Heart Pine Farm Table with Breadboard

[WDH]

I am building a farm table for a logger friend of mine.  The boards were sawn from beams that came from an old grist mill that was dismantled.  The old growth longleaf pine is so beautiful to me.  Farm tables are popular, and many beginning woodworkers are building them from Big Box store dimension lumber.  Two problems.  One, the wood is not dry enough for furniture and a lot of issues with tabletops warping and twisting.  Plus, much of this lumber comes from small, fast grown plantation logs, and many of the boards contain the juvenile core of the tree.  The second problem is that breadboard ends are popular, but many people do not understand how to deal with the cross grain situation between the breadboard and the top.  The top is shrinking and swelling with seasonal movement one way (across the grain), and the breadboard end is shrinking and swelling in the opposite direction.  Plus, many people just glue or screw the breadboard on the end of the table preventing seasonal movement of the top, and the top splits or cracks.

I thought that I would show one way to deal with the cross grain situation created with a breadboard and still allow the tabletop to shrink and swell with changes with humidity across the seasons.

Here is the carcass of the table.  The aprons are made from the heart pine, but the legs were bought from a company specializing in table legs, and they are just regular white pine.  The legs will be stained a dark color to not clash with the beauty of the heart pine top.



 

Here is the tabletop before glue-up and without the breadboard. 



 

The boards for the tabletop are only 3/4" thick, and I wanted the tabletop to appear thicker, so I glued up two 3/4" thick pieces to make the breadboards.  Once attached, the breadboard is 1 1/2" thick.  Then I glue a 3/4" strip underneath the long edge of each side of the tabletop to create a rim all the around the tabletop that is 1 1/2" thick, giving it the look that I want. 

To fit the breadboard, a tongue is cut on the tabletop that will fit into a groove in the breadboard.  The breadboard is dry fitted to the top, and holes are drilled through the top of the breadboard, through the tongue on the tabletop, and through the bottom of the breadboard.  Here is a pic of the tongue on the end of the tabletop showing the tongue with one of the holes drilled through it. 



 

Here is a pic of the breadboard with the holes drilled through it.

 

 

There are five holes in the breadboard and the tongue.  3/8" diameter walnut dowels are used to pin the breadboard to the tabletop.  Glue is applied to 1" on either die of the center hole, the dowel is driven all the way through the breadboard and the tongue, forcing any shrinking or swelling of the tabletop to the outside edges.  Those two holes on either side have no glue on the tongue.  These holes are elongated side-to-side just a bit to allow the tongue to move in the groove with any shrinking or swelling from seasonal changes.  I use a round chainsaw file to elongate the other four holes. 



 

You want to pin the tongue to the groove in the other four holes too, but you have to keep any glue off the tongue so that it can move.  To glue the dowel to the bottom of the breadboard (to keep it from ever coming out), I turn the breadboard over and put some tape over the holes.  Then, I flip it back over and insert a narrow funnel through the top hole in the breadboard, through the space where the tongue will fit, and then into the hole in the bottom of the breadboard.  The tape keeps the glue from running out of the bottom hole in the breadboard. 



 



 

Then, the breadboard is attached to the tonge, lining up the holes in the tongue and the breadboard.  The dowel is driven down through the top of the breadboard, through the tongue, and through the bottom hole in the breadboard.  The glue in the bottom hole of the breadboard coats the dowel as it moves through and pushes the tape aside.  Before dowel is all the way through the bottom hole, you stop and add some glue to the top of the dowel where if goes into the top of the breadboard.  Then you hammer it home another 3/16" of an inch or so, gluing the top of the dowel to the top of the breadboard, but no glue gets on the tongue.  This pic is of the center hole where tongue was glued to the breadboard 1" on either side of the middle hole.  You can see the glue squeeze out.  Remember, this is the only place where the tongue gets glue. The protruding ends of the dowels get cut flush with a flush cutting saw.



 

The dowels hold the breadboard tight to the tabletop.  Here is a picture looking at the end of the breadboard showing the joint.  It has not been sanded smooth yet.



 

Here is the table with the breadboard attached.



 



 

Now I have to round over the edges and apply the finish. 
.   

[Texas Ranger]

I made a similar table for a lady friend out of resawn beams from a 1920's hospital, light powder post beetle damage but no active bugs. They use it as a kitchen table for a log cabin of the same age on the ranch.  Seemed mighty happy as her grandmother had worked there and the lady would go there after school till her folks got home.  Reclaim history for the family.

[JV]

Danny, I'm envious that's a beautiful piece. 

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Danny, since the lumber came from old beams did you still do any kiln drying to it?

Your way of crafting the bread board allowing for movement is mind blowing to me. First time I've seen this.
I'll have to say your picture really helped me understand why things that you do work.

Very good Danny.....I'm actually printing all this out for my folder. Great job my friend.

[Savannahdan]

Can't wait to see the final pics on this table.  How long is it?  I like the way you've installed the breadboards.

[WDH]

David, yes, I took the boards and kiln dried them to 8%.  Dan, the table is 96" long (8') and 40" wide.  It will seat 10 people.  Two on each end and four on each side.  You figure 2' per person. 

[Joey Grimes]

Very nice

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

David, yes, I took the boards and kiln dried them to 8%. 

Just curious. do you know what the MC was of the lumber out of the old beams after sawing? Thanks

[Magicman]

Hey, I saw that table when it was only a stack of lumber.  That is probably the tightest grained SYP that I have ever seen.  ;D 

Looking good Danny, but then I knew that it would.   

