Breadboard, leaving room for movement

[Ole Anderson]

I keep hearing that when you do a breadboard end, you must leave room for movement, which I understand. What I don't understand is all of the commercially made tables with breadboard ends that don't look like the wood ever moves. What is up with that?

[Pat Barry]

I keep hearing that when you do a breadboard end, you must leave room for movement, which I understand. What I don't understand is all of the commercially made tables with breadboard ends that don't look like the wood ever moves. What is up with that?
I suspect they are plywood core, veneer and the dimensional changes are negligible.

[Brian Henderson]

Exactly, thin veneers really don't move appreciably and it's cheaper to make veneer over plywood or MDF than having solid wood. Just hope you never have to sand anything down or you'll go straight through the veneer.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Exactly, thin veneers really don't move appreciably and it's cheaper to make veneer over plywood or MDF than having solid wood.

Bingo. It is not solid wood.

So, in reality, the breadboard ends on those pieces are for show only. On solid wood table tops, the function is to help keep the top's boards aligned flat. Which is a non-issue with the veneered ply/mdf substrate.

[Mike Cutler]

Ole

I don't know how they do it either, other than it has to be some type of faux breadboard.

In this link is a breadboard ended cutting board. I've made three in this style. The wood is 1" thick quarter sawn Bubinga.
Right now the main field is about 1/16' recessed into the bread board ends. ( house is heated with a wood stove.) In the summer it was probably the opposite. These boards are only 16"- 18" wide.
The best way I've seen to hide the seasonal changes is detailed in a book by Darrell Peart. The style is Green and Green, but the concept could be adapted across genre's.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?61157-A-Simple-Cutting-Board&highlight=