Cross Grain Movement - Breadboard Ends

[Bill Adamsen]

Don't believe wood moves?

I was baking this morning and when I pulled out the board I use for rolling out dough I was a bit startled to see just how much the wood had moved. If I am feeling particularly industrious when doing breadboard ends I don't run the mortise all the way to the end ... hence in the photo with dramatic shrinkage the mortise is not visible. I can assure you these were flush like the second photo just a month or so ago.

The wood in the board showing shrinkage was I believe Honey locust ... I had a local sawmill cut a number of cants for a specific project and these pieces were around so I used them. I can see the breadboard end is quarter sawn though likely the rest are a mix of flatsawn and quartersawn. Locust around here doesn't grow terribly large and getting the cants was a real chore.

[Mel Fulks]

Looks mighty good. Next time give those ends a little more "shortening"

[Andrew Hughes]

The baked bread looks I like that kind of a rustic roll. Is the board now thicker in the middle or did it cup and pull the ends in?
Im trying to wrap my mind around where that wood went

[Bill Dufour]

I like to attach the ends Greene & Greene style. with the screws parallel to the top. I feel it gives me more meat for the screws to grab, even if it is endgrain. Is suppose I could insert a plug for the screw to bite into.

[keith micinski]

That movement from the field boards isn’t all that hard to believe.

[Jim Becker]

I'll be very happy to "shorten" the very craftsman like subjects in the third photo. No charge. Yum!!!!!

And yea...wood can move a surprising amount seasonally, especially with some species.

[Simon MacGowen]

Looks mighty good. Next time give those ends a little more "shortening"

And when the board reverses the shrinkage?

Simon

[Bill Adamsen]

The baked bread looks I like that kind of a rustic roll. Is the board now thicker in the middle or did it cup and pull the ends in?
Im trying to wrap my mind around where that wood went

I suspect the entire breadboard shrinks in all dimensions ... least of course in length. What I should do is weigh it in the winter and summer to see just how much moisture is involved with the shrinkage/expansion.

The bread is from a recipe in "The Perfect Loaf" by Sam Fromartz. It is a typical French Parisian sourdough baguette. It is all low protein all-purpose flour ... barely 1% of whole wheat. The dough takes two days of aging (one for the levain another for the dough) ... but the shaping and baking are easy.

[Dan Hahr]

Well, at least you know you are building them correctly.

Dan

[Andrew Hughes]

I'm not believing it that's too much for such a small board. It's gotta be there somewhere.
Im getting some bread from the bakery tomorrow to help me figure this out.