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Step 10The base, step seven - Assembling the trestle
Put it all together
Take two 24" long sections of 3/8" threaded rod. If you bought 6' lengths, cut off two 24" long lengths. On one end of each, place a washer and a nut. Screw on the nut only half way, you don't want the end of the rod protruding.
Thread the rods through one of the legs, then set the leg flat on the table. Insert dowels into the dowel holes. Place the matching stretchers into place. Put dowels into the dowel holes at the top end of the stretchers. Place the other leg onto the threaded rod and settle it down onto the dowels. You'll probably have another opportunity to whack away with your rubber mallet.
When you have the other leg seated, the threaded rods will extend father than you want them to. You'll want to mark them so they can be cut to length. Place a washer and a nut on each threaded rod, and then tighten down the nut to pull everything tight. Depending upon the wrench you are using, and how much longer the rod is than it needs to be, you may find it necessary to stack up a number of washers, so that the nut is positioned where the wrench can operate on it.
Once you have pulled everything tight. remove the nuts and washers, wrap a piece of tape around the end of each of the rods, and then mark on the tape where the rod should be cut. You want to cut it slightly below flush. Then take everything apart.
Cutting the rods
There's nothing very tricky about cutting the rods. Clamp them to your temporary table, and cut them off with a hacksaw. Make sure you're using a sharp blade. While you're setting up the clamps,. you can think to yourself how nice it will be once you're able to use the vise for jobs like this.
The hacksaw will often damage the last thread when it cuts. Running a nut off the end will fix this. You'll have to run the nut all the way down from the other end. This doesn't take long, if you chuck up the rod in your drill and let it do the work. Hold the rod vertically, with the drill pointing down, and just hold on to the nut enough to keep it from spinning.
Assembly
When you have the rods cut to length, put everything together the way you did before, and you'll have your first trestle.
Take two 24" long sections of 3/8" threaded rod. If you bought 6' lengths, cut off two 24" long lengths. On one end of each, place a washer and a nut. Screw on the nut only half way, you don't want the end of the rod protruding.
Thread the rods through one of the legs, then set the leg flat on the table. Insert dowels into the dowel holes. Place the matching stretchers into place. Put dowels into the dowel holes at the top end of the stretchers. Place the other leg onto the threaded rod and settle it down onto the dowels. You'll probably have another opportunity to whack away with your rubber mallet.
When you have the other leg seated, the threaded rods will extend father than you want them to. You'll want to mark them so they can be cut to length. Place a washer and a nut on each threaded rod, and then tighten down the nut to pull everything tight. Depending upon the wrench you are using, and how much longer the rod is than it needs to be, you may find it necessary to stack up a number of washers, so that the nut is positioned where the wrench can operate on it.
Once you have pulled everything tight. remove the nuts and washers, wrap a piece of tape around the end of each of the rods, and then mark on the tape where the rod should be cut. You want to cut it slightly below flush. Then take everything apart.
Cutting the rods
There's nothing very tricky about cutting the rods. Clamp them to your temporary table, and cut them off with a hacksaw. Make sure you're using a sharp blade. While you're setting up the clamps,. you can think to yourself how nice it will be once you're able to use the vise for jobs like this.
The hacksaw will often damage the last thread when it cuts. Running a nut off the end will fix this. You'll have to run the nut all the way down from the other end. This doesn't take long, if you chuck up the rod in your drill and let it do the work. Hold the rod vertically, with the drill pointing down, and just hold on to the nut enough to keep it from spinning.
Assembly
When you have the rods cut to length, put everything together the way you did before, and you'll have your first trestle.
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http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=784
Woodcraft has some similar products:
http://www.woodcraft.com/Family/2001036/Table-Top-Fasteners.aspx
And a lot of folks make their own:
http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/techniques/archive/2009/02/25/elegant-table-top-fasteners.aspx