Stabilizer Bars Prevent Moisture Issues on Table Tops

If you need to prevent moisture from affecting your table top through wood warping, washboarding, cupping and gapping over time as the moisture in the wood changes, Osborne has the solution!

Steel stabilizers can be attached to the underside of a table top, counter to the direction of the wood. They prevent an assortment of issues that are caused as the moisture in the wood changes. Stabilizer bars fit into a recessed groove created by a custom router bit.

The photo above is from our Instagram friend David at D Specht Designs, who inserted several of Osborne’s V-Stabilizer bars into the bottom of this ten foot walnut table top. He used Osborne part number 42″ V Stabilizer Bar (Part #987.42). There are 6 elongated attachment openings on the stabilizer where screws attach the stabilizer to the underside of the table top. Table tops can freely “swim” the length of the opening as the moisture content of the wood changes. This freedom of movement will prevent warping, washboarding, cupping and gapping of the top.

When a table top is attached to the skirt boards of a table, the boards in the kit help to stabilize the movement of the wood and prevent warping. But if you do not use a skirt kit that is screwed to the top you would need to have an alternative method to stabilize the movement of the boards of the top. Place stabilizers or battons counter to the direction of the boards to span the table. Our Stabilizer bar is a recessed batten and gives all the support value of a traditional batton without taking up space on the underside of the top.

This table top is an excellent example of quality craftsmanship, and we thank David from D Specht Designs for sharing his work with us.