# attaching a desk top



## z00vegroover (May 4, 2015)

Hey all










I'm making a sort of mini-desk/ bench seat that is essentially two side panels, a support beam, and the top. For the support beam, I'm routing some sliding dovetails for the join, but am unsure about attaching the top. Is it ok to just glue it down across the top of the legs and support beam, as seen in the top view in the first attached image? Or do I need to use dowels or some other form of joinery, like figure 8 clips or something? Would cross grain expansion cause a problem?

The image shows the top view of how it'll look before the top is joined, and then there's a quick sketch of how it's going to look finished.

Thanks, guys!


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

If the grain is going the length (long dimension) of the top and the legs, just gluing it will be fine…in the way I see it there is no cross grain. But glue may not be enough for the strain on the piece, so you may want to screw it down. You could also screw the top to the support beam (stretcher). But do not glue the sliding DT (as you realize), that would be cross grain. Now if the stretcher is only a few inches wide (say, 4" or less) then the wood expansion would be minimal and gluing it wouldn't be a problem.


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