Replies

1. 
   roy.unit8c | Mar 21, 2022 02:59pm | #1

   This article explains when to use breadboard ends.
   https://www.finewoodworking.com/membership/pdf/370576/011281046.pdf

2. 
   john_c2 | Mar 21, 2022 04:14pm | #2

   Can I ask, why do you want breadboard ends? Is it for appearance, so you don't see the endgrain?

   If it's an aesthetic choice, go ahead and use them. If it's a structural issue to keep the top flat, I wouldn't bother if you have a table design where you can attach the top from below. If you have cleats or aprons to attach the top, there are much better ways to attach a top.

   Breadboard ends keep boards flat on something like a lift-top or slant-lid desk, or a blanket chest, or the like. Those boards are free to move, as they have no restraint.but on a tabletop there are better structural ways.

3. 
   mikaol | Mar 21, 2022 07:12pm | #3

   I've tried both. The main difference I've noticed is the amount of time & effort involved. I'm lazy and tend to go with which easier.
   Mikaol

4. 
   ysu65 | Mar 21, 2022 07:14pm | #4

   I have used breadboard ends on a oak draw leaf dining table as well as for smaller hickory coffee tables. RE the dining table, not happy with the results, I will have to trim some of the breadboard ends as they are too large right now. On the hickory coffee table, I made the breadboards a bit longer and thicker than the base table and this seems to be much better. If the base table expands or contracts it is covered by design. On a draw leaf table, it must be dead square for everything to work nice.

   Woodworking is a journey, not a destination, we learn from every project. Good luck.

5. 
   joeinca | Mar 22, 2022 02:28am | #5

   There is tradeoff between the amount of material removed from a component and the resulting strength of that component. A full width tenon on a tabletop is very strong, but a full width mortise in a breadboard end significantly reduces the strength of the end, reducing its ability to hold the table flat and increasing the likelihood of failure.

   Imagine, for example, a breadboard end 3 1/2 in wide and 1 1/2 in thick with a full-length mortise 2 1/2 in deep and 1/2 in wide. The top and bottom faces of the end would be only 1/2 in thick on either side of the mortise. Hopefully, it is easy to visualize that a breadboard end constructed in this manner would be very flimsy.

   The practice of cutting individual tenons in the tabletop (often with stub tenons in the gaps between the larger tenons), and individual mortises in the breadboard end, provides adequate material and strength in both the tabletop tenons and in the breadboard end.

6. 
   DirtRover | Mar 22, 2022 09:01am | #6

   Thanks for the replies. The project is going forward with better understanding.

7. 
   DRBWWing | Mar 22, 2022 09:36am | #7

   It's mainly to simplify fitting and reduce work.

   A full depth tenon the entire length probably weakens it.