Table Top Panel Movement

it will work, but can guarantee it will not last long. Eventually something’s gonna give. No matter how small the pieces are that are being glued up, it’s the total width that you have to account for. Three 8” or eight 3” will still have the same movement agross the grain (tangentially).
I built a coffe table way back in highschool (about 15 years ago) for my parents with three panels glued to make an aprox 20” wide top. Built with red oak and I screwed cleats to the apron and then screwed through the cleats up into the top without using oblong holes. Well, about a month or so ago, wile visiting my parents, I noticed the whole table had broke apart at all the joints in the apron to the legs. The told me it had broken some 10 years ago but loved the table so much they kept it. For some reason it still stands, but is broken

-- Childress Woodworks

I sent a note to the folks at Kreg asking the same question. They said that pocket holes allow wood movement and this is especially true if you back off a quarter turn on the screws. I guess there is a little room in each pocket around the screw, I just didn’t think it was enough.

-- Ron, Kutztown, PA "The reward is in the journey."

Thanks for the info. I just had to re-build a top to a clothes hamper where the top cracked apart. This will save me much effort in the future.

-- Rich, Seattle, WA