[WDH]

Moisture content when I got the boards from the customer was about 12% - 14%. 

[Bruno of NH]

Nice work
I like the looks of Syp
I might have to make a trip south for that and some red cedar

[reedco]

           we have  one with all of the problems you talk about. will do better next time. misses loves it  will work for now.

[WDH]

I sell a lot of wood for Farm Tables. 

[red]

$300 , $600 & $900

[WDH]

Keep going.  You are shy. 

[samandothers]

Thank you for sharing your talents so we may learn from your experience and knowledge,  great looking table!

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Keep going.  You are shy.

He's talking about the glue.  ;D

[Magicman]

You don't pick a number, you add them up.   ;D

[OffGrid973]

If those legs are hand turned I think we need $1,200, $1,500 and maybe keep going...nice job !

[red]

Priceless because Danny builds these for Friends and Family.

[Peter Drouin]

Looking good. 8)

[Jemclimber]

Very nice!!!

[scsmith42]

That looks fantastic Danny ! (as always, too!)

[123maxbars]

Great post Danny, nice table also,

[flatrock58]

Nice Table Danny.  I am about to cut some nice pine for a friend to build a couple of farm tables.

[WDH]

How thick do you plan to cut it? 

[flatrock58]

He wanted them 1 1/4".  I told him to cut them 1 3/4" and plane to 1 1/2".  We settled on 1 5/8".  Did you have problems with the rosin or did you set it in the kiln?

[WDH]

Set it in the kiln.  1 & 5/8" rough off the mill is a good thickness for farm tables. 

[WDH]

Table is finished.



 

[Magicman]

Hey Hey Hey, that's slick and to think that I saw it when it was only boards.  Someone is gonna be very happy!

[Stoneyacrefarm]

Nice table!!
What do I have to do to be adopted into the family?  :D
It would go well in the new log cabin.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Now thats very pretty.....in my book.   8)

[grouch]

Beautiful table and work!

I've never heard of or seen that funnel trick before -- always worried about glue getting where it shouldn't. Have to try that one. Thanks!

I'm guessing the offset groove in the breadboard ends doesn't cause any trouble with expansion and contraction because the ledge it pushes against is equal above and below the groove. All the extra thickness is floating in space?

[Larry]

Looks nice. 8) 8) 8)

[thecfarm]

I'm happy to see it.

[SlowJoeCrow]

That is easy on the eyes!

[caveman]

Danny, that was a beautiful table you built a few years ago.  John and I are sitting on a lot of longleaf pine.  Quite a bit is heart pine.  The pic I sent you earlier today and that will be posted here today was of some boards sold by the local lumber store that we supplied.  The proprietors agreed that it was beautiful but when we dropped off our small load of cedar, spalted sweetgum, maple, and red oak this morning we left with the rest of our/their inventory of heart pine.  They spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning their planer after surfacing it for their customer.

How do you process this wood and finish to get the best results?  I assume you dry it and set the pitch but then what?  I would like to turn some of this into something decent and hate to see it go into pallets or fence boards.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Yes, I missed it the first round to. It is a gorgeous table. Good and rugged to.

So that we get an idea of heft of the table, how many men to move it? ;)

You have some nice pine there Cavemen, never dealt with southern pine myself. But red pine is pretty heavy, we have a red pine pedestal table. Red pine is heavier than spruce.

[ellmoe]

  They spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning their planer after surfacing it for their customer.

How do you process this wood and finish to get the best results?  I assume you dry it and set the pitch but then what? 

Probably didn't get the lumber hot enough for long enough. That was my experience when I first dried heavy pitch heart pine.

[WDH]

I dried and set the pitch at 150 degrees for 24 hours.  It was not too bad on the planer, but I did not plane but about 50 bf for the table, so it was relatively easy to clean the rollers and the planer bed after I was done.  I planed 300 bf once and it was a hair pulling experience because of the pitch gumming up the planer.

Your board in the pic is about as pitch soaked as it gets.  The good thing is that it will last forever.  The bad thing is that it is difficult to process because of the solid pitch. 

[Don P]

Wow, that wood is halfway to being cast in amber :D. I've been planing a bunch of white pine lately. It's less common but there is some really pitchy fatwood near injuries. I've done lots of yellow as well over the years. If the pitch is set well it isn't bad. What I'm doing right now is miscuts off the sawmill. They get to dry a day or three and go through the planer green. The pitch is set to oh about 65° right now :D. That gums everything up.

When there is a lot of resin it takes more time at elevated temperature to evaporate all of the parts of the resin that can be volatilized up to that temperature. There is a whole range of different volatiles in pitch and you are boiling off different ones at different temps. When all the volatiles that can be driven off at a temperature have been boiled off the pitch is "set" to that temperature. It will not flow as long as the wood sees temperatures cooler than the setting temp. Remember millwork like a windowsill in the sun might get pretty warm in service. Your tea kettle that needs to be boiled dry is very full in that fat wood. A long time in the hot box wouldn't be a bad idea.

[caveman]

Mark and DonP, we ran that pine through the hot box twice for a total of over five days at temperatures above 150°. The floor of the hot box is still covered with the hardened resin that cooked out of those boards.  The other ones that we did not plane have hardened resin/amber balls all over their surfaces.

We cut a couple of really nice heart pine butt logs into 2x4's this morning to make a rack to stack dried and sterilized wood.  Thank you to all who have given us advise over the years.