Help educate an old man (me).......

Re: Help educate an old man (me).......

john jesseph

We have a commercially made dining table from David T Smith with breadboard ends. And a porringer topped table I made, both of curly maple. The breadboard ends didn’t end up with enough play, and the table top cracked. The porringer table is fine. Both are flat. The oak is fairly stable, and the apron will help constrain it, as long as you plan for movement there also. My humble opinion.

Re: Help educate an old man (me).......

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Hi Roger

Breadboard ends are not necessary if the top is attached to a traditional frame below (using clips which allow movement). Breadboard ends become more relevant when there is less support, such as a trestle base. Your breadboard construction sounds appropriate - tight in the centre and free to move along the outsides. I have only used mortice-and-tenon joinery here.

The boards making up a top do not need to be splined, biscuited or Dominoed. Glue alone is just fine. However, it does depend on how you construct the top.

I think that the reason for splines, etc is when boards are machined to near-final thickness, and then joined. One does not want to have to re-machine or plane down this surface, and it helps to keep the boards aligned. This just minimises the work. Glue alone is sufficient strength, but harder to align with the thick boards used in a table top. One can get around this using lots of cauls.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Re: Help educate an old man (me).......

onemanband

I know of no amateur woodworkers who have done a breadboard end and are considered uneducated in furniture making. Warren may be right about a lot amateur woodworkers but I'm sure he's wrong about many many hobby woodworkers too about their woodworking education. Look at the Fine Woodworking Gallery......many of the pieces are done by amateurs.

If you decide to do a breadboard end, consider doing a haunched one ----- https://www.woodcraft.com/blog_entries/breadboard-ends

For the top, glue alone is good enough unless you need something to align the boards. Best to joint and glue the boards right away within the same day (or morning or afternoon).

Re: Help educate an old man (me).......

Jack Dover

Any comments about breadboard ends would be greatly appreciated.

Make the breadboard clamp slightly longer than the width of the table top, depending on how stable your wood is. A table top might extend past the breadboard and it will look really awkward. A slightly protruding breadboard clamps looks better, might want to round corners a little bit.

Norm, breadboard ends, biscuits

john jesseph

Like a lot of people 30 years ago, I watched Norm Abram and Roy Underhill back-to-back on Saturday mornings. I made a bunch of Norm’s projects: chimney cupboard, workbench, Adirondack chair, bedside table, oak coffee table. The bedside table and the coffee table had breadboard ends that were glued full length. I lost track of both tables, which were given to my wife’s friend. They didn’t crack or fail during the time we owned them. The coffee table actually turned out pretty nice. Looked nice with golden oak watco. Terrible idea to glue full width, but I owned it around ten years and never saw a problem.

I bought a DeWalt biscuit joiner in the mid 90s. I used it on those tables and the chimney cupboard, maybe one or two things since. I’ve still got it somewhere, and it’s probably useful for certain projects, just nothing I do. Not necessary for getting a table top aligned, but it’s not unreasonable. If you work the surface too soon after glue up, and/or put the biscuits too close to the surface, they will telegraph through and show up as slight depressions on the surface, allegedly.

Re: Help educate an old man (me).......

roger lance

Thanks for the link. A haunched breadboard appears to be better than a breadboard with a continuous slot in that it should be stronger and better able to resist the top getting out of flat.....but, more difficult to make. I have a hollow chisel mortiser which will help with that.

Re: Norm, breadboard ends, biscuits

roger lance

Loved Norm.....didn't know quit what to make of Roy.

You are correct about using biscuits close to the surface and then sanding too soon.....the water in the glue raises the wood fibers which early sanding will remove and then the biscuit locations become visible.