Routing the offset in the splines leaves a rounded
transition between the top of the spline and the offset. That transition needs to be trimmed from an
arc to a straight 45-degree face. The
top photo is my setup to do that. The
spline blank is clamped to a piece of oak setting on workbench. A 45-degree steel miter layout tool will
guide the wood chisel so I get a true 45 transition. The file and sandpaper will take care of the
finishing touches. The bottom photo is a
closeup of the arc to be made into a 45.
A little careful paring with the chisel using the steel
miter tool as a guide gives me a nice clean transition as shown in the top
photo. The bottom photo is the completed
transition with the offset and angled face sanded.
When routing the pockets for the splines there are some
minor variances in the pocket width. Not
a lot it’s less than two hundredths of an inch from the widest to the
narrowest. Still to make the groove in
the breadboard match up with the pockets required a little work with a chisel. After that cutting the splines to length is
next. Here is a photo of a fitted spline
along with one of the other splines.
After fitting the splines, the last bit of woodworking on
them is to add a small bevel along its top exposed edges. The bevel itself is only about 3/32” wide so
while it’s not really hard it is very meticulous work done with a small file
and a fine grit sanding block. Here is
the setup with the spline circled in red in the lower right. The jig with the clamps holds the spline at
45 degrees so all I have to do is hold the file or sandpaper level for a
consistent finished angle. The
jeweler’s 4x magnifiers sure do help me see what’s going on.
This is what I look like making the bevels.
A closer view gives a little more detail on the
setup. If you look close at the end
grain bevel it’s not even so will require a little more work before I am
finished.
Once all done there is a nice even bevel all around. Here is one spline ready to be beveled and a
completed one. It probably takes 15-20
minutes to do each spline. Making one is
a lot easier than making four that match.
Since the splines are dyed black that’s next. On the left are two masked off and stained
with India Ink. The two on the right
have the masking removed and are ready to be installed.
After thinking about the different methods of making the
connection between the breadboard ends and the center section I have decided to
go with running screws in from the end and plugging the holes. This drawing shows where the top half of the
breadboard has been cut away. You can
see how the recessed screw goes through an oversize pilot hole then through a
slot and into the center section. This
allows the center section free movement from the breadboard end. Lastly, the screw head gets hidden by a plug.
To cut the bottom a hole is drilled, a coping saw blade
is fed through the hole and the tab cut away.
That’s followed by a little filing to smooth out the cut. In the photo the left cut still needs a
little work to get squared up.
Layout of the holes and slots to be drilled in the breadboard
are next. This photo shows the layout
and dimensions on one of the breadboards.
The plug will be installed from the photo’s top.
Here the drill press is set for the first step,
that of drilling the holes for the plug.
Out of the photo at the top is a stop that limits the travel of the bit
to the required depth. There is also a
stop at the right so all the holes are drilled the same distance from the
end. Also, the back fence is set so the
drill is dead center on the breadboard.
Last, the left clamp holds the piece in place so it does not move during
the drilling.
Without changing the right hand stop the bit is changed
to the one for the oversized pilot hole, its depth stop is set just short of
their full depth then they are drilled.
The remainder will be drilled after the slots are done.
Making the slots are next. That starts by changing the bit to a ¼” one
and resetting the depth stop. Here is
the bit in place with the depth stop set.
The slots get made similar to cutting mortises with the
ends done first followed by the center.
The end holes are offset 1/8” to either side of the center. Rather than resetting the right-hand stop
block I added a 1/8” thick spacer which moves the workpiece to the left of the
center line so I can drill the right end of the slot. Here is what that setup looks like.
After all the right-side holes are is drilled the spacer
is removed the workpiece is unclamped and slid up against the stop then clamped
back to the rear fence. Now the center
of the slot is centered on the plug and pilot holes. The stop is then unclamped and slid to the
right. The spacer inserted up next to
the breadboard and the stop slid up snug to it.
The stop is then clamped to the back fence. Last the workpiece is unclamped, the stop
removed and the workpiece slid over to the right stop. The net result is the center of the drill is
now 1/8” to the left of the center line and is ready to drill the left end of
the slot. After all the left side holes
are drilled the spacer is removed and the workpiece slid up next to the stop
recentering the slot on the plug and pilot hole’s centerline. Now the center part of the slot can be
drilled. All that remains are a couple
of little nibs in the slot that are removed by sliding the drill back and forth
in the slot while lowering it. Below is
the end result. The last bit is to
finish drilling the pilot hole through into the slot.
Next Up – Finishing Breadboard Attachment and Installing
Top’s Splines
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