Bread Boards with the Domino

[pvkennedy]

    I have recently purchased a Domino and have as such little experience with it.  I am making a table and I want to put bread boards on the ends.  Should the domino be used for this and if so, how do I allow for board movement?  I know this is a really basic question, and I will appreciate any help/advice.  Thanks, Chiefk

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Hey ChiefK,
Not a really basic question at all.  I made a breadboard end the old fashioned way just before I got my Domino and all I could think about during the project was how much easier it would be with a Domino.

Basically a breadboard is two pieces held together in two ways: 1)a long groove in the end piece and a 'tongue' in the tabletop and 2)three to five regular mortise and tenons.

I haven't done this, but I think the easiest way would be to go ahead and make your mortises with the Domino before you do anything else, then route or tablesaw the groove and the tongue.  The center Domino should be a tight fit and glued.  The others should be a loose fit and glued in the table top, but not the breadboard.

Traditionally, the tenons are pinned.  The pin runs from the top of the table through the tenon and exits at the bottom of the table.  Except for the center tenon, the tenons have a slot for the pin to move in to accommodate wood movement.  To cut the slot in the Domino, I would make a jig to hold it (see the domino manual for the example of a jig for cutting them to length), and then cut the slot in the drill press.

Interesting topic, let us know how you go about it!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Jesse,

What is the advantage of using Domino joinery for a breadboard end if you are also doing the machining steps used in making a traditional breadboard end?  Once you have formed the tongue (on the main table piece) and the groove (on the breadboard end), all that is left to do is to drill three holes for the dowel pins in the main table top and the breadboard, and elongate the holes near the two edges of the main table top to form slots to accomodate expansion and contraction due to moisture changes, then apply a little glue to only the center portion of the tongue and assemble.  I intentionally offset the holes in the endpiece with the groove so that upon assembly and driving in the dowels, they pull the end piece up tight against the main table top having the tongue.  (Similar to the technique used when pinning the beams together in old barn construction.)  The only advantage I can see from additional use of the Domino would be to further reinforce the tongue by use of dominos that are longer than the integrally formed tongue, or saving a little precious wood of your main table top because you don't have to consume as much of its length to form the tongue.  Am I misunderstanding something about your proposed use of dominos in making a breadboard end joint?

Dave R.

 

[Dave Rudy]

What is the advantage of using Domino joinery for a breadboard end if you are also doing the machining steps used in making a traditional breadboard end? 

Why not skip the tongue and groove and just use three ( or five) dominos?  Norm uses a biscuit variation of this in his lap desk project.

it would go like this:

Cut the top and breadboard end to size.  Cut 3 domino mortises in each piece.  All three cut at the narrowest setting in the top; the outside two  cut at the widest setting in the breadboard.  Glue each domino in place in the top.  Fit the breadboard end, gluing the center domino only.  Pin the two outside dominoes through the breadboard with a dowel, Miller dowel or similar.

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Perfect (assuming you made a slot in the "tongues" defined by the outer dominos)!

Dave R.

 

[Dave Rudy]

Perfect (assuming you made a slot in the "tongues" defined by the outer dominos)!

Dave R.

You mean a slot to accept the pin?  Not sure what you have in mind.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Jesse,

What is the advantage of using Domino joinery for a breadboard end if you are also doing the machining steps used in making a traditional breadboard end?  Once you have formed the tongue (on the main table piece) and the groove (on the breadboard end), all that is left to do is to drill three holes for the dowel pins in the main table top and the breadboard, and elongate the holes near the two edges of the main table top to form slots to accomodate expansion and contraction due to moisture changes, then apply a little glue to only the center portion of the tongue and assemble.  I intentionally offset the holes in the endpiece with the groove so that upon assembly and driving in the dowels, they pull the end piece up tight against the main table top having the tongue.  (Similar to the technique used when pinning the beams together in old barn construction.)  The only advantage I can see from additional use of the Domino would be to further reinforce the tongue by use of dominos that are longer than the integrally formed tongue, or saving a little precious wood of your main table top because you don't have to consume as much of its length to form the tongue.  Am I misunderstanding something about your proposed use of dominos in making a breadboard end joint?

Dave R.

Interestig discussion, isn't it.  The way I was taught to make breadboards, they have both the tongue and groove and traditional integral (not floating) tenons that will extend an inch and a half or so into the breadboard.  I viewed the Domino as a substitute for the integral tenons. 

If I were making a smaller piece, say a cutting board or a night stand, I might skip the tenons.  However, on our dining table, my 86 year old mother uses the breadboard to push down on to help get up out of her chair - it needs all the strength it can get!

 

[Dave Ronyak]

Amen!  Make those tenons thick, too.

Dave R.