Coopered Leg Hall Table

Coopered legs and tusk tenons build the structure of this beautiful hall table

- Doug Stowe

PROJECT #2310

Skill Level: Beginner

Time: 3 Days

Cost: $150

During the start of the Covid pandemic and as things were shutting down, my wife, Jean, gave me a list of things to do, one of which was a small bench for the bathroom to sit upon while getting dressed. I made one out of ash, with coopered legs that gave it a great deal of stability. I was impressed by my own success and realized that the simple design could be easily adapted and applied to making a hall table, which you see here, also made of ash. The stability of this table comes in part from the shape of the legs, that can stand alone, even without the trestle standing between the two. In addition, the trestle and tusk tenons give it amazing strength and the tapering of the legs as they rise, give a sense of lightness to the solid plank top, while also giving visual weight to the base.

Why use Ash?

For a time, ash lumber was on the market cheap as foresters attempted to save material from the steady advance of the emerald ash borer, a beetle infestation ravaging American forests just as other deadly invasions had done to chestnuts and elms in generations past. I work with the firm belief that woodworkers have a responsibility to the environment that's fulfilled in part by making people aware of the beauty of natural woods and our duty to protect our forests.

1 Rip the trestle parts to width.

2 Set up a dado blade and position the first notch for the tenon mortise.

3 Remove the remainder of the waste from the mortise.

4 When complete, the pair of notches form a mortise.

Form the Trestle Mortise