Working With Thick Lumber

[Mike Hollis]

My wife has decided that I am to build a new dining room table similar to this one below. How do I go about attaching the breadboard end to allow for seasonal expansion and contraction?

A local reclaimed lumber yard has some 140 yr old 3x12 Doug Fir that I plan on using for the top, and some 3x5 that will be the legs, etc.

I was thinking about cutting a tenon across the end of the top, and then making the mortise in the breadboard end a couple of 1/16ths wider to allow for movement? Would this be sufficient, or do I need to do something different given the size of the material?

Thanks.

[Jim Morgan]

Here's how I would do it. First decide whether you want to keep one end of the breadboard aligned or if you want to split the seasonal movement between the two ends of the breadboard. Make a series of mortises and tenons - three is a fine number. If you want to keep one end aligned, the nearest mortise and tenon should be a tight fit; if you want to split the movement, the middle mortise and tenon should be tight. The other mortises should be cut oversize to allow the tenons to move laterally (how much? consult Hoadley's Understanding Wood). From the underside, drill elongated holes though the bottom wall of the 'loose' mortises. Glue the tight M&T only. Either peg or screw through the elongated holes into the unglued tenons. Alternatively, you could do this with a single M&T with a glued-in peg in one location and floating pegs in elongated holes in the others. A couple of 1/16ths probably will not be enough to allow for the movement.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I suggest a sliding dovetail with a peg through the middle from underneath to keep the end cap centered...Rod

[Mike Hollis]

Thanks for the quick response guys. As I don’t have the tools to cut dovetails, I think I will follow James’ suggestion above.

Thanks again.

[Bill Dufour]

As above but another design method is to put the screws in from the end into the endgrain. That way they do not show on the top but just on the end edge. With boards that thick doing it vertical will give you plenty of wood to screw into so the horizontal is not needed just an option to consider. The plugs can be matching or contrasting wood for effect.
Bill

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/p...eene-furniture

[Brian Holcombe]

I have a love/hate relationship with breadboard ends. On a table this hefty I would be tempted to remove the bread board ends and simply build battens underneath.

[Mike Hollis]

I have a love/hate relationship with breadboard ends. On a table this hefty I would be tempted to remove the bread board ends and simply build battens underneath.

Brian,

I assume that the battens would be attached to the underside using some slotted screws or pegs?

[David Eisenhauer]

If you do decide to go with breadboard ends, Will Myers has a video showing a hands-on breadboard build for a table. You should be able to find his video with a Google search.

[David Zaret]

that's a good looking table. i've actually built breadboard ends with a domino (in this case the XL). basically, sink the dominos in the field, tight, glued in.. and use them as the tenons into the breadboard, expanding the pockets in the breadboard. peg as you would normally with an expanded hole. works really well.

good luck with your table!

--dz

[Mike Hollis]

that's a good looking table. i've actually built breadboard ends with a domino (in this case the XL). basically, sink the dominos in the field, tight, glued in.. and use them as the tenons into the breadboard, expanding the pockets in the breadboard. peg as you would normally with an expanded hole. works really well.

good luck with your table!

--dz

That is a great idea David. I do have the Domino XL and planned on using it to join the 4 field boards together. The lumber supplier doesn’t have any 3” thick reclaimed DF wide enough to cut the curved supports out of so I will probably just eliminate those, sadly.

[David Kumm]

I'd finish a piece of thick end grain and show it to your wife. DF end grain looks good and it would show everyone that the top is a solid piece rather than glued up or veneer on a substrate. If she doesn't like you can easily make her happy. Dave

[Mike Hollis]

I'd finish a piece of thick end grain and show it to your wife. DF end grain looks good and it would show everyone that the top is a solid piece rather than glued up or veneer on a substrate. If she doesn't like you can easily make her happy. Dave

Good call Dave. The lumber is in 9’ lengths and the table will be 8’, so I will have some cutoffs to play around with various finishes to find one that she likes.

[Mark Bolton]

I know this is a snarky response but how in the heck does one not have the tools to make a dovetail, yet has a domino xl? Scratching my head at what seems to be the cart before the horse but I guess I can somewhat see it?

Dylan times they are a changin just popped into my head.

[Brian Holcombe]

Brian,

I assume that the battens would be attached to the underside using some slotted screws or pegs?

Bolts or sliding dovetails.

[Mike Hollis]

I know this is a snarky response but how in the heck does one not have the tools to make a dovetail, yet has a domino xl? Scratching my head at what seems to be the cart before the horse but I guess I can somewhat see it?

Dylan times they are a changin just popped into my head.

Mark,

I got out of woodworking awhile ago and sold everything. When I got back into it I bought strictly Festool.