Table Top Help

[A Lurker]

I'm just finishing an outdoor table made from cypress. The top is a 24" doughnut 2" wide and 7/8" thick with cypress slats floating in the center field. The circle is made from 5 arc segments biscuited and glued. The base is a tradtional 4 legs with aprons between forming a square slightly less than the top's 24".

Now the question: How to attach the top to the base. Indoor tables, I've used metal "Z" clips screwed to the top and into a dado in the aprons. These & metal "figure 8" desk clips will rust outside. Thinking of (KISS) four small dowels into the tops of the legs and bored and glued into the underside of the doughnut. No rust ... no metal. Other alternative would be stainless steel deck screws through pocket holes in the aprons. Neither of these would really allow for wood movement, but do I really have movement in a circular top?

Any suggestions or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, It's finally spring and the table needs to leave the shop and reside on the deck.

Thanks

Jerry

PS- FYI Cypress chairs from last year spent winter outside finished with Penofin and seem none the worse for wear except for a few black stains on some horizontal surfaces from fallen oak leaves.

[Steve Peterson]

A circular top will still move across the grain. You could use screws through the apron; for the top 1-2", drill oversize holes - from the top. You can also countersink the screws from the bottom, and fill with plugs if you want.

Steve

[Peter Huebner]

The dado approach is still the best i.m.o. but instead of using z-clips, use a block of hardwood that is [loosely] l-shaped, the long side of the L parallel to the table top, slotting into the dado (actually I rout a 3/4" slot into the apron) and the short dimension of the indent of the block just barely smaller than the distance form the top edge of the dado to the table top - maybe 3/32".

10 gauge S/Steel screws in the centre of the block screw up into the top, so it levers the apron up against the top. For an outdoors table I'd make sure to varnish the blocks and the inside of the slot:-).

======================================================== top ======================================================== [] x^xxxxx [ xxxx^xxxxx block [ xxxx^xxxxx [] ^ [] s/s screw apron

sorry about the lousy ascii art :-)

works for me, -P.

[Leon]

Spray paint the metal fasteners with something like Rustoleum to prevent rust.