Question
I am about to build a dining room table with 8" wide pine and breadboard ends. I am confident in building it on its own but my client wants a leaf and I am concerned with cutting the top in half. How should I treat the edges at the center of the table? I would prefer not to disrupt the boards with more edging. Maybe I'm overthinking it and just leaving it alone is fine. Any suggestions?
Forum Responses
(Furniture Making Forum)
From contributor D:
If you follow historical precedent, you will see there are no designs that have both breadboard ends and a leaf. The leaf typically runs the short dimension of a rectangular table, as do all the boards that make up the top, eliminating the need for a breadboard end.
Always follow historical precedent as a starting point - your proportions will be better, and your work will look familiar to your customers. Ignore good design precedent at your own peril. One doesn't have to go far to see awful looking work, well executed.
Explain to your customer that, as a professional, your opinion would guide things this way or that. The customer doesn't rule - most have no idea what they are talking about or any knowledge of wood as a material.
