Ply trestle table

You will need

Cost: $110 excluding Resene products.

Instructions

Step one — Strengthen the top

Make a brace around the ply edge. This will thicken its profile, add rigidity and prevent sagging in the middle. Glue, clamp and screw both 1500mm x 70mm pieces along both long edges. Glue, clamp and screw two 680mm x 70mm pieces along the short edges.

Step two — Make two trestles

Each trestle is made up of eight pieces of wood. Both halves of each trestle are made up of two legs, each with a top and a bottom brace. They are attached at the top with two hinges and rope at the bottom stops them from opening too wide. Glue and screw two 680mm x 70mm pieces (lateral braces) onto two 744mm x 70mm pieces (legs). Attach one piece so that it’s flush with the top of the legs and the other lower brace 140mm up from the bottom of the legs. Use the underside of the tabletop as a jig (to ensure everything is square). Repeat until you have four leg sections.

Step three — Fit the trestle stop rope

Drill a hole in the centre of each lower brace. To attach the two halves of each trestle, turn them over, lay them flat with the inside facing up and with each top end facing each other. Screw these together with the hinges to make two sets of legs.

Step four — Cut two lengths of rope

Each should be 500mm. Secure each end with tape to stop it from fraying and thread it through the lower brace holes on each trestle. Lock them in place by tying a knot at each end.

Step five — Sand off rough edges

Now you’re ready to paint or stain. I masked off my edges when painting, so there’s a contrast between the matte whitewashed table top and the ply-laminate edges.

Project by: Jacob Leaf

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