On the morning of Sunday, April 15th, Morton and I exchanged ideas about trestle tables, spurred on by a recent sketch of a table on which he was working. That got me yearning to build a trestle table.
I documented my progress live on Twitter which was useful because each update had a time stamp so followers could see the rate at which I progressed. Here is a list of the previous Sessions:
Session 1 – Flat Boards are Boring;
Session 2 – Playing with Slabs;
Session 3 – From Two Slabs to One Table Top;
Session 4 – Clamping Odd Shapes and Sketching on Wood;
Session 5 – Routing Pockets for Battens;
Session 6 – Making Battens and Installing Countertop Connectors;
Session 7 – Installing Battens and Flattening the Underside;
Session 8 – Make Your Tools Work for You and Flattening the Top;
Session 9 – Mortises the Slow Way (or Why I’m Buying a Domino XL);
Session 10 – Curvy Legs are Always Good;
Session 11 – Straight Lines on Wonky Surfaces; and
Session 12 – Fitting the Mother of all Mortise & Tenon Joints.
(If you are not familiar with the format used on Twitter, every update, or “tweet” below starts with a username, being the author of that tweet. Sometimes, you see two or more usernames in a tweet. The second (and third, etc) usernames are preceded by a @ symbol and are people to whom the author is talking. The other symbol you see is #, which serves as a category. I try to remember to categorize all my tweets pertaining to this project under #flairww.) 
FlairWoodworks I’m back in the shop and I know exactly what to do next. #flairww -10:55 AM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I routed around the batten to create a flat, coplanar surface. #flairww -11:00 AM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Now I need to plane until the shoulders disappear. #flairww -11:03 AM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks A scrap of heavy carpet makes working on your knees more pleasant. #flairww -11:06 AM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m so used to using my entire body while planing, but when kneeling or sitting, I can only use my upper body – mostly my arms. #flairww -11:09 AM May 7th, 2012
Tumblewood I’ll have let the girls downtown know that! Hehe! RT @FlairWoodworks: A scrap of heavy carpet makes working on your knees more pleasant. #flairww -11:16 AM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks @Tumblewood I thought you might like to know that. You are married, right? -11:20 AM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The Moxon vise is not particularly good at holding boards that don’t extend down past the screws. #flairww -12:07 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m working on getting the battens to fit tightly against the underside of the table. #flairww -12:07 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks My Japanese saw has more missing teeth than a hockey player. Might be time to replace the blade. #flairww -12:10 PM May 7th, 2012 
TomVTWRT @FlairWoodworks: My Japanese saw has more missing teeth than a hockey player. Might be time to replace the blade. #flairww -12:13 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks That’s the fit I like to see! #flairww -12:21 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’ve finally got one batten completely installed. #flairww -12:41 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The left corner seen here was quite low so I needed to rout a deeper recess. #flairww -12:49 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks It’s most important to get the ends flat to allow a tight fit without too much fuss. #flairww -12:49 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Hmm… that’s a big step! #flairww -12:51 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I lifted the table top onto two rolling shop carts to bring it to a more comfortable height. #flairww -1:05 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Radiused and cambered blades are amazing. #flairww -1:11 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m getting close. My arms are getting tired. #flairww -1:34 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks That was work! #flairww -1:41 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I can’t find my ratchet which I need to reinstall the batten. After it’s installed, I’m going to go for lunch, then tidy up the shop. #flairww -1:59 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Somehow, I made this batten narrower than the recess. It’s still functional but I’m not happy about it. #flairww -2:03 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’ll remake the batten later. #flairww -2:05 PM May 7th, 2012
WatkinsWoodWork @FlairWoodworks You haven’t mixed up one side for the other have you? Weird that it’s fitting different all of a sudden -2:09 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks @WatkinsWoodWork No, I trimmed the sides and evidently went too far. #flairww -2:09 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Okay, I’m back in the shop after lunch (which involved a bagel and stripping wallpaper). I’m going to do some major tidying up and cleaning. #flairww -4:24 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I finished tidying up the benchroom. The machine shop… that’s a different story. #flairww -5:49 PM May 7th, 2012
This time-lapse video shows the work involved in cleaning up the shop. (Duration – 2:37)
FlairWoodworks And now the machine shop is clean. #flairww -6:48 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks While I was cleaning the shop, my family cleaned the garage! Awesome. #flairww -7:00 PM May 7th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m in a cleaning groove! I just cleaned out my dust collector, which was well overdue. Now it sounds DANGEROUS! #flairww -8:34 PM May 7th, 2012
In the next session, I’ll remake the batten and work the other leg’s joinery. Don’t leave a comment this time – go clean your shop instead.
Hi from South Africa. If only we could all clean our workshops with such spped it would be great. I have only just joined your blog and find it very interesting. The table is looking great.
Good job. Regards
Dave Whittington
Hi Dave,
I’m happy to have you onboard from South Africa. Thanks for your comment!
Chris
A leaf blower wouldn’t be a good option for you with those shavings! Looking good, Chris. Good work on flushing the batten recesses. I won’t go clean my shop because work has kept me from going in there and happily making a mess.
Oh, I don’t think your idea is new. The historic brothels in Jerome, Arizona all have carpeting.