This is a piece I completed just in time for Christmas as a gift to my wife and was used for the first time for our family’s Christmas Eve dinner. It is made from ash and hickory and is 8 feet long and 3 feet wide. The top is approx. 1″ thick.

The design is from Chris Becksvoort but, as always happens when I try to follow plans, I made several changes. The breadboard ends are a little narrower, I used a different style of bed bolts for the stretcher and Chris’ wood of choice is cherry and I used hickory and ash. Also, the top is a little thicker (1-1/16″). Cherry would have been an excellent choice as well but the figure in the hickory is beautiful. One thing about hickory is the sharp contrast between the heart and sapwood. I chose heartwood exclusively for the top. Hickory is a little less expensive than cherry or ash so being selective didn’t add much to the cost. The pictures really don’t do it justice.

The bench shown in one of the pictures is from a set I made for our kitchen table (which I also made). We were trying them out for seating for the boys at either end of the table for our Christmas Eve dinner.

Trestle tables are one of my favorite designs and the modifications that Chris Becksvoort made, as well as mine, make for an excellent dining room table. At 3 feet wide it is perfect for our narrow dining room and the  location of the stretcher allows the chairs to scoot all the way up to the table and prevents knocking your knees when seated. The table can easily seat at least 10 people.

This is certainly my most ambitious project to date and since I’m still the proudest of my latest piece I’m, obviously, still learning.

Launch Gallery