Installing the Breadboard Ends

Star Jasmine Flower

     Yesterday's work ended with the breadboard ends installed and the top ready for final shape and form.  I don't think I've shown the flower that serves as the inspiration for this piece.  It will be a real challenge to carve this on the drawer fronts and the panel on the shelf that will be at bottom of this table.  Like so many other things we do when working with wood, one slip of the chisel and all of the previous work could be wasted.  That's where what I used to tell my students comes in to play: "the difference between a good woodworker and a not so good one is that the good one has learned how to hide his or her mistakes".  There's a lot of truth in that statement.

     The process started by making the Ebony dowels used for attachment.  I have very little of the Ebony left but wanted to utilize what I could since it makes a nice functional yet decorative accent to the top.  I'm sure this wasn't OSHA approved but I needed to make some small blanks on the bandsaw.

Watch Your Fingers!

     After using a scrap for a zero clearance board I carefully sliced some pieces to just over 1/4" square. Then came the process of making the dowels.  Not as easy or straight forward process as you'd like to think it should be.  Much more than simply driving a square peg through a round hole and coming up with a round peg!  The literature tells you that for best results you should rive the wood to get straight grained pieces to start with -- not possible with my very limited supply of Ebony.  Here's the set-up and process in a nutshell.

Square to Round

     It begins with planing the blank into an octagon shape.  If you look at the picture, to the right of the block plane there's a bench hook with a groove in it that I use to hold the blank to plane it as needed.  My next step is to use a pencil sharpener to taper the end making it easier to hammer through the dowel plate.  That's the fancy looking piece of wood in the center of the table.  I managed to get just enough of the 1/4" pegs for the top, 6 short pieces.  Since I was at it, I used the smaller pieces that remained to make some 3/16" pegs as well.  Even though these are kind of small, they may work to peg the tenons for the apron. Now we get to prepare everything for assembly.
     First up was bringing the breadboard end to thickness.  I left the lay-out tape on the top and then surfaced the end.

Planing End to Size

     My thought was that as long as the tape is there to protect the top I could be a little more aggressive with the smooth plane.  As soon as the tape was cut, it was time to stop.  At this point the holes are drilled in the breadboard end only.  I wanted to draw bore these to create some mechanical pressure.  The first step was to use the 1/4", brad point used to drill the holes as a center punch to mark the holes on the top.

Transferring Holes

     The ends were clamped up tight to the top for this process.  Next, the breadboard ends were removed and I used a scratch awl to move the hole position about 1/32" inch towards the inside.

Locating Hole

 This was then drilled out, a piece of scrap wood was put under the hole to prevent tear out as the bit went through.

     The purpose of a breadboard end is to allow the table top movement inside the slot/mortise.  Wood moves across the grain due to atmospheric and humidity changes.  The only place glue is used is on the center tongue.  For this table, the center tenon is about 5" wide and the mortise it fits into is 1/4" wider on each side.  The same applies to the measurements for mortise and tenons on the outside. Essentially this will allow the table top 1/2" of movement inside of the slot.  Before assembly though, the outer holes need to be elongated so the wood can move as needed.

Marking Slots

     They are first laid out with the marking gauge, this is followed with a round file to elongate the hole.

Round to Oval (more or less)

     The dowels can either go completely through or stop before they come out of the other side which is my preference.  To assemble this a 4" wide stripe of glue was brushed on the center tongue and inside of the tenon.  I put a few drops on glue on the inside of the dowel holes of the breadboard with a toothpick before sliding in place.  Holes were lined up, Ebony pegs were inserted and then driven through.  For the center hole it's okay to have the dowel glued to the hole but since we're after some movement on the outer ones you don't want to glue them tight.  That's why I put just a spot of glue into the stopped hole.  For the outer holes I drive them about 3/4 of the way in and then apply a bit of glue to them.  Hopefully this is enough to only secure them to the upper part of the hole without gluing the tongue.  Draw boring works well to bring the end piece tight against the top.  Once the glue dries the dowels will be cut flush and the shaping will begin -- but that's for another day and blog.

Breadboard End Beginnings

     I'm working on the Star Jasmine table, a speculation piece in progress;  between visits to the eye doctor plus finishing up a commissioned box.  My eyes got pretty funky as a side effect of a medication the doctor prescribed, not taking that anymore but the eyes haven't improved.  The only good thing about that is it could be a valid excuse for mistakes!
     The 16 1/2" width is probably narrow enough to not need a breadboard but I like to use it to conceal the end grain.  Breadboards require multiple steps to make and can get kind of complicated.  The first step is to cut the full length tongue on both ends of the table top.  This one is 1 3/16" long and will be housed in a 1 1/4" slot.  It's tricky sometimes to get the top and bottom edges lined up exactly when using a router but making this sleeve like guide works well.

