Clever.  I wanna see the machine that takes those round washers and stretches out to be oblong.  ;-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

"After a couple of months with the #7, you'll be able to do them yourself with your bare hands."  ROFL!!!!  Super(forest)girl!!!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)

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You don't say how small the top is.  Just wobbling the drill back and forth after poking it thru the batten will do the trick for a smallish top- say up to 18-20" dia.  And a drill that is a bit (heh, heh) oversized for the screw will allow for some movement.  Remember that the movement is divided in two; that is, if the center of the top is held immovable,  rather than one edge.

One technique that I have used is to thru drill a piece of 1/4 inch scrap with the desired size Forstner bit.  Then align and clamp the 'template' over the new hole location and drill, again with the Forstner bit.  If out of sight location you can tack the template in place.

1. somebody who has moved abroad: a citizen who has left his or her own country to live in another, usually for a prolonged period 2. somebody without citizenship: a citizen who has renounced his or her citizenship or whose citizenship has been revoked

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However, the practical reach of skinny cutter is ~2" max. As such, I'd still slot the inside of the rail but glue in a block which has a slot in it made with the contraption above.

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neat idea forrestb. I will try that. It seems relatively simple and straight forward. I'm surprised at the number of good people who've come through with suggestions. This is truly a caring group. Shalom

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I checked with LV on this question. They have a supply of illegal immigrannts coming into Hamilton Canada from Detroit. They work in teams of two stretching the round washers into shape. Shalom.

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Just wobbling the drill back and forth after poking it thru the batten will do the trick.. OR a BIG shop if you are careful!

on a small table (~20" square), i used pocket screws to attach.  i followed up the pocket holes in the stretcher w/ a larger drill bit.

Samson, you can never overstate the obvious. Also, the folks at Lee Valley think of everything. Thanks for the suggeations. I will get some of those washers and will try my routing skills on the table. Shalom

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I usually am using a 3/16" bit for screws, haven't broken one doing this.  It will depend on how thick your batten is, as to how agressive you can get in rolixing it around.  Can also withdraw the bit nearly all the way and redrill at an angle, one way then another, to give yourself more leeway in thicker material.

Bore the holes with a forstner bit in a drill press. These bits can drill over lapping holes.Pare the points with a chisel. There's lots more ways,depending on your array of tools. If you have a scroll saw you can drill the holes,undo the top of the blade,place piece over the blade. You can use a sabresaw  to knock the points off but you need to clamp the piece as the saw base is bigger than the piece your working on.Paring with a chisel is probably easiest and fastest way.

I’m planning on making a small round table and am considering how to attach the table to a frame that will be in the shape of a cross underneath it. I don’t want to use those metal connectors that screw under the top and slide into slots on the frame because they will be visible. It would be more practical to just screw the  frame to the underside of the table. My problem is that I don’t know how to elongate the holes I drill to accomodate the screws so as to take wood movement into consideration. Drilling two holes side by side doesn’t work for me because the drill bit slides into the original hole. I know that this is something every experienced woodworker does as a matter of course. Advice from you will help me improve my skills and peerhaps become an experienced woodworker in time. Thanks in advance for responding. Shalom

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It bores the 1/4" hole. Then, by see sawing the shaft of the bit and traversing left to rightit elongates the hole to produce a slot

Thanks joinerswork. I'll try that. I never did that because I was afraid of breaking the bit. Oh, my table will be 25" in diameter. Is that to big to be considered a small table?

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I wanna see the machine that takes those round washers and stretches out to be oblong. ;-)They have a $200,000 machine that knocks them out.. Why they cost a 'bit'..But I like the one about illegals streatchin' em better!

If you do not have a router, do you have a drill press?  Drilling aseries of nearly overlapping holes on the drill press is somewhat easier than using a hand drill.  In either case, you will need to clean up the waste with a round rasp, file, or careful chisel or gouge work.