Cutting tenons for breadboard edge

Hi all,

I'm building my first tabletop with breadboard ends and have a bit of a quandry. The tabletop is 40" wide by 60" long, and I'd like to put

3" breadboard ends on it.

From reviewing the rec.woodworking archives, most people say that the tongue should be be between 1-2 inches long. This makes intuitive sense, and would be aesthetically sound.

My dilemma is this: I can't find tongue-and-groove router bits that will cut a tenon an inch deep. Best I could find was just over 1/2". Some folks have suggested using a dado blade on the table saw to cut the tenon, but that's unworkable for me (would be very hard to get a precise cut--the top is just too unwieldy). The only remaining suggestion I've seen is a straight bit with an edge guide. That would require making two cuts, one on the top, and one on the bottom. Ideally, those cuts would be perfectly aligned with each other. Any error (out of parallel or one being deeper than the other) would be very apparent. It seems remarkably difficult to get this right. Does anyone have suggestions on how I can get this right?

Thanks, George

Reply to
George Nachman
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I would make a rectangular "box" (with no top and bottom) with inside dimensions that match your table top, i.e. 40" by 3/4". Slip it over your tabletop, clamp it down (add some ears for clamping) and use that to guide for your router. One setup will allow you to route both faces of your tenon, and it should come out perfect.

Jay Knepper

Reply to
Jay Knepper

I would use a stanley 78 plane or a 289. But if you need to do just this one tongue (or tenon) the 78 would be cheaper. The 289 is a better tool in that its blade is skewed but they are pricy. A user #78 can be had on eBay for the price of a good quality router bit.

Pat Leach's site will give you the details

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should be able to get 1"+ wide rabbet with a single fence setting. One on each side and viola, a tenon/tongue for your table top.

of course this requires that you know how to sharpen and set up a hand plane.

Hand tools rock. By the time most guys build their jigs etc, I am off to other parts of the project.

good luck

scot

Reply to
srazor

And run the face of the box across your jointer to get the guide edges perfectly parallel.

TWS

Reply to
TWS

Cut it as a dado each side, so as to define the important edge carefully, then hog the remaining waste off however you like. You can use the same router setup, but a plane is nearly as quick.

If you're cutting tenons with a router, leave the workpiece over length and then just cut them as a wide dado, multi-pass if needed. Leave the waste end piece full height, so as to support the router base and stop it tipping.

Reply to
Andy Dingley

If you use a straight bit with a fence attached to the router and riding the edge (tongue) you won't have the same reproducibility problems as with a fence attached to the work.

Reply to
Gordon Airporte

Your description of router bit, from the top, then from the bottom is exactly the way I did it last time. Worked fine. I just indexed off a straight edge for the first inch or so and then used the router edge guide for the last pass. Don't mess with the edge guide between the top and bottom sides, I think you'll be all right.

bob g.

Jay Knepper wrote:

Reply to
Robert Galloway

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