Vince Ancona

May 17, 2023 | woodmagazine.com | Vince Ancona

When joining parts or assemblies in woodworking, the goal usually is to join the parts so securely that they won't work loose or come undone. But when attaching a tabletop, you're faced with two competing objectives — attaching the top securely, while allowing it to expand and contract with seasonal changes in humidity levels. While this may seem contradictory, there are more ways than one to deal with this conundrum. Here are four methods we commonly use for fastening a solid-wood tabletop.

Mar 28, 2023 | woodmagazine.com | Dave Stone |Vince Ancona

Walk into just about any hardware store or home center and you'll encounter an entire aisle dedicated to screws and fasteners. Finding exactly what you need may feel overwhelming. To help make sense of all the choices, we've broken things down to the fundamentals. While there are many different types of screws, they all have one thing in common: a spiral thread that wraps around the length of the shank, plus a head that contains a drive­—the recess used with a driver to install the screw, below.