# Trestle table build



## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

I've always wanted to build a proper dining table. Not a production-style table with screws & nifty fasteners and the like - but a hefty, substantial, traditional style table with good strong joinery. 

Now that we have a dining room, I've got the perfect reason to build a table. It will be cherry to match the server cabinet I made a few years ago. 

This may be a slow moving thread, as I'm doing my best to cut the joinery by hand, and working on it in my spare time. Also trying hard to shake a pretty severe bowl turning addiction that's taken hold of me in the last few months. It's been seriously getting in the way of working on the list of projects I have waiting. 

Ok so I started by making 2 sub assemblies each 22" wide, since the widebelt sander we have at work maxes out at 37". I really enjoy hand work, but I draw the line at milling & surfacing lumber. Give me a jointer, planer, and wide belt any day lol

Crap. I just typed this whole long freakin post, and my pics won't upload. Anyone else having these problems on mobile?


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I think the time has come for someone to start a Wood Turners Support Group. 
Serious long term therapy will be required. Obviously, the councilor can not be a present or former turner. 
It's addictions like turning that give woodworkers a bad rap. 
Also, no wooden chairs.


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## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

Well, when I was a Building Commish, a frustrated wife of a home being remodeled came in and asked if there was a support group for "Wives of Remodelers".
She was dead serious and I tried very hard not to laugh. After the fact I thought about it and thought "maybe this is a good idea".

When I worked with couples doing remodel projects I always looked at the wives and asked "So, how's your marriage?"
Remodeling a home is a life changer.

Can't wait to see the build. Stop spinning stuff and get to it.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Aard, my boss used to be a builder and he says the same thing about couples who would take on building a house. At some point in every house there were always tears lol

Tony I think the best counselor might actually be a rehabilitated turner. If any such people do indeed exist. 

Later this morning I'm going to run and grab my laptop from my desk at work so I can get some pics in this stinkin thread today haha


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## cps (Jun 21, 2013)

Good timing on this thread....I will be paying attention. My next project is going to be trestle table. I just finished up a buffet and china cabinet.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

First pics are just the glue up. Made 2 sub assemblies, trued them up in the Timesaver, then joined the 2 halves with a splined glue joint. The spline kept the halves aligned, so the only thing I had to worry about during the final glue up was watching that I didn't pull the top into an arc while clamping. The joint was nice and straight so it didn't take much clamping pressure to get a good fit. 
The really nice thing about having access to a commercial shop's machinery is that I did not have to be super careful with the first 2 glue ups. Again I just made sure that they weren't cupped, and tried to keep the boards within 1/32" of each other so as not to lose a ton of thickness during sanding. As it sits now, the top is 1&7/16" thick. 

Gotta run out for a while, next post when i get home.


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## mat 60 (Jul 9, 2012)

Thats looking relay great..I would love a wide belt in my shop..Cool that you have use of the time saver .Look forward to more of your build.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Once the final glue up was dry (and the top sat in the shop on a cart for about 2 weeks because I had no time to work on it) I strapped it - along with the remaining 8/4 cherry that will make up the rest of the table - on to the top of my trusty subaru and brought it on home to work on at my leisure. As mentioned above, its nice to be able to use the machinery at work, but since I moved from the shop floor into the office my job as become much more stressful. As a result, its become the absolute last freakin place I want to see on the weekend, cool machinery or not. 

So the work moves home. And I gotta tell you, it makes me seriously happy to have a small but well equipped shop at home to build stuff in! Also I haven't made a piece of furniture for my own home in probably 3 years, so this one will be fun.

Anyway... 

I started in on cutting the tenons with the idea that I'd use hand tools. Unfortunately I don't have a moving fillister plane, so I was attempting to use a Stanley 78. This was far less than the ideal tool for the job and I quickly decided that I was going to have to change plans. So I cut the shoulder of the tenon using a straight edge, router, and a pattern bit. The rest of the tenon was cut with Old Faithful, a stanley no 5, stopping frequently to check and make sure that the tenon was square and straight and adjusting as necessary. For some reason I dont have any pics of the process of cutting the tenon, just the finished tenon, which is 1/2" thick and 1.5" long. After shaping the tenon, I cut shoulders on either end about an inch and a half in from the edge of the table. This will give the top room to expand and contract inside the breadboard mortise.

I cut the long mortise in the breadboard the hard way. Marked it up, used a 3/8" forstner bit to waste out the center, then finished it up with a couple sharp chisels. It took me like 2 hours to cut lol. Everything I do at work has to be production style, as fast as possible, so I really don't care if the pace on this table is slow, plodding, methodical. Its therapy


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Once the mortise was finished, I started the process of gradually fitting the tenon to the mortise. I used a shoulder plane and a no. 65 to tweak the tenon thickness making small adjustments until arriving at a nice snug fit. I needed some light taps with a deadblow mallet to get the breadboard to seat fully on the tenon. Then I used the shoulder plane to adjust the fit of the breadboard to the shoulder of the table top tenon. It still needs a bit of tweaking, and also needs to be pegged yet. 

