One of my favorite things about a Trestle table is that the structure is the ornament. There’s no skirt hiding the joinery, no apron running around the underside being basic. You can see how the table is held together and what is carrying the load.
Since the base is the focal point of the design, I felt like the top should not draw attention away from the rest of the piece, so I sketched it with straight-grained. A figured grain for the top might draw too much attention away from the base. When I build this piece, I will try to select boards that don’t have any knots in them, but I ultimately treat knots as part of the story. This is how the tree grew, and how it was milled and harvested. I will fill them with black epoxy to stabilize the area and sand it smooth so the table still functions as a table and does not allow food to get caught in the knot hole.
Instead of a single solid trestle leg at each end, I split it into three parts: a wider center leg with a narrow spindle on each side. A solid panel would just feel heavy and too brutalist under such a substantial top. This also makes the table feel more elegant than a large, bulky panel taking up space.
The stretcher runs between the two leg assemblies and passes straight through the leg as a through tenon, rather than stopping flush. It is like a mini tusk tenon that is wedged against the leg. This is clearly the focal point and shows how it was made, as well as the care in craftsmanship to create such a joint. The craftsperson is going to have to take their time when creating this joint. Time is our most valuable currency, so you have to really care about the work to invest the kind of time necessary to make this joint come out right.
Between the legs and the feet, I created a transition board that has a chamfer around all four edges. This creates the illusion of movement as the bevels point down to the feet. It draws your eye down from the leg through the transition board and onto the foot board. On the foot board, rather than a plain rectangular pad, I cut a bevel on each end to keep your eye moving to the floor. This allows you to place an accent area rug under the table, tying the table to the rest of the room’s decor.
Overall, the table is meant to feel like a focal point in the room and more than a piece of furniture: visible joints, straight lines, and a top that lets the base do the talking.