Router Guide for Cutting Tongue

     What makes it work so well is that after you cut the one side you simply flip the tabletop over without removing it.  As long as the pieces are lined up accurately the sleeve it's fail proof.  Next up was cutting the slot in the end itself.  Here's where I'm glad I have a hollow chisel mortiser, much quieter than a router and much easier than chopping it out by hand.

Ready for the Slot

     This will be a 3/8" slot, the chalked over lines indicate where to go full depth (1 1/4"), the remainder is for the slot tenon which is about 3/8".  To simplify this operation here's the set up I use:

Depth Stop with Block

     I set the depth stop for the full depth which is 1 1/4".  The stub tenon will only be 3/8 so I cut a spacer that's 7/8" long.  It's the piece of Sapele you see there at the left of the picture.  When I get to the part of the breadboard that only needs the stub portion of the tenon you just put the spacer below the depth stop rod and the depth is automatically set -- works like a charm!
     In a way, I feel as if I'm burning the candle at both ends and working to get to the middle.  I haven't planed the tabletop to its finished size and the thickness of the breadboard end pieces are thicker and longer than needed to!  First step was to semi finish off the table top.  For the top surface I'm using a smooth plane.

Smooth Plane for Top 

      On the bottom surface I figured a cabinet scraper would be sufficient.

Stanley #80 Does the Trick

        To see the tongue lay-out on the breadboard end I love this Frog brand green tape, really lets you see the lines to cut to, especially helpful with my current eye problem!

Tongue Lay-Out on Breadboard 

     You probably notice that the breadboard end is longer than the table is wide.  Those chalk marks on it are the approximate length but I intend to cut an ellipse on the table after the ends are attached.  Found out too that having them extend makes it easier to fit, they're like handles to pull it off with.

Coping Saw for Centers

     The outer sections were removed with a dovetail saw then pared flush as needed.  The inner section was removed with a coping saw.  Then began the trial and error phase of individually fitting each of the ends.

Final Fitting

     Using a rabbet block plane is my favorite method of bringing tenons to size.  On the lower right you can see a test block used to  work it a little bit at a time.  The top isn't completely surfaced so I'll need to do that before bringing the breadboard ends to size.  That will be followed up with the drilling and draw boring the three pegs to secure everything together.  Hope I have enough scraps of Ebony to make them.  The plan is to not only use them on the breadboard but also to have pegged mortise and tenons holding the apron together.  I know with the strength of modern adhesives it really isn't required but I think it adds a very nice, yet subtle, decorative element to the piece.
   

It's Official: Winter has Arrived in Las Vegas

Winter Over-alls & Heater!!

     Those of you in the colder parts of the country are probably thinking "what a woos!" but hey, when it goes below 40 degrees at night and the shop is just a tad above that when I start work in the morning it's time to change my ways!  See that propane heater in the corner?  Just right to take the chill off and then add my heavy weight Carhart's and I'm good to go!  Diane caught me marking off a piece of Curly Maple I just bought for a custom ordered box but I had some work I was half way into on the Star Jasmine table so had to multi-task for a while today.
     The last thing I completed on the table was to laminate the top pieces and add the piece along the edges to thicken the over-all appearance.  Since it's 16 1/2" wide it was too wide to fit into the tablesaw sled so I had to improvise.  It's always a hassle to cut wide pieces on the table saw and I might have been better off with a handsaw and router guided by a straight edge but here's what I did.  A piece of wood was screwed to the miter gauge and then I clamped the top to it.

Squaring and Cutting Top to Length

     I started the saw and then raised the blade to begin the cut.  It worked alright, I just couldn't see making a larger panel cutter for two cuts but everything turned out almost square.  I plan to make the over-all shape of the top a very slight ellipse.  I want the ends to be about an inch narrower than the center of the top.  Since the length of the top is about 52" it will be barely noticeable but still add some interest to it.  I almost began laying out the curves when I realized the tongue for the bread board ends needs to be cut square to the edges.  Much easier to do that now then when it's square then after the ellipse has been formed.

Routing the Tongue

     This turned out to be a chicken and egg situation, in other words, what came first?  The tongue will be 3/8" thick and 1 1/4" wide.  By clamping a straight edge across the top and then making a series of cuts with a router it was cut on both ends.  Here's the dilemma, the top hasn't been surfaced yet and the breadboard end isn't made either.  I decided to leave the tongue a good 1/16" thicker than needed so I can work it with a rabbet plane to achieve the best possible fit.  It really is in keeping with my philosophy of letting the machines do the bulk of the work and then using hand tools for the final fitting.  Once the top is surfaced the mortise can be cut into the breadboard piece and fitted to the  top.




     In case you're wondering, by afternoon the temperature in the shop is a comfortably in the lower 60's.  Only need the heat for a short time in the morning!