Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins? *LINK*

Re: Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins?

George@Colonel's Workshop-Havertown PA

>Good Evening Ryan,

I built several jigs to guarantee alignment. I made them about an inch wide, and drilled thru them end to end with my drill press, with the stock against a 90 degree fence. That enabled me to dimple the edges of table and leaves with a nail set situated within the drilled hole. The jig was registered with one side of the table and leaves. I used dowels into enlarged holes. Everything must be square and kept that way for it all to come together properly. Poorer eyesight prevented me from using dowels or pins in my new dining room table. So the leaves just sit on the extended leaf support. That isn't ideal, but it is better than screwing up an otherwide fine table. Your eyes are the best tool you have. If yours are good, use the Lee Valley pins. You can always come back and install slightly larger dowels in the 1 inxch thick stock.

George

Re: Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins?

Geoff in Madison

>Ryan,

Use the dowels. I used pins in my dining room table and have good eyes (with my glasses) and couldn't get them nearly close enough. It is a PITA to remove them. The dowels are much more forgiving and you can modify them with a file after installation if you need to.

Never again using pins,

Geoff

Re: Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins?

Ryan Dicker in Renfrew, Ontario

>Thats what I had in mind Geoff. I have a bunch of 3/8" dowel with the corrugation (not sure what you want to call it) on the outside. I might consider taking this route and save the pins for something else.

The thing that I am most afraid of is the wood moving and causing the pins to go out of alignment. Even though I may line them up perfectly before taking it out of the shop, it will likely settle once the finish is put on and it is brought back to my house.

Anymore tips in regards to drilling the holes/lining them up would be appreciated.

Thanks to George as well for your comments.

Re: Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins?

Michael Wangler in Rochester, NY

>Ryan,

Another option using the Lee Valley pins. Try using a jig to align the mating pins. If the results are less than satisfactory then you can drill out one of the holes a bit larger and use a 2 part epoxy in the pin hole to give you some flexibility in adjusting the alignment. Clamp the top pieces together and give it some time to set up.

Good luck,

Michael

Re: Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins?

David Hay @ Denver

>I would think that if you have the grain of your tabletop running parallel to the joint (i.e. you're not installing the pins in end grain) that the alignment shouldn't change much, if at all. Most of the movement will be perpendicular to the joint, rather than parallel to it.

Good Luck!

David

Re: Dining Table Alignment - Dowel or Pins?

Ryan Dicker in Renfrew, Ontario

>That's true David. I guess I just assumed there could be some movement problems with the wood since I've had to compensate for a bit of warp in the large panels by wetting the more dried out side to stretch them back straight, but again that direction of movement wouldn't effect the pin alignment.

Also, thanks Michael for the tips.

Sure fire alignment method

Ellis Walentine

>Sorry I missed this thread earlier. I would use the alignment pins and make a jig to drill the holes perfectly. Let's say your table is 3' wide and 1" thick and you want to use three pins to align the halves... Make a square stick that is 3' long and 1" thick by 1" wide. Mark out your desired pin spacings on the stick.

Next, put the exact size drill for the pin holes in your drill press chuck. Clamp a fence to the drill press table such that the drill is centered exactly half the thickness of the jig ( 1/2 x 1" = 1/2", in this case) away from the fence. Also make sure the fence is square edged and square to the table. This is the most critical relationship for the success of this jig.

Drill the holes all the way through the stick.

Tack a wider strip of scrap wood or plywood to one face of the jig and a smaller scrap to one end, such that both scraps overhang the stick on both edges.

Reference this stick to one leaf of your table, with the one end hooked firmly against the end of the edge. Clamp the stick in place solidly, then drill the three holes to the correct depth using the stick as a drill guide. Repeat the operation on the mating edge of your table, hooking the same end of the edge. As long as your scrap strips are tight to the table top and the end of the edge, the holes should align up perfectly. If you doubt it, practice on a mocked up sample first.

Ellis Walentine, Host

Re: Sure fire alignment method

Ryan Dicker in Renfrew, Ontario

>Thanks for the detailed instructions Ellis. I will likely take this route. I will be sure to post up some pictures when I have completed the table as well as some pics of the jig I used.

Ryan