When my family moved into our new home, we needed a table to fill the larger dining room space you see here. Our house’s architecture is an open floor plan concept, so we wanted a table with a modern but very buildable design to closely match the house’s styling. We also envisioned the table to have a substantial appearance, so we settled on a trestle table made of soft maple. I think the style has just the “heft” we were after, with 2¼"-thick splayed legs, an upper and lower stretcher, two diagonal braces and a 1¼"-thick tabletop. It seats six diners comfortably.
Since the table components are large and heavy, I decided to use Rockler’s 1/2" Beadlock tenons, doubled up at each joint, to keep the joint-making process easy. Beadlock tenons are sturdy and simple to install with a jig and a drill/driver.
Milling Lumber and Laminating Parts
The thickest soft maple I am able to source locally is, page 31).
