I’m building a poker table(4’x8’x30″)with a trestle base. I want to make the trestle feet short but safe. The table top will weigh 150+ lbs. It is likely that people will lean on it. What, if any, are the guidelines for table bases for a given height and width ?
Tom
Replies
Tom,
Have you considered the stress on the post- to- cleat joint on a trestle table 48" wide? Charles Durfee, FWW 141, March/April 2000 built a really nice one. He states that anything over 36" wide will need a double post and beam (stretcher) design. The trestle tables I've seen have the cleats almost as long as the top is wide, and the feet not much shorter. This table In FWW 141 has a top 34 1/8" wide, cleats 28" long and foot 24" long.
A possibility would be the "X" trestle design, a design of which is in Taunton's Tables. Very old and strong design.
Pete
Pete,
Thanks for your input, I will look at your references. I do intend to do a "double post" design, with a width of 20". My concern is tipping. Regardless of support design, stability is going to be center of gravity vs footprint. I've googled for about an hour on this topic but I haven't found any guidelines. It may be fastest and surest just to build a testcase.Tom
I've noticed something lately. My 60lb. coffee table with relatively narrow base does not tip very easily when the toddler (Violet) tries to climb its edge. The 10lb. bench beside it with a larger base in proportion to its top is in danger of tipping if mounted the wrong way by the same toddler.So I think the weight of your table should do a lot to ease your concern. Show me the same proportions with 1/10 the weight and I'll tip it with two fingers . . . for example. But keep the base at least almost three feet wide if the table is four? Working around the feet of the trestle isn't nearly as bad as dealing with the legs of a standard table, after all, and I think the players will enjoy the design no matter how wide the base is. Personally, I say 3'4'' to 3'6''. How's that? Brian
The table being that wide won't have a stability problem. Set the outer edges of the feet in about three inches so they won't be a trip hazard and you'll be fine.
John White
Shop Manager Emeritus of FWW
If you are going to have a group of men playing poker on a 4' wide table that weighs 150#, it would be a good idea to have a nice wide base. Most of the trestle table designs I have looked at have tops in the 30" to 32" range, and the braces (arms) and feet have been nearly as wide as the top. In addition, for a table as long as you are planning, you probably need to have some sort of brace tieing the stretcher to the top in the middle.
H,
Thanks for your input.Tom
Tom,
Another note: as another poster said, I would plan on a center cleat/post/foot.
Send pictures!
Pete
BIG feet more stable?
As long as you don't trip over your own feet!Chris @ http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com(soon to be http://www.flairwoodworks.com)
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Take it from a guy who spends alot of time at a poker table. I've built several similarly sized to the one you are building. 39" spread for the feet of the pedestals will work very well, and will not stick out too far to get in the way of the players.
Jeff
Tom:
There are a series of publications under the name Human Scale, you can find them on Amazon and likely others. Human scale deals with all kinds of furniture standards and human fitting issues. Lots of information on table overhang dimensions and base sizing etc.
Madison
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