Replies

1. 
   Samson | Dec 08, 2008 08:18pm | #1

   Perhaps I misunderstand you, but it doesn't matter how "slender" the breadboard ends are.  Think of the main panel as breathing - getting maybe an 1/8th inch wider in the summer and vice versa in the winter.  The length of the breadboard does not change, hence the need to allow movement.  Narrowness might help (the seasonal movement of a quartersawn board 4" wide might be small enough not to seld destruct if trapped by a breadbaord), but then it wouldn't be a tabletop.

   
   

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   Edited 12/8/2008 12:20 pm ET by Samson

2. 
   MikeHennessy | Dec 08, 2008 08:56pm | #2

   In a word, no. The table will expand/contract -- the ends will not. For specifics on how much the top will move (which depends on the moisture content at construction vs. at some later date), go here: www.woodbin.com/calcs/shrinkulator.htm 

   Faced with this reality, you still have a few choices. Is your table going to be up against a wall? If so, simply glue the front and pin the rear through an elongated hole.  All the movement will be in the back where it is less noticable. (If you don't want to see the pins, insert them from the underside and don't go all the way through the piece.) You can also make the ends a bit long and ease the corners a bit, incorporating the longer ends into the design so it doesn't look like a "problem" when the table is narrower than the ends.

   Mike Hennessy
   Pittsburgh, PA

    

3. 
   RickL | Dec 08, 2008 10:54pm | #3

   You want a smooth edge design, ditch the breadboard idea. If you want the look go with faux breadboard by making a scribe or saw kerf.  Or go with veneers and plywood.  For such a small width a breadboard is a lot more work. 

   I assume you are seeking a decorative thing only.