Router Cutter - Finger joint or T&G?

[LancsRick]

I'm making a breadboard out of offcuts as a gift for a family member in black walnut. I don't have any edge jointing bits for my router at the moment, so I'll be buying something either way, but was wondering what the preference here was? I know Fingers will give significantly greater glue area, which would be the more versatile one to have in my workshop? Timber is approx 22mm thick.

Cheers.

 

[custard]

If you're edge jointing the offcuts then you really don't need anything other than the right hand planing and glue-up techniques.

But if you're trying to make your offcuts longer by jointing wood end to end then that's pretty tricky without fairly sophisticated kit. For the home woodworker you'd be better off just getting some longer timber as to be honest it's just not worth the candle, there's only five or six quids worth of timber in even a big ABW breadboard, so you'd have to be planning on making an awful lot before the tooling investment became remotely viable.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Rick
I have 2 wooden food prep boards and both are a single board so I never worry about them getting wet and such-like. Also I've never used ABW for the jb, so I can't comment on its suitability.
But I can tell you that you don't need any special router bits at all. Modern glues are very very good. Choose something at least D3 and D4 would be even better. Cascamite, for example. Some people swear by Titebond. I pick up Wudcare as my go-to glue.

All these glues are stronger than the wood they join, and as your joints will all be face grain to face grain, they will produce very strong joints indeed.

As long as your edges are properly flat and straight, and there is no reason why they should not be, a breadboard is not very long, then you will get a very sound board with a plain butt glue joint.

Ah, Custard's beaten me to it!

 

[LancsRick]

Ok thanks, PT time and gluing it is then!