84″ × 36″ trestle table plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Miter saw, or circular saw in two passes, for 4×4 posts
• Table saw or track saw for ripping
• Impact driver or a strong drill for the structural screws
• Clamps, at least 4 that open past the table width
• Level
• Drill with a 3/8″ bit at least 7″ long (a bed-bolt or long auger bit)
• Forstner bit, 1″, for the barrel nuts
• Socket wrench or bed-bolt wrench
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Glue up the top

   Rip each of the 7 top boards (A) to 5 1/8″ wide, taking the rounded factory edge off both sides so the joints close square.

   Lay them side by side on two or three sawhorses or 2×4s across a floor. Look at the end grain: the curved growth rings should point up on one board and down on the next. This keeps the top from cupping one way.

   Spread a thin, even line of glue on each joining edge. Clamp across the boards every 12″, alternating clamps above and below the top so it doesn't bow. Tighten until a small bead of glue squeezes out along every joint, no more.

   • Tip Dry-fit first, with clamps but no glue, so you know the clamps reach and the joints close before the glue starts to set.
   • Tip Scrape off glue squeeze-out after about 30 minutes, when it is rubbery. Wiping wet glue smears it into the grain, and stain will not take there.

   ✓ Every joint is closed tight along its whole length, and a straightedge across the top rocks no more than 1/16″.

4. 4Flatten and trim the top

   After a full day, scrape off any dried glue. Sand or plane both faces flat, finishing about 1 3/8″ thick. Work across the joints first with 80 grit on a belt or random-orbit sander, then along the grain with 120.

   Mark both ends square across the top and cut it to 84″ long with a circular saw run against a clamped straightedge.

   The top is 36″ wide. Ease every edge with sandpaper or a small round-over so it doesn't splinter.

   • Tip Pencil a loose zig-zag over the whole surface before sanding. When the pencil is gone everywhere, the surface is flat.

   ✓ A straightedge laid across the top in several places shows no gap over 1/32″, and the corners measure square.

5. 5Glue up the uprights

   Pair the four upright boards (C), each 21 5/8″ long. Spread glue over one face of each pair and press them together, ends and edges flush.

   Clamp every 8″, then drive 2 1/2″ screws from one face, two every 8″, to hold while the glue dries. Keep the screws 1″ in from the edges and out of the middle 2″, where the stretcher bolts will go.

   • Tip Put a scrap of wood under each clamp jaw so it doesn't dent the parts.
   • Tip Set the crown of the two boards in opposite directions: the bows cancel and the upright comes out straight.

   ✓ Each upright is 3″ thick and 5 1/2″ wide with no gap along the glue line.

6. 6Build the two trestle ends

   Mark the middle of each foot (B) and each cap (D). Stand an upright on the foot, centred both ways: 12 1/4″ from each end and 1/4″ in from each side.

   Turn the foot and upright on their side. Drill four pilot holes up through the foot into the upright, two into each board, 1″ in from the upright edges. Spread glue on the upright end and drive a 6″ structural screw into each hole.

   Fix the cap on top of the upright the same way, centred: 10 1/4″ past the upright at each end. Build the second end the same.

   • Tip Drill a pilot hole for every screw within 2″ of a board end. Without it the board splits.
   • Tip Draw the upright's outline on the foot before you drill, so the holes land in the upright and not beside it.

   ✓ Each upright is plumb (a level on its side reads true), and the foot and cap are parallel to each other.

   STOP. Structural screws twist the drill hard if they bind. Hold it with both hands, and keep your free hand away from the screw.

7. 7Join the ends with the stretcher

   Stand the two ends up, 54″ apart between the uprights, on a flat floor. Mark the stretcher height on each upright: its bottom edge 7 9/16″ above the foot.

   Clamp the stretcher (E) in place, level, centred on the upright. Drill two 3/8″ holes through the upright and 3″ into the stretcher end, 1 1/4″ from its top and bottom edges. Keep the drill level and straight: use a square standing beside it as a guide.

   On the inside face of the stretcher, 2 1/4″ from the end, drill a 1″ hole 1″ deep over each bolt hole so it meets the bolt hole. Drop a barrel nut into each, its slot facing the bolt.

   Push a bed bolt through the outside into each barrel nut, turning the nut with a screwdriver in its slot until the bolt catches. Tighten with a wrench until the joint is snug. No glue: the base comes apart.

   • Tip Drill the bolt hole first, then hold the bolt beside the stretcher to mark exactly where its end lands. Centre the barrel-nut hole on that mark.
   • Tip Re-tighten the bolts after a month: new wood dries and shrinks a little.

   ✓ The ends stand plumb and parallel: the distance between the caps is the same at both sides of the table, 54″ between uprights.

8. 8Attach the top

   Lay the top good face down on blankets. Set the base upside down on it, the outside faces of the uprights 12″ in from each end and the caps centred across the width.

   Drill a shallow recess near each end of each cap's top face, two on each side, for the figure-8 fasteners: 8 in all. Screw each fastener to the cap, then into the top with 5/8″ screws.

   Get a helper to turn the table upright. Lift it by the base, not the top overhangs.

   • Tip Tabletop fasteners let the solid top grow and shrink across its width with the seasons. Never glue or rigidly screw a solid top to cross-grain caps: it will crack.

   ✓ With the table upright, the top overhangs the caps by the same amount at both ends, and the top is flat when checked with a level along and across.

   STOP. The table is heavy: about 100 lb or more. Lift with two people and bend your knees.

9. 9Finish

   Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

   Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

   Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

   Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.

   Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

   • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.