Trestle Table Connection Details

Home » Knowledge Base » Knowledge Base Article





	Today's Sponsors: ATEMAG Atlantic Machinery Corp. Auton Motorized Systems AWFS B.H. Davis Company Bailey's Inc. Bainbridge Manufacturing Baker Products Banks Hardwoods Barn Detail Barn Door Lumber BC Wood Specialties Group Beautiful WoodForest Products Beaver Tools Benz Incorporated Berenson Hardware Best Cabinets BetterVacuumcups.com Biesse Group America Binks Black Bros. Co. Blackhawk Machinery Brazilian Direct Ltd. Brown Wood Products Co. Byrd Tool C.R. Onsrud Cab Parts Cabinet Door Service Co. Cabinet Pro CabinetCRUNCHER Cutlist & 3D Cabinet Design Software Cabinetmakers Association CABPARTSPRO CAD CAM for the Home and Small Shop CADCode Cag Lumber Camco, Inc. Carbide.com Carolina Woodworking Consultants Carter Products Carvewright Carving Technologies Cash Coatings Castle Catskill Timber Industries Central Hardwoods Charles G.G. Schmidt Co. Chicago Dowel Company, Inc. 3M Corporation 5 Star Tooling A Brazilian Wood Depot Abrasive Resource Accu-Right Squareness Gauge Accu-Router, Inc. AceCo Precision Wood Tooling Active Machine & Tool Air Cleaning Systems Air Handling Systems Aktrin Furniture Information Center Alan McIlvain Company Algoma Lumber Co. All Star Adhesives Alliance Millsoft Allied Machinery Inc. AllRout Amana Tool Ameitech South American Fabric Filter Co. American Institute of Building Design American National Woodworking Knife American Rotary Converters Anchorbeam Timberworks Andreou Machinery ANEST IWATA USA, Inc. Antique Building Materials Anver Corporation Apollo Sprayers Inc. Arbor Processing Inc. Architectural Elements Arkansas Wood Doors ArtCam

WOODWEB DISCLAIMS any and all RESPONSIBILITY and LIABILITY for the accuracy and application of the information below. Readers agree to evaluate the significance and limitations of the information provided, and accept full responsibility for the application of this information. Read More ...

Would you like to add information to this article?
Interested in writing or submitting an article?
Have a question about this article?

Trestle Table Connection Details

A discussion of joinery for attaching a trestle table top to the leg assemblies. February 8, 2008

Question
We are making a dining table for a customer, library style. The material is old growth redwood. The top is 43" x 100" x 2" solid, one piece, no glue up, no knots, no cracks, slight checking on the ends. The legs are milled from old timbers reclaimed from a bridge. Everything is mortise and tenon joinery with square pegs (walnut) through the joint.

I plan on mortising the leg assembly into the top. I will be making the mortise into the underside of the table. 3/4" deep. Matching tenon on the leg assembly will fit loose on the length, 1/8". I plan on cutting a dado into the side of the leg assembly 3/8" deep x 1/4" on both sides of the leg. This is for walnut clips that will screw into the bottom of the table top and set in the dado. I plan on a good snug fit with no glue so the top can expand and contract separate from the base assemblies. Any advice would be appreciated. I'm always learning.

Here is a photo of the leg assemblies. Walnut pegs haven't been cut yet. The square hole in the small piece will receive the tenon of the stretcher (?) and will also be pegged with walnut.

Click here for higher quality, full size image

Forum Responses
(Furniture Making Forum)
From contributor J:
Sounds pretty good to me. I would like to see the tenons on the legs with a little more room for movement on a piece this wide. I would also consider one or two battens to help keep the top flat. You can fasten them with clips on both sides or screw them on with elongated holes everywhere but the center. If you are going to finish the table, both sides of the top should receive the same amount of finish to control moisture absorption and release.

From contributor A:
How did you mill that top? Planers wider than 30" are hard to find.

From the original questioner:
We have a 50"x100" Multicam CNC. We milled about 1/16 off of each side with a surface milling bit, then random orbital sanded. The top was very flat to begin with. We have milled a piece of maple for a mantle top. 18" x 138" x 3 1/2" thick. After glue up it had a twist to it. We shim it so the twist is balanced, mill off as needed to level, then spin it 180 degrees, shim it and level the side we just milled, cut away the same amount. The entire piece is now very flat and we ran it through the planer, milled side down. In 138" it was out of flat by less than 1/16.

From contributor V:
I'm not sure I follow how the trestle legs will attach to the top. I have done trestle type tables in the past and attached the top through counter sunk slots in the top of the legs. Could you explain your method again, as I am also always learning also?

From the original questioner:
The top of the leg has a tenon. We will machine a mortise into the bottom of the table top which will be 1/2" longer than the tenon, to allow for expansion and contraction. The clips will be snug to hold the top to the leg.

Have you reviewed the related Knowledge Base areas below?

KnowledgeBase: Knowledge Base

KnowledgeBase: Furniture

KnowledgeBase: Furniture: Custom Furniture

Would you like to add information to this article? ... Click Here

If you have a question regarding a Knowledge Base article, your best chance at uncovering an answer is to search the entire Knowledge Base for related articles or to post your question at the appropriate WOODWEB Forum. Before posting your message, be sure to review our Forum Guidelines.

Questions entered in the Knowledge Base Article comment form will not generate responses! A list of WOODWEB Forums can be found at WOODWEB's Site Map.

When you post your question at the Forum, be sure to include references to the Knowledge Base article that inspired your question. The more information you provide with your question, the better your chances are of receiving responses.

Return to beginning of article.

Refer a Friend || Read This Important Information || Site Map || Privacy Policy

Letters, questions or comments? E-Mail us and let us know what you think. Be sure to review our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Contact us to discuss advertising or to report problems with this site.

To report a problem, send an e-mail to our Webmaster

Copyright © 1996-2008 - WOODWEB ® Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any manner without permission of the Editor.
Review WOODWEB's Copyright Policy.

The editors, writers, and staff at WOODWEB try to promote safe practices. What is safe for one woodworker under certain conditions may not be safe for others in different circumstances. Readers should undertake the use of materials and methods discussed at WOODWEB after considerate evaluation, and at their own risk.

WOODWEB, Inc.
RR4 Box 265A
Montrose, PA 18801

Contact WOODWEB