Farmhouse Table

[DarrellC]

My daughter wants a rustic farmhouse table. I have been reading and looking at plans. Wanting recommendations on attaching the breadboard ends. have seen several methods,,,,,,dowels down through tenons, mortise and tenon and tongue and groove.

[srv52761]

tongue and groove.... or rather grooves and spline was easiest.

[YSU65]

I did a draw leaf table about a year ago.  Three part description.  See if it comes up on my user ID.  Not a 'farm house' but you could adapt the design...Tom

[rwe2156]

I'm no expert but true tenons or grooves & splines will both work. I would never use biscuits or pocket screws.

The important thing with breadboards is allow for table top movement. 

Leave each end of the tenon short. The wider the top, the more gap.  1/8" per foot depending on wood, moisture content, and time of year the table is built. 

Glue only the center 2 or 3" & let the rest float and use draw bore pins -- all the way through.

Also, make the end a bit thicker and plane down flush to the top.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube check them out or check out any Fine Woodworking article.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I recently finished up a farm house style table for our family's kitchen.  Although I don't consider it rustic it does have some sanding through some of the painted surfaces and edges on the painted base.  It's very subtle though.  

I did quite a bit of reading on BB ends before starting out on my table.  I ultimately decided on Glen Huey's method.  You can most likely still find a video or article on how he does it.  Basically, Huey uses mortise and tenons in combination with a 1/4 or 3/8" T/G along nearly the whole width of the table end.  The M/T's are then pinned with a draw bored dowel.  I will add that I wouldn't offset your M/T holes for the dowels anymore than a 1/32" if using hardwood and possibly 1/16" if using a soft wood.  I used a 1/32" and they are plenty tight.  When I've tried to offset more, my dowels are more likely to self destruct when driving them.  I used a closed end BB so you don't see the tongue on the end of the BB.  You will only want to glue the middle M/T so the middle section can expand or contract to the L or R.  Bill Hylton's Illustrated Cabinetmaking book outlines nearly every possible way to make a BB end.  

My BB ends are 4.5" wide so I wanted a substantial joint that wouldn't fail when my kids decided to do "dips" from it.  If I were using a narrow width BB end I would then consider a simpler joint like strictly T/G or a sliding DT.  Your design should also be taken into consideration.  Will the base and apron support the end from below or will it be free hanging?  

I'd gather I spent the better part of the day on each of these BB ends.  When I'm heavily invested in a project, like this one, I purposely shoot for greater lengths and widths than I know I need.  I prefer to hone in my dimensions with hand tools.  If I weren't going to a smooth table top, setting the BB end a bit proud and leaving it wouldn't of been a problem.  I brought the top and bottom side BB end down the table width using a 5 1/2 plane on diagonal and then a smoother.  Of course everything still got sanded with the middle panel using a ROS.

There are other simpler ways of attaching BB ends too.  You may use a butt joint with screws and slotted end holes so the panel can move.  You could also use a lag bolt for that matter.  Going rustic would lend itself to blend better this way.  You could also consider plugging it after the screws or bolts were set as long as the bolt/screw could still slide or move with the panel.  From a design perspective, you could get some old rusty square head bolts for the hardware and leave them exposed.  You could seal them with the rest of the finish, paint them, or simply wax them.  Lots of room to play when going rustic.  


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[dg152]

I sure like what Fireslayer did.  Very nice work.  Wish I'd thought of his method when I made our table.  What I did was make one long groove (mortise) in the breadboard and one long tenon on the table end.  Then I put the breadboards on the table, clamped them in place and drilled holes (5 I think) to insert dowels to keep the assembly together.  The dowels give the table a bit more rustic, but interesting look.

It was a fun project and I learned a lot.