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;
Session 12 – Fitting the Mother of all Mortise & Tenon Joints;
Session 13 – Making Things Better, Worse, then Better;
Session 14 – Battens and Complicated Tenons, Again;
Session 15 – The Trestle Comes Together Session;
Session 16 – Angled Mortises and Tenons;
Session 17 – Two Feet for Two Legs;
Session 18 – Attachment Strips and Power Carving;
Session 19 – Refining the Sculpted Base;
Session 20 – A Little Sanding, then Lots More Sanding;
Session 21 – Preparing for a Big Glue-Up;
Session 22 – Fitting and Joining the Table Top;
Session 23 – The Bottom of the Top;
Session 24 – Profiling the Table’s Edge;
Session 25 – Completing the Bottom Edge;
Session 26 – Installing the Base;
Session 27 – Flattening the Top and Completing the Edge;
Session 28 – Filling the Voids; and
Session 29 – Removing Epoxy, Then Adding More.
(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 at work on Maple Trestle Table. I have more scraping and sanding of epoxy, but hopefully that won’t be the whole day. #flairww-10:41 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’ll start work today by sanding the bottom to 320-grit. #flairww -10:45 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m sanding the flat area first. Then I’ll sand the contoured edge. #flairww -11:02 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Then I’ll flip the top and repeat. #flairww -11:02 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The top has been sanded to 320-grit. At this point, the edge has only been sanded to 120-grit. #flairww -11:17 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The edge has now been sanded to 180-grit. #flairww -11:26 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The edge is now sanded to 220-grit.#flairww -11:34 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The bottom of the table, including the edge, is sanded to 320-grit. Time to flip the top! #flairww -11:42 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks In preparation for flipping the top, I reattached the battens so I don’t risk scratching the surface. #flairww -11:50 AM Jul 8th, 2012
DyamiPlotke @FlairWoodworks [Are you sanding the edge] by hand? -11:50 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’ve been using my random orbit sander with a 3/8″ foam interface pad. It works well. #flairww RT @DyamiPlotke: @FlairWoodworks by hand? -11:54 AM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Remember this side? I need to scrape epoxy before sanding. #flairww -11:57 AM Jul 8th, 2012
Tumblewood He’s at it again!! Woot! RT @FlairWoodworks: Remember this side? I need to scrape epoxy before sanding. #flairww -12:05 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Scraping is done. Now I’ll sand to 320-grit. #flairww -12:41 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The first stage of sanding takes the longest. I’ve sanded the top with 120-grit and switched to 180. #flairww -1:10 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks On to 220-grit. #flairww -1:24 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Finally, 320-grit! #flairww -1:33 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’ve sanded the top to 320-grit. It almost looks finished. #flairww -1:47 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m using a damp rag to raise the grain. #flairww -1:49 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks When the surface is wet, it looks finished. This is very rewarding. #flairww -1:49 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks After being dampened, the wood feels a little rough. I’ll lightly sand it by hand with 320-grit. #flairww -1:54 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I sanded the edge and knocked down the raised grain. I am done sanding and ready for finishing! #flairww -2:12 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Well, there’s actually a bit more to do before finishing. I have to smooth the epoxy on the inside edges. #flairww -2:14 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I removed the sharpness from the live edge with a little hand sanding. #flairww -2:30 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I blended the epoxy into the live edge with a file and sandpaper. #flairww -2:32 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks My first coat will be a finish with UV inhibitors to prevent the epoxy from yellowing. #flairww -2:38 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I know… you want to see a picture of the table with some finish on it. Here you go! #flairww -2:49 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks And now, we wait. #flairww -2:50 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks In an hour, I’ll give the top a light sanding then apply another coat of the exterior finish. #flairww -2:53 PM Jul 8th, 2012
HalfInchShy @FlairWoodworks Looks great, Chris! Gonna be no fun finishing but at least it’s nearly done and out the door! #flairww -3:31 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks @HalfInchShy Why do you think it will be no fun to finish? #flairww -3:51 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks It’s been an hour so I’ll give the table a light sanding with 320-grit, then apply another coat. #flairww -3:51 PM Jul 8th, 2012
HalfInchShy @FlairWoodworks ..seems like a lot of nooks and crannies, which is never fun during finishing except that… ur nearly done! wahoo! #flairww-3:53 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The top and base are both in the shop for finishing! #flairww -7:31 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks There are some wicked lumps at the bottom of the can. I guess I need to keep stirring… #flairww -7:33 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks Before the second coat, I’m going to lightly sand the surface to make it smooth. #flairww -9:31 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks After sanding the finish smooth, I wiped off the dust with a rag slightly dampened with water. #flairww -9:49 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks The second coat has been applied to the base and underside of the top. #flairww -10:21 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks After this coat of finish dries, I’ll smooth it before applying the final coat. Then I’ll rub it out for a perfect finish. #flairww -10:24 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks In simple terms, rubbing out is sanding the finish. I may use these foam-backed abrasive pads. #flairww -10:27 PM Jul 8th, 2012
HalfInchShy What would it be in non-simple terms? :) RT @FlairWoodworks: In simple terms, rubbing out is sanding the finish. #flairww -10:43 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks @HalfInchShy Abrading the macroscopic synthetic stratum to obtain a smooth, uniform appearance using an abrasive medium. #flairww-10:49 PM Jul 8th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I’m back in the shop preparing for the last coat of finish tonight. #flairww -12:14 AM Jul 9th, 2012
FlairWoodworks I love the way this finish looks. I’ll finish applying the finish tomorrow. #flairww -1:05 AM Jul 9th, 2012
Before flipping the top over to finish the other side, I will rub out the bottom surface. The trestle base needs only to be rubbed out to complete it. That will happen in Session 31!
Care to leave a comment?
Sculptural Woodwork by Chris Wong 
This is so interesting! I don’t know the first thing about woodworking, but I‘m so amazed by this. One day I would like to build my own chair out of wood .. maybe when I retire, lol!
Hi Holly,
One summer about ten years ago, when I first got really interested in woodworking, I read nearly every woodworking book and magazine at the local library. That gave me enough knowledge and confidence to start experimenting. Keep reading and you’ll get there too.
Chris
Thanks Chris ;)
Looks awesome Chris! I love the fact that the entire table is natural edge. Well done sir, well done.
Thanks, Mike! I’m really happy with the design too.
I spent the entire day reading your blog instead of writing………. It was worth it.