That's where the build stands at the moment. Right now the breadboard end is sitting at 6" wide. I wanted to leave it as wide as practically possible, but I think that 4" is a much more realistic finished width, especially with only a 1.5" tenon. I don't want it to be able to work its way loose over time. Even with losing 4" in total length, the table would still end up being 92" long, which is totally acceptable.

Once the breadboard ends are both cut and fitted, the top will be finished planed with a smoothing plane - I splurged on an old Stanley no 4 1/2 a couple years ago and it has become my absolute favorite plane to use. In the second pic there are 2 spots on the opposite end of the table that I hit with the smoother, just because I wanted to see what the grain is going to look like. Sanding really mutes the grain, and a sharp smoother just makes it shine like a new penny.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Great Job


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## Chamfer (Sep 6, 2014)

Looking good BZ.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Being that today is Easter, and we'll be heading out to brunch with the family shortly, and I'm expected to be presentable, (read:dressed well and not covered in sawdust) there'll be no woodworking today. However, I've drawn a working design for the ends of the trestle base. Not sure if i can attach a dxf file but I'll try. If not, I think I may have a back door method. 

OK so dxf wouldnt work, but I could export to a png file directly from the CAM software the I use at work. From hand tools to cad/cam haha


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## cps (Jun 21, 2013)

BZawat said:


> Being that today is Easter, and we'll be heading out to brunch with the family shortly, and I'm expected to be presentable, (read:dressed well and not covered in sawdust) there'll be no woodworking today. However, I've drawn a working design for the ends of the trestle base. Not sure if i can attach a dxf file but I'll try. If not, I think I may have a back door method.
> 
> OK so dxf wouldnt work, but I could export to a png file directly from the CAM software the I use at work. From hand tools to cad/cam haha




That will be nice. Are you going to used a tusk tenon on the stretcher?


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Yeah That's the plan. I've always wanted to cut one, so I'm looking forward to it. 
The green box on the drawing represents a thru mortise. It will most likely end up being a bit smaller than that. Otherwise the drawing is scaled to be 30" across and 28 1/2" tall.
I'll also have to source a piece of 12/4 cherry for the top & bottom rails on the trestle ends.


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## cps (Jun 21, 2013)

I am getting ready to start my trestle table....Since I don't have access to a wide sander, I need to make sure I get my glue ups pretty accurate. I use cauls in most of my glue ups, but I am thinking splines might help a a lot as well. What size splines did you use? The top I am building will be approximate 1.75 inches thick....maybe a litter thicker.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

The table looks to be kinda of longish and one stretcher may not be enough. You might also want to consider a lower stretcher. Some of the older library tables similar in design had a lower stretcher running in a horizontal plane just a few inches off the floor. 
If you are only going to use one, maybe you can lower this one just a tad. 

.


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## was2ndlast (Apr 11, 2014)

Nice build...will be watching.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Many years ago, like about 40, I had access to hatch covers from the old WWII liberty ships. I made a table to sit my small drafting table on. I was not a woodworker st the time. I made the legs a trestlt style similar to yours. What I ended up doing was I made the end pieces similar to yours with a stretcher slightly lower down. Then I made 2 stretchers on the top portion of the legs, one on each side. Now the legs were self supporting. They still wabbled some so I ended up building an apron all aroud the upper portion of the legs. This stiffened it all up. I did cheat on the inside corners, I ended up using angle irons. Then I just sat the top on it. I decided that the top need to be secured to the legs so it wont slide around. I simply added some ledger strips to the underside of the table so it couldn't move more than around 1/4" in any one direction before being stopped by the apron. 
These are just some ideas incase your legs are not stiff enough. 
You could possible use mortise and tenon joints for the apron and stay with your idea of no hardware.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks for the tip Tony. I've been so busy with other stuff I haven't been able to work on the table lately, unfortunately. 
I did manage to get the leg assemblies glued up, so now they need to be cut to shape & have the tenons cut on the ends. 
I'm thinking about splitting the leg assemblies in half lengthwise, setting them so there's about a 2" gap in between them, and using a double stretcher. Regardless of the design, I will definitely move the stretcher closer to the floor though.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I like the split leg idea. It merges traditional with contemporary. 
Maybe "Shop" online for similar tables. They have already worked out the logistics of stability. Just a thought.
I have done that more than once. 
It will be an interesting and challenging project. I envy you.
I miss my shop (sob).


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## cps (Jun 21, 2013)

Funny you'll bring up split design as that is exactly what I am planning. I am going with the angles(dashed lines) of the left side in the drawing below.


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## Rebelwork (Jan 15, 2012)

Looking good and enjoy the build. Over time I've gotten away from bread board ends so just be careful.

