I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on the
ends of the top - and now that I accidently cut the non breadboard top a tad
short, I'm not really left with a choice (I know, measure twice, cut once)
I'm worried about wood movement over time but don't really want to do a
tounge and groove operation if I can avoid it because they don't ever seem
to line up perfectly (at least for me). Any suggestions or do I have to
bite the bullet and do it like Normie does it?

Don

there are a range of methods to achieve breadboard ends that are fully
functional and none that will avoid shrinkage

if both sides are going to be visible it sounds like a dowelling job to me

One way to reduce the visual impact of shrinkage is to first of all make the
piece so that the ends are "just a wee bit" shorter than the table's width
.... I am talking 2 millimetres at each end at the most - then chamfering the
corner where it meets the table .... but just a little and the table corner
as well .... say a 3 mm chamfer on both ... it just "knocks the hard corner"
off each and when the movement happens - and it probably will - you have a
bit of leeway. Finally, I wrote out the exact brand, mixture etc of stains I
used on the top and glued it to the underside for future reference so that
when I need to, I am not hunting for the correct stuff to get an exact
match.

Cheers

Steve - Melbourne Australia



"D. J. Dorn" wrote in message
...
I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on the
ends of the top - and now that I accidently cut the non breadboard top a
tad
short, I'm not really left with a choice (I know, measure twice, cut once)
I'm worried about wood movement over time but don't really want to do a
tounge and groove operation if I can avoid it because they don't ever seem
to line up perfectly (at least for me). Any suggestions or do I have to
bite the bullet and do it like Normie does it?

Don

Of course, with a chest, the answer is to pin in the front, where you can
see or bump into it, and float behind, where you can't.

"mindesign" wrote in message
...
there are a range of methods to achieve breadboard ends that are fully
functional and none that will avoid shrinkage

if both sides are going to be visible it sounds like a dowelling job to me

One way to reduce the visual impact of shrinkage is to first of all make
the
piece so that the ends are "just a wee bit" shorter than the table's width
... I am talking 2 millimetres at each end at the most - then chamfering
the
corner where it meets the table .... but just a little and the table
corner
as well .... say a 3 mm chamfer on both ... it just "knocks the hard
corner"
off each and when the movement happens - and it probably will - you have a
bit of leeway. Finally, I wrote out the exact brand, mixture etc of stains
I
used on the top and glued it to the underside for future reference so that
when I need to, I am not hunting for the correct stuff to get an exact
match.

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 15:20:17 -0500, "D. J. Dorn"
wrote:

I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on the
ends of the top - and now that I accidently cut the non breadboard top a tad
short, I'm not really left with a choice (I know, measure twice, cut once)
I'm worried about wood movement over time but don't really want to do a
tounge and groove operation if I can avoid it because they don't ever seem
to line up perfectly (at least for me). Any suggestions or do I have to
bite the bullet and do it like Normie does it?

Don



If you don't want to do a tongue-and-groove or a spline, then forget
doing the breadboard edge. If you don't allow movement, the top may
split. Be aware of cross-grain, else the wood will fail.

On 2004-10-16, D. J. Dorn wrote:

I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on the
ends of the top

The method my first woodworking instructor taught us was to use
biscuits: Cut a series of mating biscuit slots in the top and the
breadboard end. Glue the biscuits into the top, but on the breadboard
only put glue in one biscuit slot. No glue on the edges, of course.
Then the breadboard is fixed at one point, and the rest of it is free
to expand or contract. The biscuits should keep the two pieces
aligned vertically. Biscuit slots are designed to alow a bit of
lateral movement, so you shouldn't even have to elongated the slots.

However, it's been a couple years and I ended up not doing breadboard
ends, so I may have forgotten something. Perhaps someone else can let
us know if they have done it this way or whether it will work.

Cheers, Wayne

Weakness there is that the end may pull away from the top. Thus the
advantage of dovetail or tongue pinned through elongated holes.

"Wayne Whitney" wrote in message
...
On 2004-10-16, D. J. Dorn wrote:

I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on
the
ends of the top

The method my first woodworking instructor taught us was to use
biscuits: Cut a series of mating biscuit slots in the top and the
breadboard end. Glue the biscuits into the top, but on the breadboard
only put glue in one biscuit slot. No glue on the edges, of course.
Then the breadboard is fixed at one point, and the rest of it is free
to expand or contract. The biscuits should keep the two pieces
aligned vertically. Biscuit slots are designed to alow a bit of
lateral movement, so you shouldn't even have to elongated the slots.

However, it's been a couple years and I ended up not doing breadboard
ends, so I may have forgotten something. Perhaps someone else can let
us know if they have done it this way or whether it will work.

Cheers, Wayne

Hi Don,

I think the easiest way is tongue & groove. I like Norm's method of
centering the groove by running the edge through the dado twice to
"guarantee that it is centered" but not to groove all the way to the
end - that is, lower the wood onto the dado & then pick it up before it
passes through the other end.

On the tongue side, clip the ends to fit the groove. Use elongated
dowel holes in the tongue.

Of course, you probably know all this being a Normite already.

Lou

In article , D. J. Dorn
wrote:

I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on the
ends of the top - and now that I accidently cut the non breadboard top a tad
short, I'm not really left with a choice (I know, measure twice, cut once)
I'm worried about wood movement over time but don't really want to do a
tounge and groove operation if I can avoid it because they don't ever seem
to line up perfectly (at least for me). Any suggestions or do I have to
bite the bullet and do it like Normie does it?

Don

Thanks for all the feedback. I essentially heard from about everyone what I
already knew should be done - it had to be done so I did the tounge and
groove method with the dowels and it worked fine. While it was a little
more work than I wanted, I'm glad I didn't take a shortcut. Thanks again to
all who replied.

Don

"loutent" wrote in message
...
Hi Don,

I think the easiest way is tongue & groove. I like Norm's method of
centering the groove by running the edge through the dado twice to
"guarantee that it is centered" but not to groove all the way to the
end - that is, lower the wood onto the dado & then pick it up before it
passes through the other end.

On the tongue side, clip the ends to fit the groove. Use elongated
dowel holes in the tongue.

Of course, you probably know all this being a Normite already.

Lou

In article , D. J. Dorn
wrote:

I'm building a Shaker Chest of Drawers and want to put breadboards on
the
ends of the top - and now that I accidently cut the non breadboard top a
tad
short, I'm not really left with a choice (I know, measure twice, cut
once)
I'm worried about wood movement over time but don't really want to do a
tounge and groove operation if I can avoid it because they don't ever
seem
to line up perfectly (at least for me). Any suggestions or do I have to
bite the bullet and do it like Normie does it?

Don