Bed gap question

[tony]

You'll need gaps on sides of the wood. Wood shrinks and expands mostly along the thickness of it, but not really along length.

[FLFrank35]

You'll need gaps on sides of the wood. Wood shrinks and expands mostly along the thickness of it, but not really along length.

Ok, thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.

[FLFrank35]

Thanks again Tony. I understand that wood expands/contracts, but I didn't know how much. So when installing the metal strips I didn't know how much expansion to allow for. I found these instructions at Mar-K...https://www.mar-k.com/instructions.aspx that explain a 1/16" gap should be used on each side of the strip. When I do that, the gaps on the sides are small, about 1/16-1/8".

They also sell a polished/stainless bed sill for the end I'm planning to install. Should look nice.

Cheers