Wood movement, the thing that cracks every first tabletop

Wood expands and shrinks across the grain with humidity, roughly 1/8" to 1/4" across a 36" wide hardwood top between summer and winter. If you screw the top rigidly to the apron, it cracks. Use figure-8 fasteners, slotted holes or buttons that let it move. Breadboard ends: glue only the middle 4", elongated holes for the pegs at the ends. Panels in frames float in grooves, unglued. Finish both sides of a top equally or it cups. Every heirloom that split was built by someone who did not believe this paragraph.