"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message
...
No hard and fast rule I am aware of. I try to read all the design
standards type articles I see and archive many of them but don't
recall this ever being discussed. Yeah 3-5" seems in the typical
range. I would look for some symmetry from elsewhere in the design.
Maybe equal to the depth of the apron, or equal to the width of the
joined boards that make up the top or some multiple or golden
rectangle ratio (1: 1.618) from elsewhere in the design like the width
of the legs.

It seems to me that linking elements in this manner always helps hold
the asthetic together.

Won't argue with that all but he may want to consider an alternative
idea. I made a tabletop for my sister's country kitchen from some
really, really old planks they had. Table was 7' x 4' but it needed
something...

I edged the table with walnut all around using twice the width for the
breadboards (6" wide) and it really popped the overall looks. If I
remember correctly I got that idea from FWW in an article they had
about French Country table design several years back.

More important than the looks are the mortise and tenon's you make for
holding the breadboard to the table. Be sure to account for the fact
that the table will expand and contract and the bread-board ends will
not. On a 4' width (of an unknown hardwood) that I used, the amount
was about 1/8" total (1/16" per side) difference. I built it while it
was humid and the table shrinks a total of 1/8" in width during the
winter.

Bob S.