Breadboard ends

[Wayne Lomman]

Are breadboard ends on table tops etc a traditional design feature in North America? I'm trying to get my head around why this theme appears so often in discussion. It's rare in Australia in my experience. Cheers

[Art Mann]

Supposedly, the breadboard ends help prevent the top from bowing, twisting and warping. In my experience, good straight grained an properly dried wood will seldom do that anyway. I think it is pretty nice looking and covers the dreaded end grain look.

[Yonak Hawkins]

Also, breadboard ends hide any joinery, such as splines, holding the boards together. Obviously, the down side is the seasonal movement issues unless the top is plywood.

[Wayne Lomman]

It makes me think it is a tradition from times when seasoned timber was not readily available perhaps? Cheers

[Brian Tymchak]

The breadboard dates at least to Shaker furniture. Not sure if that's its origin. I think it came to be as a way to keep panels flat during seasonal change. Today with air conditioning to control humidity in the air, the breadboard is mostly for asthetics, covering end grain.

[Wayne Lomman]

So it seems to be a North American traditional approach to solving both an aesthetic and structural problem. The covering end grain argument has always seemed a bit shaky to me though. You just split the shown end grain into 2 areas rather than a single area. Cheers