Table top attachment with aprons on only two sides

Question

I'm building a small computer/writing desk. It will have a solid top, so I'm figuring out how to attach it to the frame to allow for wood movement.

I planned on using tabletop fasteners (Z clips), but I've run into a possible snag. The design only has aprons on the long sides. The short sides have stretchers a foot or so down from the top. So the only place I have to attach the fasteners would be on aprons that are running parallel to the boards in the solid table top, which wouldn't allow expansion along the width, right?

Any suggestions on how to attach this tabletop?

Answer 1

I wouldn't use Z-clips, they allow minimally for movement in the orientation needed here. Instead you want my favourite metal tabletop fastening option:

These are retailed under various names, I know them as expansion plates but they now seem most commonly sold as stretcher plates. As you can see they have slots in both of the orientations needed for use on the side-to-side or back-to-front apron pieces, and unlike other designs they work equally well in either position.

If you have difficulty finding these locally* a basic right-angle steel bracket/mending plate could easily be modified to work in the same way, by filing or grinding one of its screw holes into a short slot.

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*I don't know why these are less common as they're cheap (approximately 15-20 cents each here) and are the simplest to install of all tabletop fasteners since they require no groove or rebate/rabbet to be cut into the aprons. Maybe it's because they're relatively large (e.g. 38mm wide, ~1.5") and are felt to be unsightly, but who looks under a table?

Answer 2

In general, you need to protect against movement a) when it occurs against something that does not move similarly, and b) where there are distances perpendicular to the grain (wood won't expand much along the grain, only across it).

An example of a) would be long grain lying atop a crosswise frame member, and a (counter) example of b) would be long grain lying atop a longwise frame member.

If the grain in your table top is oriented to the long dimension of your table, you can secure the top along one side (screw up into the bottom of the table, use a cleat, etc) and then use something like your Z clip along the other side.

Answer 3

You might be able to use "figure eight" table top fasteners. You put the screws in just tight enough to hold the top on, but loose enough to allow for movement in the plane of the table top.