Advice for a Breadboard with 6 Domino tenons. How to proceed?

[JBillington175]

I hope I didn’t screw up my table…I wanted to reach out for advice before before I continue. Sorry for the long detailed explanation but I wanted to share all the details.

Please let me know how you think I should proceed and what I should do different in the future.

I started a 8/4 Cherry table and I have (6) 6”x60” boards glued up. I am adding breadboards to the table.

I put a domino in the middle of each board, glued them in place, so I have 6 domino tenons glued in place.

This is my first breadboard, and I’m wondering if I made a mistake by not having an odd number of domino tenons. I know to glue the middle tenon, but I what should I do if I already made six?

Do I glue the middle two domino tenons?

Or

Do I glue just one of the two middle domino tenons?

I know that I only add glue to the top and the bottom of the dowel for the outer tenons.

I drilled the hole in the tenons 1/16-1/32 towards the table to pull the breadboard in tight.

On my breadboard, I did the two center tenons on tight and the outer four on loose.

I also created an elongated hole on the outer tenons and a single hole for two center domino tenons.

Do I create two single holes for the middle tenons since I have six?

In the future, do dominos need to be inserted into the middle of each board?

I think this is what I missed when watching videos.

I think I covered all the breadboard details. I’m about 2 years into my woodworking hobby and I really enjoy it. So much to learn and I learn by watching videos and doing it myself…

 

[thudchkr]

I hope I didn’t screw up my table…I wanted to reach out for advice before before I continue. Sorry for the long detailed explanation but I wanted to share all the details.

Please let me know how you think I should proceed and what I should do different in the future.

I started a 8/4 Cherry table and I have (6) 6”x60” boards glued up. I am adding breadboards to the table.

I put a domino in the middle of each board, glued them in place, so I have 6 domino tenons glued in place.

This is my first breadboard, and I’m wondering if I made a mistake by not having an odd number of domino tenons. I know to glue the middle tenon, but I what should I do if I already made six?

Do I glue the middle two domino tenons?

A better solution may be to cut off the two tenons you glued into the center and cut one new one in the center of your table with a matching mortise in your breadboard end. Glue this one in. No hole for a dowel is needed.

Or

Do I glue just one of the two middle domino tenons?

I know that I only add glue to the top and the bottom of the dowel for the outer tenons.

I drilled the hole in the tenons 1/16-1/32 towards the table to pull the breadboard in tight.

On my breadboard, I did the two center tenons on tight and the outer four on loose.

I also created an elongated hole on the outer tenons and a single hole for two center domino tenons.

If you put elongated holes in your tenons you will be weakening those dominoes due to their fixed width. I would instead put the elongated hole in the breadboard end where that slot will create the least amount of weakness. This necessitates fixing your dowel to the tenon and allowing the breadboard end to expand/contract against it.

Do I create two single holes for the middle tenons since I have six?

The middle tenons should also have elongated holes if this is the way you go forward.

In the future, do dominos need to be inserted into the middle of each board?

I think this is what I missed when watching videos.

I think I covered all the breadboard details. I’m about 2 years into my woodworking hobby and I really enjoy it. So much to learn and I learn by watching videos and doing it myself…

I recently did a breadboard end on a table and used round brass stock instead of dowels. I used the domino machine with a 4mm bit to cut the slots for the brass pins to move back and forth in. I did have to deepen that cut however, due to the limited depth that a 4mm cutter is able to cut.

Hope this helps.

 

[smorgasbord]

I started an 8/4 Cherry table, and I have (6) 6”x60” boards glued up. I am adding breadboards to the table.
I put a domino in the middle of each board, glued them in place, so I have 6 domino tenons glued in place.
This is my first breadboard, and I’m wondering if I made a mistake by not having an odd number of domino tenons. I know to glue the middle tenon, but I what should I do if I already made six?
Do I glue the middle two domino tenons?
Or
Do I glue just one of the two middle domino tenons?

You're over-thinking this. But, to get a quantitative dea of what you're dealing with, use this Wood Movement Calculator:

Wood Movement Calculator

WOOD MOVEMENT CALCULATOR Wood movement is the dimensional change in lumber caused by changes in the surrounding environment’s relative humidity and temperature. If you would like a deep-dive on what wood movement is, what causes it, and how to plan for it, here's a recent blog we published that...

kmtools.com

You'll need where you're located, the wood species, and width of the top (36"). Then, divide by 2 to get the movement at each outside edge of the table against the breadboard.

Personally, I'd glue the two center dominoes to the breadboard and forget dowels. They're only 6" apart so wood movement between them will be minor unless this is an outdoor table, and maybe even OK at that.
I'd leave the wider slots on the breadboard piece to accommodate wood movement, and use the halved number from the calculator to determine if the slots are wide enough. Consider where you are in terms of the humidity range. I think you're fine with regular dowel holes on the middle dominoes and elongated holes on the outer.

In short:
• Seems like you've cut/milled everything fine.
• Glue middle two dominos
• Glue the dowel ends only for the other 4.
• Apply finish and enjoy the table.

 

[JBillington175]

Thanks for the quick reply and it makes sense!

 

[JBillington175]

Im Going to check out the wood calculator now.

 

[JBillington175]

A better solution may be to cut off the two tenons you glued into the center and cut one new one in the center of your table with a matching mortise in your breadboard end. Glue this one in. No hole for a dowel is needed.

If you put elongated holes in your tenons you will be weakening those dominoes due to their fixed width. I would instead put the elongated hole in the breadboard end where that slot will create the least amount of weakness. This necessitates fixing your dowel to the tenon and allowing the breadboard end to expand/contract against it.

The middle tenons should also have elongated holes if this is the way you go forward.

I recently did a breadboard end on a table and used round brass stock instead of dowels. I used the domino machine with a 4mm bit to cut the slots for the brass pins to move back and forth in. I did have to deepen that cut however, due to the limited depth that a 4mm cutter is able to cut.

Hope this helps.

Brass stock for dowels. I’ve seen thousands of videos and I never saw that. I’ll look into that for another project.

 

[Neil Lickfold]

Thank you very much for the wood movement calculator. I could not find Auckland NZ, and neither could I find New Zealand Rimu timber. So used Sydney Australia. It is most likely another name for Rimu . How do I find the movement values for Rimu? It is good to see the values for the wood based on grain etc . It explains a lot now as to what is really happens and why a table that I really liked , kept having issues, due to the changes in the wood expansion due to the grain orientation and the lengths involved. That alone has been a great help.