Breadboard ends

[Gofor]

Working on a table top. Went through the following steps:
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/1300/medium/Toptenon3.jpg

Did I do it right?

Go

 

[DaveO]

Yes :icon_thum:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Dave

 

[Jon]

Looks like you did a good job Mark

 

[skysharks]

"did I do it right" Heck! Yeah! man that is a Great Job.:eusa_clap:eusa_clap
Nice to take pics and document it.:icon_thum
That really helps out allot.
Sometimes I have intentions of doing that, but then I get wrapped up in what I am doing, that I blow right past it:embaresse

 

[skeeter]

Very nice job.

 

[lwhughes149]

I made the tongue go the full length on my trestle table and my secretary, I like that idea better. Thanks for sharing, looks great, don't you love walnut?

 

[Travis Porter]

Did you put a router bit in your drill press to cut the mortises in the breadboard ends?

 

[Gofor]

Did you put a router bit in your drill press to cut the mortises in the breadboard ends?

Would have if I had a spiral cut one. All I have now are straight cutters for the router, and Lowe's didn't have a up-cut spiral 3/8". I went out and bought a 3/8" forstner bit, but really don't like them for deep holes as you are forever raising and lowering the bit to clear the chips to keep them from burning. I then remembered I had some milling cutters (for metal) that a guy had given me years ago when his father passed away. Dug through the box and found a 3/8 twin flute end mill, so decided to try it, as I thought the spiral flutes would clear the chips better. It worked good on a test, and better when I increased the DP RPM to almost 3000. I plunge cut the deep holes first and then ran the board lengthwise to clean up the sides.

Here are pics of the bit I used, so you can compare it to an up-cut spiral router bit. Realize on these cutters, the shank is the same as the cutter diameter.



Go

Had to make me take some more pictures, dint ya!:wsmile:

 

[Dave Ray]

Mark. really does look great. Thanks for the pic's

 

[ScottM]

Great job Mark. Thanks for the step by step. Some day I might be able to build a piece of furniture.

 

[Travis Porter]

Go

Had to make me take some more pictures, dint ya!:wsmile:

But of course!! Wouldn't be right if I didn't.:wink_smil

I haven't ever tried what you did, but I have read about it. No more pictures, but more questions. Did you use the end mill as a drill bit, or did you use it like an overarm router and plunge the bit in and then push your board through?

 

[Gofor]

But of course!! Wouldn't be right if I didn't.:wink_smil

I haven't ever tried what you did, but I have read about it. No more pictures, but more questions. Did you use the end mill as a drill bit, or did you use it like an overarm router and plunge the bit in and then push your board through?

Actually, a little of both.

I cut the deep mortises first so that I wouldn't lose my layout lines. They were deeper than the cutter portion length of the bit, so I plunged them first, centering the bit over solid wood, then dropped the cutter in about 1/2" at a time and slid it side-to side to clean up the edges and nibs between holes.

I first tried the side to side on the shallow mortises:


As you can see, I got a lot of tear-out due to the upward spiral pulling up the wood on the edges. (sorry for the lousy focus, but I had installed the end before I reviewed the pics!!) The fact that I could only get about 3000 rpm on the drill press may have been a factor, also. I went back to the plunge-first method, and it came out much cleaner.

I am not sure my drill press would have stayed accurate with a lot of side pressure on the quill, also, so that was also a consideration.

It gave me clean enough mortises that I did not have to dress them up with a chisel, but not quite as clean as I think a router would have given me. The pros were that the upward spiral cleaned the chips out of the plunge cuts much better than forstner bits, I was able to keep my layout lines in clear view during the whole process, and it was an easy and quick set-up. The only con was that the sides of the deep mortises may not have been quite as smooth as a router.

Scott, This was my first attempt at bread board ends. I got my info for doing them from Andy Rae's "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Furniture & Cabinet Construction". IMHO it is a good "How to" reference for designing and building most furniture.

Lorraine: I thought about full tenons, but with this air-dried lumber, i have already had some fun with the wood changing shape after milling. I wanted a strong joint, but was really worried that a long deep mortise would end up with the wood really warping after removing that much from the center. With the humidity bouncing between 60% and 100%, I decided to go as safe as possible. Besides, I also wanted to see if I could do it.:mrgreen:

Thank everyone for their comments.

Go

 

[JimD]

Looks like a good way to do this and the end product looks good.

I have used my table saw with a dado set to cut the groove. I have to do some work on the ends and drop the wood down on the dado set to start the cut but it makes a nice straight cut for most of the length. I think I just left the tongue the full length but you could also shorten it and just have it not completely fill the slot. It seems like I made the male side of the joint with a router (it's been awhile since I did one).

Jim