How It's Made - “Breadboards”

Has anyone heard of “breadboard” ends? A “breadboard” is where you see the end of a table with the grain of the wood running perpendicular to the grain of the wood on the table. The following is steps on how I create “breadboard” ends to tabletops. I use a Festool Domino tool for this, so if you do not have experience, be sure to understand how the tool works. *Always wear your safety glasses too!

cutting mortise & tenons joints

The first step in creating a “breadboard” end is to cut mortise & tenon joints. Some woodworkers do this with a biscuit joiner and some do this by using dowels. I have a Festool Domino tool which cuts perfect oval-shaped tenon joints. Line up the breadboard and the end of the table, make marks and then cut mortises in both sides with the Domino tool. **If you are using the Domino tool - Make sure you have the correct depth of cut, correct position in the middle of the boards and correct tenons size for the cut you are making!

Glueing the tenons

Place glue in the holes and on the side of the tenons that are going into the table, then hammer the tenons into place. The Domino tool has 3 settings to make the tenons fit very tight, loose or very loose. These 3 settings can be very useful on different projects that may not line up as well as others. The looser the tenon, the easier it will be to line up boards that may not be exactly even. On the breadboard side, DO NOT place glue on the tenons, except for the tenon or two in the middle, depending if you have have odd or even amount of tenons.

attaching the breadboard

Align the breadboard holes with the tenons in the table side. This may take some time to get it all aligned, but if your marks and cuts are correct, you should be able to use a rubber mallet to get the breadboard connected to your table. The final step: Drill a hole in the breadboard side exactly where each of the tenons are located. Drill the hole straight through the board with a bit the size of a dowel pin. Hammer the dowel pin through the hole and saw the top of the dowel pin off to secure the breadboard to the table. Sanding will be required.