# Instead of M&T joints for breadboards....



## mfurey14 (Apr 21, 2015)

Not that M&T joints are bad (I love them), they're just very time consuming even with a jig. For attaching a breadboard end to a table top for a typical 4 legged table with aprons I was thinking of an alternative and wanted to get everyone's opinion. What if I just attached the breadboard with one biscuit in the center and just glued a small amount in the middle and just left the outside edges completely free? I would then just screw into the breadboard with pocket holes from inside the apron. Essentially the apron would provide the support for the breadboard and there would be nothing attaching it to the table except right in the middle so the wood can expand and contract. Do you think this would work?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

What you would have to do to make that work is to more or less put a second skirt recessed back on the ends so you could mount the table top itself with table top clips before the breadboard end. Still I don't think it would be near as good as doing the breadboard end with the mortise and tenon.


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## mfurey14 (Apr 21, 2015)

Gotcha....I'm going to give that a try. It will save me a lot of time, plus I'm getting better at making the M&T joints, however it's still not perfect. At least this way I can do it quicker, it'll look the same but better.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

I've be leery of just the one biscuit, that doesn't seem like a lot of support to me. If you don't want the work associated with a m&t, have you considered doweling it? One tight fitting dowel glued in the center and several loosed holes towards the edges should work fairly well


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## mfurey14 (Apr 21, 2015)

I have not considered doweling it. The other thing I was thinking of doing was to put 2 more biscuits on both sides for a total of 4 (not including the one in the center), gluing them on just the table side and just make the slots for them longer so the table can expand and contract. I'm not really concerned with support, the apron underneath the table will support the breadboard. If it's an extra wide breadboard I'll just put another support behind the apron. But I will look into doweling and see how that can work out.


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

My apologize, I hadn't seen where you said there's be an apron under the breadboard. Personally though, I'd still be worried about the breadboard getting yanked off if you used a biscuit. Im also kindve paranoid and tend to overbuild wherever possible, so make of that what you will


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## Barn owl (Jul 1, 2013)

I do breadboards with large dominos, but I know not everybody has one. Personally, I'd stick with the old fashioned way of M&T if you don't have a domino.


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## EdS (Mar 21, 2013)

If a M&T joint is something you don't want to tackle for whatever reason, loose tenons might be easier and still get the job done. Use a router with an edge guide for the mortise, cut the mortise a little long in the horizontal direction, but very tight on the vertical. That would give you a tight fit with the top and still allow for horizontal movement of the top. Cut the tenons on the table saw and round them over with the router or router table.


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