On allowing for expansion on a table top.

[Stevekane]

Hi, I know its not the most exciting subject but its one that does seem to come up every now and again, so I thought I would share a cople of photos I took of an old pine tabletop and how a company in Leeds in about 1940 dealt with it. Its a little folding table and the top is made of 4 light pine boards, the intresting bit for me was the brace they had used under each end across the boards which is perhaps beech, as well as machining elongated countersinks they had brass washers to suit, and likwise with the hinges, made with elongated fixings, Ive not seen this before, are they very unusual?
Steve.

 

[Cabinetman]

Hi Steve presumably the hinges went across most of the boards which is why they had elongated holes in the hinges, you wonder why they didn’t fasten the hinges to the braces though.
Have seen that exact elongated washer on the underside of my Dads Wartime drawing board, a lovely thing with a strip of Ebony in a groove up the edge of the board but cut into 3” segments for movement, the strip was for the T square to run on. Ebony on the stock and edge of the Mahogany T square. Had to get rid of it for a pittance recently, I suppose nobody wants to do Technical drawings that way anymore.
Ian