Alternative To Cross Dowel Construction?

[alltracman78]

I'm building a slab flattening table, however I don't have the space to leave it up so I have to be able to disassemble and reassemble.

I made the pieces out of 2 ply 3/4 plywood that I glued together (funny how modern 3/4 ply is getting closer and closer to 1/2 BTW, doubled up it's not even 1 3/8).
I was going to use T nuts but they don't hold well, so I thought I'd go with cross dowels. Just curious if anyone has a different suggestion?

 

[Michael Kellough]

I have put hardwood dowels through particle board when I needed to put screws into the edge. I used 3/4” dowel and 1/4-20 machine screws. No jig required, just measure.

 

[alltracman78]

This will be take apart/assemble as I need to use it, so I'd rather not have wood threads.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

The cross-dowels are a little fiddley, as far as keeping track of "loose" parts, while disassembled. However they are probably the best way to go about this. There are other ways, like T-nuts and threaded inserts, but they are not as good for assembling/disassembling often.

 

[Packard]

Table leaf hardware? 
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-m&q=table+leaf+hardware&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD7dXWu-H-AhUfF1kFHZohCucQ0pQJegQICxAB&biw=1144&bih=728&dpr=2

 

[Dane]

I’d look at Striplox hardware.  They seem to have things for all sorts of knock down uses.

 

[alltracman78]

I went with the the Woodpeckers kit. Those dowels are probably the best way to do what I want.
As soon as I tried to assemble the T nuts pulled out. So I used some large clamps to temporarily hold it together (along with the T nuts and bolts). Did what I had to for know. I'll redo when I get the kit (and time).

 

[alltracman78]

Apparently the other picture, which is the same size as the first, is too large to post.

 

[jeffinsgf]

I went with the the Woodpeckers kit. Those dowels are probably the best way to do what I want.
As soon as I tried to assemble the T nuts pulled out. So I used some large clamps to temporarily hold it together (along with the T nuts and bolts). Did what I had to for know. I'll redo when I get the kit (and time).

T-nuts aren't designed to work like that. The threads need to come into the other end of the nut so that the pressure applied is pulling the T-nut into the material, not out of it.

Threaded inserts or cross dowels would be better choices.

As for cross dowels being fiddly, if you can find them, there are bolts specifically designed for cross dowels that have a pointy end. They do an excellent job of aligning the cross dowel to the threads.

 

[Packard]

For alignment, consider table leaf pins.  Available in metals or wood. Specifically designed for alignment.
https://www.google.com/search?q=table leaf pins&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

Use dowel centers for locating the holes. Or use the undermount versions.

 

[4nthony]

I went with the the Woodpeckers kit. Those dowels are probably the best way to do what I want.
As soon as I tried to assemble the T nuts pulled out. So I used some large clamps to temporarily hold it together (along with the T nuts and bolts). Did what I had to for know. I'll redo when I get the kit (and time).

I built an L-shaped desk last year and used the WP Cross Dowel jig along with threaded inserts. I am happy with it. I've been wanting to build more knock-down furniture for the kids but this is the only thing I've built using cross-dowels.

I'll get around to using the WP jig more some day.

My desk was inspired by team at Plywood Project. They use cross-dowels in the majority of their furniture.

 

[Packard]

When I installed the butcher block counters in my kitchen, I used dowels (not glued) for alignment and dog bone fasteners to join the slabs.

Pictured it the Hafele version.  I think I used the Knape and Voight version—essentially the same, but different.

These have the ability to draw the slabs together tightly, but are not effective maintaining alignment.

 

[4nthony]

When I installed the butcher block counters in my kitchen, I used dowels (not glued) for alignment and dog bone fasteners to join the slabs.

Pictured it the Hafele version.  I think I used the Knape and Voight version—essentially the same, but different.

These have the ability to draw the slabs together tightly, but are not effective maintaining alignment.

I like those and did something similar to hold the L of the desktop together. I used dominos for alignment and a pair of Zip Bolts.

 

[alltracman78]

Thank you all for the input. For my specific project I feel the cross dowels are best. The T nuts and tight tolerance holes lined everything up perfectly. Hopefully I can achieve the same thing with the cross dowels. If not I'll add alignment pins.

I went with the the Woodpeckers kit. Those dowels are probably the best way to do what I want.
As soon as I tried to assemble the T nuts pulled out. So I used some large clamps to temporarily hold it together (along with the T nuts and bolts). Did what I had to for know. I'll redo when I get the kit (and time).

T-nuts aren't designed to work like that. The threads need to come into the other end of the nut so that the pressure applied is pulling the T-nut into the material, not out of it.

Threaded inserts or cross dowels would be better choices.

As for cross dowels being fiddly, if you can find them, there are bolts specifically designed for cross dowels that have a pointy end. They do an excellent job of aligning the cross dowel to the threads.

Yeah, I realized that after I tried to put it together (worked great for a test fit in the shop). Best way to learn. Haha!

I'm not too worried about fiddly, I deal with that at work all the time. And I will probably try to underdrill the dowels a little bit, or glue them. Maybe stuff some toothpicks. So they stay aligned. Something else to play with.

 

[alltracman78]

Lets try this again.

 

[alltracman78]

Almost finished product.[attachimg=1]

 

[Packard]

If you live in Europe, and you do a lot of this sort of thing, CMT  and Trend both make a nifty routering template for joining countertops.

I believe that the Trend version is simply the CMT 650 jig in black instead of orange, and probably is just a relabeled tool.  In any case, Trend makes a superior video:

But note, neither appear to be imported to the USA.  I have bought a CMT template that is not imported by ordering from Amazon.de (Germany), though it shipped from Amazon.es (Spain).  All locations allow use of your current Amazon.com account.

The system allows you to butt-join the counter tops and only miter the nose. Very cool.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Almost finished product.[attachimg=1]

If this big assembly is done with the T-nuts, like the photo in the previous post, it will fail almost immediately, even glued. T-nuts don't hold well when pulled.

 

[Packard]

Almost finished product.[attachimg=1]

If this big assembly is done with the T-nuts, like the photo in the previous post, it will fail almost immediately, even glued. T-nuts don't hold well when pulled.

Yes, T-nuts are simply the wrong fasteners. For 1-1/2” thick countertops the dog bone is pretty much the standard.  Most are using biscuits for alignment. But dowels and dominoes will work too.  Biscuits are more forgiving for lateral placement.  Some are using a router for long biscuit slots that allow placement of the biscuit anywhere along the slot.

 

[alltracman78]

Almost finished product.[attachimg=1]

If this big assembly is done with the T-nuts, like the photo in the previous post, it will fail almost immediately, even glued. T-nuts don't hold well when pulled.

Good thing I had the clamps to hold it together then!  [big grin]

It's not a cabinet base, just a table to flatten large pieces of wood. And it has to be able to be assembled and disassembled. Which is why I was looking for something that comes apart easily and repeatedly.