Breadboard end: Can I use it for cheating?

[Susumu Mori]

I have a very nice wide board (don't know the species) and I want to use it for a table top.
I tried to maximize the yield but there are sections which are warped and if I want to completely plane out these portions, the board would get too thin. I can rip them into narrower widths but it is inevitable to have some portion thinner than half inch, while I want to keep the thickness more than 3/4.

After the face joint, I used to use a thickness planer to get a uniform thickness for all strips and edge joint. However, since I started to use Domino, I noticed that I can get a nice flat surface as long as one face is nice and flat; no need for a planer anymore. Of course, this approach can only hide imperfection for middle sections, and the two edges of each stock need to have uniform thickness because uneven thicknesses among the strips would show in the end-grain side of the table top.

Then it occurred to me; I can hide the uneven thickness by breadboard ends; all I need are, two strips of wood with a uniform thickness at the two parallel sides of the table and two breadboard ends with the same thickness. All the other strips in the middle section need to have only one nice face and thickness is no longer an issue.

Am I missing something? Have you ever done it?

[Paul Incognito]

I've done that and it worked fine.
The middle boards ended up thinner than the ends. As long as the tops are all flat, the breadboards will hide the bottoms.
Paul

[Jamie Buxton]

Rather than just tolerating thin boards in the middle of the table, you might consider laminating some other lumber to the thin boards. Maybe you don't even use the same species. It will still be structurally better than the thin board along.

[Rich Riddle]

I agree with laminating but always recommend using the same species. Different woods adjust differently to seasonal changes. You can see many laminated types separating as a result. Good luck.

[Susumu Mori]

Thank you all. I'll try the breadboard end then.
The boards are now mostly about 3/4 or more. So, I assume they are thick enough without laminating. I would have tried lamination if it is mostly thinner than 1/2 inch, I guess.

When you do lamination, would you change the direction of the board? How would you conceal the edge?

[Jamie Buxton]

Thank you all. I'll try the breadboard end then.
The boards are now mostly about 3/4 or more. So, I assume they are thick enough without laminating. I would have tried lamination if it is mostly thinner than 1/2 inch, I guess.

When you do lamination, would you change the direction of the board? How would you conceal the edge?

To conceal the ends of the laminated boards, I'd use a breadboard end, just like you're considering.