’t have a biscuit jointer though. So just mentioned it quickly
@@3x3CustomTamar yeah, just confirming it works well! In fact, it's probably the only thing I've used the biscuit joiner for in the past... 9 or so years...
Can I ask you with the z clips, how do they hold the curtains in place when they are sitting in the slots without screws or glue?
@@instantalbums Just friction. They're not really meant to hold the aprons from flexing themselves, just hold the top to the aprons. By nature, they're supposed to let the top move with relation to the aprons, so it's not supposed to be a 100% solid connection between the two.
Even more inspiration to (finally) set up my router table to cut sliding dovetails! I'll even make my shop cabinets with sliding dovetails!
Awesome. Have fun! Just remember. Practice on scrap 👍
Thank you for the excellent list of options! I've bookmarked this video for future reference.
Thanks for the video, it explains the options well. I am just starting design of a table, and htis gives some ideas. I did find some washers at Lee Valley that are elongated, and can be milled into the skirts to provide motion. It would depend on the skirt width though. I like the dowel idea, nice and simple.
Glad it was helpful!
Dowel buttons and all those fixtures are good. For smaller projects like top of the wooden chair, old craftsmen in my country used something similar to non-dowel buttons, from hardwood, but slot in apron/stretcher was more like made by bisquit jointer, slightly anled like to uphil on one side, and button was pivoting on thicker bolt locking the top to frame, allowing wood movement. And such joint could have been disassembled in no time, just by turning all those nobs away from their slots in frame.
Great tips and such an appropriate time of year as well. As the seasons change literally everything expands and contracts glass, metal, wood, plastics, ceramics, just at different rates.
I have used the slotted clips for years, usually stainless steel, but prices and availability are not so simple any more. They are an easy, practical way to fasten rails to flat surfaces without any special tools or processes.😉
The dowel button is the perfect square Peg round hole scenario.👌
I started using these about 40 years ago for adjustable shelves. Most finish carpenters would just use the dowels for the quick simple solution, but exposed piece left options for design features. Fastening table tops is basically the same thing as attaching shelves (with the exception of support) so why not be creative.🤪😁
The button dowels allow you to be as creative as you want to be not only with shapes and sizes, but types of materials as well. Of course some materials work better than others, but the options are many.
Great video Tamar!
I imagine this will be one of those "Go To" videos that will be viewed multiple times over the years.🤙
Oh that’s a great idea. To use them as shelf pins!
@@3x3CustomTamar There are so many things you can do creatively.
I do recommend using stainless steel or brass/bronze pins for any situation needing strength, but I've used many types of hardwood that work quite well. I think the sheer weight is around 300 pounds per shelf which means your kids can safely climb up, camp out, or whatever they might do.🤪🤣
And if they haven't, you know they've thought about it.😂🤣
I have made all kinds of shapes on the button side from octagonal, triangle, oval, pearls, stones, marble, as well as metals like gild, silver, platinum, and nickel.
I had one client who bought a collection of figurines and wanted them made into button pins for a collectibles case. Absolutely amazing the things you can do with button pins. One client wanted giant push-pins on a pegboard for an interactive art project.
The best part about all of this is imagination!!!!!🤙
A method to possibly add to your list. Back in the old days (early in the Norm Dynasty), I was taught (I don't remember from where) to use 2 washers in the same way as the figure-8s that are available now. The washers are larger and have to overlap. One is screwed to the rail. The second is screwed in position on the top to overlap the first. It's the friction of the overlap that keeps the top on the base. Shallow mortising on the rail helps to hide, just like the figure-8s. I just always assumed that the figure-8s were a gadget based on this method. PROs: 1) Cheap! ...especially in quantity. 2) Works for both grain directions. CON: Takes a some fiddling and experimentation in the beginning to figure out the best way to mount them. Fender washers can make it easier since there is more area, but have to be cut/filed down to not be visible on the outside of the rails.
Sounds cool
Great video, thanks! When I was shown how to make buttons to fix a top to a piece I was making in a carpentry course, I had access to a Domino, so actually used it to make buttons that used the dominoes themselves, and by making the domino holes slightly wider by just moving along a little. Not sure if they'll be as strong as your dowel buttons, but I'm happy that I am at least thinking in similar ways to begin with :)
I’ve seen a method to make the buttons that is basically making two at once. Fingers crossed I can describe it. It starts with a rectangle of wood about as long as two of the short dimensions but only one of the long. The two pieces will be cut nestled together. Basically it makes two with no waste. To start, cross cuts are made about 1/3 in on opposite and opposing sides. Drill the holes, then hit it the middle with a chisel to separate the two long pieces.
Well, I did a horrible job with that explanation, but maybe it makes sense. Enjoyed the video!
Thank you this video couldn't have come at a better time as the wife has me putting legs on live edge that I was in a dilemma about assembly of the legs
Awesome. Good luck!
You are fantastic! How simple and clear way of revealing the topic. Thank you, your video was so helpful
Great video - thanks much.
I'm intrigued by the sliding dovetail option. I'm planning to make a workbench and am trying to determine how to fasten the top. Perhaps sliding dovetail - would that work for the workbench top? And if so, I'm not clear how to attach them at the ends. Can you help?
Thanks again. Your videos are always helpful for this rather new woodworker.
Those slotted clips are very common & cheap in the UK. In fact we used solely those to fasten kitchen worktops.