a custom cherry trestle table

12/30/11 .. okay ... update here ... all in all done ... leaving for d.c. tuesday morning ... we're all liking this new trestle design .. the weight, the proportions, the floating arc element, the rigidity
low angle view
end view
12/18/2011 ... home stretch on another 10' table. we'll start the finishing tomorrow ...
the concept was loosely based (with a few modifications) on a table we made in the early 90s. the clients nixed the lower crossbar and the verticals in the model below, and sam came up with the idea of suspending the curved stretcher between the verticals with the metal pins. it called for some fussy and careful measuring and drilling, but the concept turned out to be really valid .. we all like the new design and the blackened, tight fitting steel pins give the structure total rigidity with a relatively light and graceful somewhat asian feel. click the photos to enlarge them ...
above the new and the old model that i first wrote about back in august ...
everything but the breadboards, which lorne completed today
view down the end before shaping the vertical ... the cold rolled 3/4" pins are blackened now ..
the top is 42" wide and 1.75" thick, made from some of irion lumber's finest 8/4 cherry.
glue up
rough joinery
1/4" mdf patterns ...
and here with a temporary spacer in the middle for fitting up the curved stretcher ... the real connecting piece was 'mason mitered' into the stiffeners at the tops of the vertical elements.
we decided to skip the middle stiffener and little outriggers at the ends. the middle stiffeners seemed 'extra' and the outriggers seemed to serve no purpose ... final photos next week sometime ... happy holidays ...