dough board, bread board whatever they are called

[Warren Lake]

Very good friend would like one of these things.

Cross grain will be the first thing to address. First off what is the proper name for these things? She gave me this photo and looked like it was in a small Mennonite place. I looked up under pastry boards, some have a strip of wood on the bottom so they dont push away, this one doesnt. I could make a removable thing as well.

To my thinking if a thing like this was made with dovetails at the back corner they should be on the side and not the back. Same as a drawer to work with the force direction.

3/4" thickness for the bottom? think so. 1/2" lighter but think best to have some meat there. Weight a thought and likely use soft maple as I have it here.

Cross grain expansion can think of a few ways but for sure it has to be allowed to move and not pull apart anywhere. O cam pin it in the middle and allow both the front and back to move, the back can have a rabbet there and if it pulls forward a bit wont matter. front a reveal so any movement doesnt show

Dont think they get washed maybe just wiped with a damp towel will ask.

IMG_6294 (002)a.jpg

[Jim Becker]

Doesn't matter what it's called.

For wood movement, I'd do things fixed at the back (portion toward the viewer in your photo) and have any floating toward the open end. This is not unlike an applied molding on say, a dresser, with the molding on the sides floating toward the back.

[Warren Lake]

my moldings are glued on solid at the front then float towards the back. Right now initial thoughts on this are middle makes more sense and split the movement front to back. I do want to know what they are called.

[Mark Stutz]

All of the boards I've ever seen that were called dough boards were flat without sides. Seems like flour would get caught in the corners.

I'm with Jim. I would attach at the back, and use stopped sliding dovetails for the sides, leaving them slightly short of the front.

[glenn bradley]

The bakers among our group also use boards that are not unlike a bench hook. there is a lip on the bottom at the front to catch the counter and no sides or back. This makes rolling a problem so I assume your client rolls elsewhere. There is always more than one way to skin the cat. Glued along the back with sliding dovetails along the sides would be my approach. That's the problem with sliding dovetails. Once you use them a time or two they start to become the answer to a lot of things -)

[Jim Becker]

my moldings are glued on solid at the front then float towards the back. Right now initial thoughts on this are middle makes more sense and split the movement front to back. I do want to know what they are called.

Wouldn't doing it in the middle make for an issue with the closed back which is presumably fastened to the bottom? That's why I was suggesting the sides float toward the open end...there's nothing constricting them at that point.

[David L Morse]

"Noodle Board" is the name I see sometimes.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I made one for our use here, not to look nice but just to be convenient, it's a piece of 3/4" particle board with cherry edge strips and a piece that sticks down at the front to keep it from sliding away while rolling or kneading, with a sink cutout piece of Formica on the top.

[Warren Lake]

jim it can probably be doneseveral ways but for the back id fasten the bottom at the sides near the back so it can expand and contract and it would sit over a rabbit. Where i want the movement will depend on how I do the front. Will have a reveal there for sure. Nothing stays flush. when I pull out some materials and get stuff in my hand ill see more common sense.

I dont see sliding dovetail at all as they have two sides. Maybe im missing it. The base of this is on the bottom there is no second side for a dovetail its not like a cabinet with a rail going from side to side and fitting into a sliding dovetail slot.

[Alex Zeller]

Still new at woodworking so this is more of a question than an answer. I assume the side to side movement isn't a problem it's just front to back. Could you glue the back (the piece in the front of the picture) to the bottom, connect the sides with a dovetail (as in the picture), and then connect the sides to the bottom with a sliding dovetail? That was my first thought but I'm not sure of the sliding joint could get food in it that couldn't easily be cleaned.

[Thomas McCurnin]

I made several for pie bakers that was quite large about 24" square. Each had a 14" circle routed into the center of it it about 1/8" deep. For pie bakers it was perfect because one could throw a lump of dough into the center of the board and roll out the pie dough to the exact thickness required for pie dough and the 14" was more than enough to fit into the bottom of a pie pan, with plenty extra to seam the edges. These gifts were loved.

Just an idea, if you're looking for ideas.

[Jim Becker]

You can use an elongated keyhole slot in the sides and pan-head screws for the portion that will be "sliding" rather than a traditional sliding dovetail. A small dovetail bit could also be used to create the keyhole slot for use with small flathead screws. All of this is hidden once completed...you don't glue anything until you have the right and left screws adjusted snug and then only apply glue at the fixed end. This kind of thing will work well if you have a design like the photo where only three sides have components wrapped. If you decide to do four, than you'll want to consider using plywood for the bottom rather than solid stock to all but eliminate wood movement issues. (grain on solid sides must run horizontal so any movement is in height rather than length/width)

[Chris Hammersley]

Noodle board is the name I have been seeing. I see alot of them on facebook and youtube marketed as "stove top covers" People leave them on the stove for extra space and just pull them of for cooking use or use them as serving trays.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Think of the bottom as a raised panel. Flush on top side, and raised on bottom side. Glued and pinned at front only.

[Warren Lake]

we were taught to do drawers tongue and groove and that applies here. I thought about that and thouhgt id prefer a rabbet as i can use some sort of floating system. Ive done that several ways. Pinning at the front, thats a good idea as its not pinned at the front with a piece running accross like the back.