A very kind and skilled gent tried elsewhere to explain this below Greene & Greene splined breadboard to me, and I just can’t get it through my thick skull for some reason. I know and understand that the breadboard end itself has slotted holes, screwed into the ends of the long boards so as not to restrain their movement.
And, I know that the breadboard is intentionally longer than the total for the long boards’ width, so that their movement causes only a greater-or-lesser extension of the breadboard, rather than have it appear too ‘long’ (longer than the combined width of shrunken long boards) in winter and too ‘short’ in summer. Finally, I understand that this ebony spline is intended to provide a transition, so that there is always a graceful transition from the edges of longboards to the ends of this breadboard. But, it was explained to me that the spline is itself glued to the long boards. If glued to the ends, it seems it would cause the same problems a glued breadboard itself would …
Here’s the explanation previously offered to me, which I can’t yet grasp somehow – “The spline is a single piece, and is flared to follow the profile of the proud breadboard end. It is glued into a mortise in the long board, and the flared end of the spline floats loose in a deeper mortise or recess in the breadboard end. The theory of the spline is that it can be sized so that, as the long boards move, it is never pulled all the way out of the breadboard, and it also never ‘sinks into’ the breadboard. So the joint always looks the same to your dinner guests.”
Both the breadboard and the long-board ends are mortised/grooved/dadoed to receive the spline I assume – these grooves are how ‘deep’? Presumably the grooves in the ends of the long boards are not as deep as the spline looks like in this photo (several inches). Where and to what is this spline glued, what overall shape is it before it’s installed? (I assume it is a one-piece spline?)
Anyone willing to give a go at explaining this joint to me will certainly earn my thanks …
Clay
Edited 5/9/2004 11:17 am ET by miami
Replies
If using a solid wood spline....it is best if the grain of the wood is perpendicular to the long part of the joint....so for a breadboard end, that would mean you'd have to crosscut a very short piece of a wide piece of stock to make your spline. If you have the grain of a spline running parallel to the length of the spline....that spells a very weak joint. I personally don't like to use hardboard. Plywood would work but still is going to present movement problems as you realize.
The problem you state is one of the reasons splines are not a good way to join breadboard ends. better to do a tongue and groove...stopped if you want the joinery hidden or multiple mortise/tenon.
tsproul,
Thanks for helping me try to sort this out. I see that crosscutting a wide, short spline would indeed allow you to glue the spline to the end of the longboards, if the spline were made of the same wood as the longboards (or one with a similar expansion ratio). But, these splines are ebony, which I think would move much less than these longboards.
I edited the original post to add in the explanation of this joint previously given to me, maybe that'll be more helpful to someone else than it has (so far) been to me!
I understand that splined breadboard might not be the solution of choice, but I do like this look, and most importantly, now it's bothering me that I can't build a mental picture of how this is assembled ...
Clay
Clay, I can't seem to view the picture, but (at the risk of sounding like a fool) will offer a possible explanation anyway:
Seems likely that the "spline" doesn't go all the way through the ends of the long boards, i.e. it's really a "false spline" that helps to disguise the effects of wood movement. Maybe it only goes into a shallow mortise on the outer edge of the longboard-breadboard join. It would be glued into the outside edge of the outside board, but would not be attached to the breadboard at all.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
Thanks Albion,
You may be right ... But, William Duffield on the WC board did also say that the spline is only one piece. I'm still stumped.
Sorry, don't know what happened to the photo link, but in case I can't fix it, here's the spline I'm talking about. (Now, for me somehow the photo is back in the first message - let me know if you see it?)
Only another 40 days or so till I head your way for the summer - can't wait!
Clay
Edited 5/10/2004 10:22 pm ET by miami
Okay, I can see it now, thanks! And it reminded me that I have seen it before, so I looked it up... good thing I didn't claim to have come up with that idea on my own; it is straight from page 198 of Rodel & Binzen, 'Arts & Crafts Furniture.' The "spline" on the outside edge is actually a fixed decorative detail. I suspect the projecting "spline" in the center of the breadboard is, too. Can you get a close look to see if the grain in those two pieces runs the same direction? I bet it doesn't.
Funny, isn't it, that the guys who said things like "The idea was to eliminate everything unnecessary, to make the whole as direct and simple as possible..." would resort to such trickery! "... but always with the beautiful in mind as the first goal" trumped the simple ideal sometimes.
Tim in windy Albion, CA"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
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