breadboard ends

[Joe]

What is the wreck's opinion on how wide a breadboard end can be on a kitchen table? I'm looking to add length, but don't want proportions to look bad. Overall, the table will be 6'9" by 3'6"

tia,

jc

[nailshooter41]

I usually see them about 3 - 5", depending on the size of the top. This is pretty subjective as you only NEED to make it wide enough to keep the ends of the boards on the top in line without distortion if movement occurs. In other words, the width and thickness only need to be stout enough to control board movement and the rest is cosmetic.

When in doubt, sometimes a visual aid helps. I would cut a mock end from cardboard and lay it across the table to determine the most aesthetically pleasing width.

Robert

[Joe]

I usually see them about 3 - 5", depending on the size of the top. This is pretty subjective as you only NEED to make it wide enough to keep the ends of the boards on the top in line without distortion if movement occurs. In other words, the width and thickness only need to be stout enough to control board movement and the rest is cosmetic.

When in doubt, sometimes a visual aid helps. I would cut a mock end from cardboard and lay it across the table to determine the most aesthetically pleasing width.

Robert

Robert,

Thanks. I'm definitely thinking toward the upper end of that range. I don't want to go too wide, since that edge is what the table gets lifted by to move it, but then again, this table won't be moved much, if ever. Aesthetics rule, I guess.

thanks again,

jc

[SonomaProducts.com]

No hard and fast rule I am aware of. I try to read all the design standards type articles I see and archive many of them but don't recall this ever being discussed. Yeah 3-5" seems in the typical range. I would look for some symmetry from elsewhere in the design. Maybe equal to the depth of the apron, or equal to the width of the joined boards that make up the top or some multiple or golden rectangle ratio (1: 1.618) from elsewhere in the design like the width of the legs.

It seems to me that l> What is the wreck's opinion on how wide a breadboard end can be on a kitc= hen

[BobS]

It seems to me that linking elements in this manner always helps hold the asthetic together.

Won't argue with that all but he may want to consider an alternative idea. I made a tabletop for my sister's country kitchen from some really, really old planks they had. Table was 7' x 4' but it needed something...

I edged the table with walnut all around using twice the width for the breadboards (6" wide) and it really popped the overall looks. If I remember correctly I got that idea from FWW in an article they had about French Country table design several years back.

More important than the looks are the mortise and tenon's you make for holding the breadboard to the table. Be sure to account for the fact that the table will expand and contract and the bread-board ends will not. On a 4' width (of an unknown hardwood) that I used, the amount was about 1/8" total (1/16" per side) difference. I built it while it was humid and the table shrinks a total of 1/8" in width during the winter.

Bob S.

[Joe]

Good info, thanks Bob.

6" was what I was thinking, mostly to build up the length of the table, but wasn't sure if it would look 'good'. Glad yours turned out to be such a success. Re: exp/cont, I'm pinning the center of the breadboard twice: 4" on either side of the centerline, then pinning the ends in an elongated hole to allow movement.

jc