Completing the Breadboard Top
Attach a tall fence to your table saw to stablize the panel when you are cutting the cheeks for the breadboard end, and if you have a riving knife that is independent of its guard, use that here as well.
While the case joints dry, glue up a panel for the top (piece 15) and create blanks for the breadboard ends (pieces 16).
Make two shallow passes on your table saw to create tenon shoulders, using the miter gauge or crosscut sled to keep the cuts straight and even.
Here’s how I cut the joints: First, rout a 1/4″ wide x 3/8″ deep groove into the breadboard ends, stopping these grooves 1/2″ from the front end but running them all the way out the other end.
To establish the mortise location on the breadboard ends, start with making a centered stop groove on the wood on the router table.
Use this groove to index your mortising machine or drill press for boring two 3-1⁄2″ wide x 2-3⁄4″ deep mortises that receive the center panel tenons.
Use your bandsaw to cut a short stub tenon between the breadboard tenons, the front tenon will stop short of the front edge, but the stub tenon will continue through the back edge.
Once the mortises are done, lay out the tenons on your panel ends, cutting the cheeks and shoulders on the table saw. Band-saw the tenons to shape. They may require a bit of trial-and-error final fitting to seat correctly.
Make your final dry assembly of the bookcase and use screws and metal desktop fasteners to put together the final product.
Assemble the top panel parts, gluing just the deep mortise-and-tenon joints. I hand-planed my top flush, then sanded, sealed, scraped and topcoated it. Attach the top to the case with metal desktop fasteners and screws. Now you’ve got a solid and visually striking little pine bookcase that will provide generations of loyal service.
