Pegging breadboard ends

[Scott Roush]

I’m doing tongue and groove breadboard ends. What is the best way to line up the holes so that the breadboard gets ‘sucked in’ to the table top. I’m assuming that you offset the holes on the tongue towards the table? I tried this on a practice piece and couldn’t get the dowel through at all.

[stevo wis]

Scott,

It doesnt take much of an offset to pull things tight. 1/32 or so works. If you drill through the breadboard and then mark the center, go towards the table as you said and drill that.

I have a couple of metal drawboring pins that can be used to lever side to side to bring the pieces together. Its kind of like an awl with sharp end and a handle, but a large phillips screwdriver or something else can be used instead.

I also taper the pins a bit on the bottom so they find the center and also i put a block on the top with hole that goes 1/4 deep to fit over the top of the dowel that I can rap on instead of the dowel. Practice again and you are off.

Good luck.

Stevo

[glenn bradley]

If I drill a quarter inch hole I use a 3/16 inch Bradpoint bit, hold it against the edge of the hole closest to the table and mark with the tip of that. This gives me a 1/32 offset closer to the table

[David Eisenhauer]

That's a good one Glenn for those who hate "guesstimating" and seem to always want to measure things. Scott, I have been using an eyeballed 1/32" offset with a pointed dowel end lubed with Liquid Hide Glue for many years without any problems. Of course, the center hole is the only one that gets the lube with the side dowel holes being slotted in the tongue. If you ever have a chance to pull an old draw pin out of the hole, you will see the crook in it where it was distorted going through the offset holes. Stevo's block follower over the dowel is another good technique because some offset dowels require some driving force to get them down and an offset hammer face on shaky running grain in commercial dowels can result in a broken/shattered dowel pin.

[Brian Tymchak]

If I drill a quarter inch hole I use a 3/16 inch Bradpoint bit, hold it against the edge of the hole closest to the table and mark with the tip of that. This gives me a 1/32 offset closer to the table

Great tip Glenn! Much appreciated.

[bill epstein]

"with the side dowel holes being slotted" - David Eisenhauer

Important point!

[Bill Dufour]

I do it the Greene and Greene way with screws. As the screws are tightened they pull it in tight to the field. Any screws except the center need to float in slots to allow the to top to move in width. If the top is thick enough you can use bigger holes and slot the bottom. Then use a washer under the screwhead. Or rout an oval slot and make a plug to match. I sometimes file the washers to oval shape for clearance.
If you like you can stay with round plugs and dovetail the slot below. Either by hand or with a mini dovetail bit or slotting bit on a router.
To me one advantage of the Greene and Greene method is that there is no chance of damage by drilling too deep or using a screw that is too long. The only critical part is centering the holes and laying out the spacing. That can all be done by compass or ruler, or even by eye.
Bill D