trestle table

could we peek under the skirt?

bill tindall

>Love the top. (not to be picky, but it looks to be rift cut not quartered?)

Would you describe the finishes and how top is attached to bottom? And details of how breadboard ends were done.

Re: could we peek under the skirt? *LINK*

George D. Huron

>The top is quartersawn but it is hard to see the flecking in the top with the resolution of this picture. Two crossbeams are joined to the main beam with lap joints. The crossbeams are joined to the top with figure eight clips to allow the top to move. I could've made slotted holes in the crossbeams or used wooden buttons in slotted holes in the crossbeams as well. The main beam is joined to the top with two dowels so that the top and main beam always have the same centerline.

The sliding dovetail breadboards are a neat trick. I am writing this for an article and doubt the editor would want me blabbing the whole story on the internet. I will tell you that it is made using the dovetail plane made by ECE for both the socket and the dovetail.


http://www.springharvestfww.com

Re: trestle table

George D. Huron

>Here is a better picture of the top showing some of the flecking. It is more pronounced when you look at it in real life.

Re: trestle table

George D. Huron

>Here is a shot of the undercarriage.

Sweeeeeeet. - nice job George.

Victor Parisian

>

Nice looking table George

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Is the base milk paint? Again great job.

Re: Nice looking table George

George D. Huron

>The base is milk paint. I mixed black with green in equal parts and it is a hunter green (kind of) but it sure wants to be black. You have to stare at it to get the green.

I really like it!

Dave (Arlington, VA)

>Hi George -

As I said in the subject line, I really like your table. There's alot I like about it. I like the light top and the dark bottom. I like the quartersawn oak. I like the trestle element at the top...but this brings me to a question: most trestle tables I've seen (not that I've seen a huge number) seem to have the trestle at the bottom of the pedestals (or legs, as the case may be). Personally, I do not find those kind of trestle tables as visually appealing as yours. However, I do wonder if your design (i.e. with the trestle at the top) wouldn't be more prone to racking (or even to rocking - lengthwise). Did you have any such concerns when you designed the piece?

Also is the bottom painted or ebonized? Is it also oak (perhaps you said in your write up. My apologies if I missed it).

Finally, if you don't mind, what are the dimensions and how many people would you expect it to seat?

Again, I really like it. Thanks for sharing.

Regards -

Dave

8 clip

bill tindall

>Thanks for the more detail

what is a figure 8 clip?

Look here *LINK*

Dan Donaldson

>Here is a picture


Figure 8 clip

Re: I really like it!

George D. Huron

>The base is poplar and it is painted with a mixture of black and lexington green milk paint and then with acrylic clear coat. I made sure that the footprint is only about 5 inches narrower than the top is wide so that it would be stable. The top is kind of narrow by modern standards (29 inches wide), but I found many trestle tables as wide or even more narrow than this one in drawings of historical trestle tables. Detail of the joint will show why I don't think racking is a problem. As for dimensions, I am submitting an article on building this table to A.J. of Woodcraft magazine where (provided

A.J. likes the project) you can get all the gory details of its construction provided.

In the attached photo is the leg to foot joint but the leg to main beam joint is made similarly.

Re: I really like it!

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>Like Dave, I was really worried about the potential for collapsing the whole table by pushing on one end. Your jointery detail photo has restored my confidence in the structural integrity of the table.

I trust that you used the same techniques to join the feet to the pedestals?

All in all, it appears to me to be the epitome of trestle tables. Is there "prior art" from which you drew your inspiration, or did you make it all up as you went along?

BTW, I also wanted to ask the "Poplar and milkpaint?" question, but I figured it wasn't really necessary. There was only one "right" answer to that question :^)

I'm going to save all your photos, just in case I want to build one.

Re: I really like it!

George D. Huron

>Thank you so much for your kind words about my work. This actually is the joint between the leg and foot. After I fit the joint, I cut the foot shape into the foot blank. But you are correct that the joint between leg and main beam is the same joint. These joints are pinned after assembly. The pin not only holds the joint together but if you lean on the table the main beam could act as a pry bar and split the leg. The pinning of the leg to main beam prevents this pry bar effect. I have not yet pinned this table together for lack of time. I find that I do a much better paint job if I dissassemble a piece and paint it piecewise and then reassemble. If I had pinned it first, my paint job would have suffered for it.

Again, thanks for your appreciation.

more questions

bill tindall

>Well, wife must have slipped the dumbo pills in my cearal again. I have seen those thingies and had no idea what they were used for and I still don't. To quote LV link..."to attach an apron to a surface". Is this not an orthogonal intersedtion requiring something at a right angle? Do you bend these 90 degrees to use them. I'm feeling exceptionally stupid.......

How about a shop shot?

Dan Donaldson

>The details and finished product look to me like a good candidate for a shop shot.

Re: more questions

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>You attach one end to the top of (usually) an apron (or a lateral stretcher in this case), after drilling a shallow hole the thickness of the clip in the top of the apron, tangent to one edge. The allows the other end to stick out the side and to swing back and forth a few degrees. Then you position the table top on top of the base, and put another screw through the other hole, up into the bottom of the top. If you note, one hole in the clip is countersunk on one side, and the other hole is countersunk on the other side. HTH.

light bulb finally glows

bill tindall

>Oh, I can see that that would be handy as well as look better than the table top Z clips I usually use. And easier to install. bulb glows brighter still as possibilities unfold..............

Re: light bulb finally glows

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>One more point (power surge, maybe :^). You install them in frame members that go across the table top. They aren't of any real use in frame members that go in the same direction as the grain of the table top.

Inquiring minds want to

Doug Littlejohn

>KNOW !! Georege, where and when will we be able to see (actually read) your write up??

Sherwood

BTW - Really nice work, Ilike the simple lines and look.

Re: Inquiring minds want to

George D. Huron

>I am feverishly editing my article submission and should have it in to A.J. at Woodcraft within a couple of days. When it makes it into the magazine (or even if since A.J. agreed sight unseen several months ago) is up to A.J. Our initial agreement was for November but I am a little late with my article submission (days).

Re: How about a shop shot?

George D. Huron

>Thanks, I'll submit it for a shop shot.