I had to build a couple tables for a restaurant Thursday and Friday as the ones they got years ago from another company fell apart.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Ok so I finally got back to this build today and spent some time working on parts for the leg assemblies. I glued up the blanks 2 weeks ago, so this morning I went down to work and ran them thru the wide belt to flatten them out. Call me a cheater, I don't care. Lol 
I rough cut the shape on the band saw, fastened the blank and pattern to my bench and routed them. Used a hand saw to rip the tenons down to width & cross cut them to length. Then using a wide piece of corian as a straight edge cut the tenon cheek & shoulder with the router. A few light swipes with a hand plane to clean them up and that's the day.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

Great job.
Hurry up and finish because lots of us are waiting. 
BTW, how are you going to split the legs into 2 pieces each?
Lots of ways to do it, was just wondering what you plan is?


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

The jury is out on whether I'll split the legs in half or not. All depends on what my wife thinks, she's got the final word. 
If I do end up splitting them in two, I'll just strike a line and cut it with a rip saw.


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

I am not a Harbor Freight guy but their wheels are very reasonably priced and so are their TOGGLE CLAMPs. They can do wonders for jigs.
Use a couple of Toggle Clamps to hold your legs in place on a cross-cut sled. 

I take real care for accuracy in my cross-cut sleds just like any other jig I make. Once the accuracy is there, I do everything from clamp, nail or screw parts and clamps in place. Never mind the small holes. You will use the jig several hundred times before they will become a problem. As long as the jig is accurate, that's all tha counts. So what if the surface looks beat-up. You are using it for accuracy and speed. 
Anyway, that is the way I would cut the legs in half. This is where an air compressor and a Brad nailer are the cats meow.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Tony B said:


> I am not a Harbor Freight guy but their wheels are very reasonably priced and so are their TOGGLE CLAMPs. They can do wonders for jigs. Use a couple of Toggle Clamps to hold your legs in place on a cross-cut sled. I take real care for accuracy in my cross-cut sleds just like any other jig I make. Once the accuracy is there, I do everything from clamp, nail or screw parts and clamps in place. Never mind the small holes. You will use the jig several hundred times before they will become a problem. As long as the jig is accurate, that's all tha counts. So what if the surface looks beat-up. You are using it for accuracy and speed. Anyway, that is the way I would cut the legs in half. This is where an air compressor and a Brad nailer are the cats meow.


A cross cut sled would work just fine. I enjoy using hand saws, so I'll probably just use a hand saw lol


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

So my last post in this ridiculous saga was 9 months ago lol! We got insanely busy at work and 40 hour weeks turned into 70 hour weeks, and stayed that way for several months. Finally got back to the table a couple weeks ago, and except for final surface prep and finishing its just about done! 

I used drawbored walnut pegs to hold the breadboards on. the 2 holes in the center are not slotted, while the other 4 are. Center 12" of the breadboard is glued. Cut off pegs and planed breadboard flush with the table top. My wife wanted an antique-ish look to the table, so I applied a few coats of medium walnut Danish Oil.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Next I cut the mortises for the top and bottom pieces of the leg assemblies. Dont have a pic of the assembled legs by themselves, for some resaon. 

Then I turned my attention to the stretcher/leg joinery. I've never used a tusked tenon before, so I thought it prudent to make a mock-up of the joint using the off-cuts from the piece I milled for the stretcher. The tenon is 5" long, in 8/4 stock that is 6" wide, so I used a full size 6pt rip saw to cut it. Never used such a coarse-toothed saw to cut joinery before, it was definitely fun!


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

To cut the thru mortise, I marked it up and drilled in half way from each side to keep it from wandering on me, then chopped & pared clean. The tusk was cut from a piece of scrap walnut I had laying around, and it was wide enough to be able to select for straight grain to make planing easy. Marked up and cut the wedge, and marked up the tenon for the wedge mortise. Drilled out the waste, then chopped and pared smooth. Used a batten and holdfasts to hold the wedge for planing to final thickness.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Finally, the test fit. What a cool joint! I was surprised by just how strong it actually is. 

So with the mockup completed to my satisfaction, I cut the stretcher down to the proper length and cut the tenons. This was a more challenging than cutting the mockup, simply from a workholding perspective. Next I drilled and chopped the mortises in the legs, cutting half way from each side like before. Marked up and cut the wedge mortises, and put it all together.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Here's where the build stands now. I am going to cut a shallow arc on either side of the stretcher to make it match the legs better, then final smoothing & sanding, then finish! I hope to have it complete is another week or two, depending upon what life throws at me in the interim. Sorry for the long delay, guys!


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

BZ
Long time in the making but a great job of documenting your build. Well done. 
I have a trestle table I built several years ago posted in my pictures. It's crazy how many different designs of trestle styled tables are out there. We've sure enjoyed ours and I know you will enjoy yours. 
What's next?


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## GROOVY (Apr 27, 2008)

Outstanding work and the craftsmanship is great


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