12 foot Oak Table

The friends of the family that ordered the Walnut table asked if I would do a table for them.
They wanted 9 feet but expanding to 12 feet.
The challenge is they wanted the leaves to go into the ends, which isn’t too bad on a traditional table, but presented a challenge with the trestle table.

My solution for the structural strenth is that there is essentially an I-beam that is dovetailed to the end apron that is 4.5 feet long and is supported as a cantilever in through the end pedestals.
To prevent racking, there are slides mounted to the side aprons to support the ends of the leaves.

The pedestal detail is something they saw in an Eddie Bauer home catalog, but was only available as a 6 foot table with leaves in the center.
The first photo is of the finished project with the leaves in in the driveway on delivery day
Second photo is the base construction, you can see where the center rail is contained in the trestle

The third photo is one of the pull out ends. of course the rails are dovetailed into the apron on that breadboard so that it cannot be pulled off. The leaves also have aprons which cover the metal slides on the ‘outriggers’. Fully extended I can sit on the edge (250 pounds) without any creaking or groaning…Of the table I mean ;-)
‘Funny’ was that they like Oak and did not want a dark table like the Walnut I built before. Yet at the end they wanted the same chocolate brown. So back to Mosers Dye stains followed by dark Walnut grain filler to get the surface right.

Finish is with waterlox. I love the look of danish oil, but the Waterlox has more solids and provides better protection, while still not seeming as glassy/plastic as a heavier polyurethane. Also it is easy to renew, and this family had 6 children all younger than 10.

-- Its never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.