Trestle table

[scott lipscomb]

I posted a pic of this over in the neanderthal thread iand got a couple of questions on it, so I thought I would bring it over here. Its not a neanderthal project, though there is some hand tool work in there. There is plenty of bandsaw and domino involved as well. Its all West Coast Tanoak (Lithocarpus densifloris) which I cut and milled between 2 and 6 years ago. The top is a flitch, 1 1/4" thick. All finished with 2 to 4 coats of Waterlox original sealer. The pics aren't great, but I am posting what I got in order to liberate Ken's thread. David-stretcher is 5 1/2"x3", Joe, yes, live edge and debarked with a grinder and wire wheel. Enjoy! I know that I did and it really makes dinner time more enjoyable. Next, 6 or eight chairs (prototype in the last phot at left).
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[kevin nee]

I love the trestle design, very simple theory done correctly, it will be rock solid.
Not EASY to do correctly! Nice job.

[Clark Hussey]

Fantastic job! Thank you for sharing the file.

[Jim Becker]

That's really nice work, Scott...and a beautiful table. It's great when you can go from tree to table, too!

[David Eisenhauer]

Thanks for the info Scott. Again, a nice, solid understated table for a family to use and abuse as opposed to "display". Now for some chairs..............

[Dirk Alan]

Very nice Scott! Tanoak can have a beautiful grain and color but it's not the easiest wood to work with as some of it is very dense and hard and its not the most stable of woods. But it looks like you had it under control!

[George Bokros]

Nice work. Trestle will remain solid for a long time.

[scott lipscomb]

Thanks for the nice words, everyone.

Dirk, on my property in the coastal mountains just north if Santa Cruz, there are a bunch of large Tanoaks dying from what appears to be a combination of Sudden Oak Death, Ambrosia Beetle, and dry conditions, so I have been trying to mill and process as many as I can. I think it has gotten a bad rap. The big challenges are drying the lumber without checking, that stack shown above is in the deep shade of a redwood, out of the wind, and it spent most the first year and half wrapped in filter fabric and covered with ply. I also had 1000 pounds of brick on top. Other challenges include staining and rapid degrade due to beetle and fungal invasion. Once early moisture has escaped, it becomes pretty stable. Lumber classifiers tend to put it into the red oak classification, though, its not in the oak genus(Quercus). It is in the oak family (Fagaceae)-it does have acorns and taxonomically also shares some similarity to Beech. It takes all machining really well and is a joy to plane-both machine and hand, even with it radically moving grain. It turns nicely on the lathe, too, and I have been making chairs with it. The top is a flitch, where each slab had a slight bow in the middle, I ripped, joined, and re-glued each, which flattened them nicely.

I am big fan, mostly because I have tons of it and it is dying left and right! I expect that its plight may be similar to the American Chestnut and American Elm.

[Mark Rainey]

That is a beautiful and solid table Scott. And using your own wood makes it even more special. A great story when dining at the table.

[Mark Stutz]

Nice job! I'm not familiar with the wood, but wish we had some here!

Thanks for the file as well. I am in the design phase of a trestle table, and have been trying to decide about the end overhang. Is the 10+ inches on the end enough to allow someone sitting on the end not to bump into the leg? I found myself bumping into the leg with my knees when I sit at the table my sister has.

[scott lipscomb]

Actually, Mark, I made some adjustments to the table in the shop. I carefully considered that overhang for the reason you mentioned (and because I usually sit at the end). The actual overhang ended up at 13", which is plenty for me and I am 6'4", and also good to slide a chair in. The single trestle is a good design, too, as even if the overhang were less, the knees straddle, the structure. I think 10" would do it, but I am not sure.

[michael langman]

That table is the way a table should look to me Scott. Beautiful work.

A lot of work to dry, but I think it must have been worth it.

The grain in the wood has a soft,refined look to me. Really nice wood.

[David Utterback]

I agree with all the comments above. Good luck with the chairs. The design is nice and compatible. Thanks for sharing.