Help me find ideas for an oak trestle table

[AJBaker]

I have part of a huge old oak barrel that I got for free about two years ago. It was going to be thrown away or turned into firewood!

I'd like to get around to making a dining table out of this wood, but I'll need to first come up with a design, and also figure out how I plan to work this lumber into a piece of furniture.

Here's the material I've got (more or less, I haven't yet taken precise measurements):

- The bottom of the oak barrel, which is an oval of about 2.20m x 1.50m. Each board is about 65mm thick and the whole oval is chamfered at the edge.

- a handful of boards from the side of the barrel. They're curved, about 2m long, and thinner in the middle.

- a 2m x 40cm oak board probably from the top of the barrel. It has an extra hole with some kind of tap.


I'm thinking of using the oval as the tabletop, but maybe leaving off parts of the side to make the table less wide (shaoe would be an oval with straight sides). I could also leave the shape as is, but maybe have an excessively wide table.

This tabletop would also be massively heavy, so it would in theory make sense to resaw the boards to gain inch thick boards and still have a 40mm tabletop, but I don't think I have the kit for that kind of job. Also, I've been told that old oak from barrels is particularly rough on saw blades.

It would be cool to use the curved sides to somehow make legs or trestles, but it'll be a challenge to make something that isn't too lightweight compared to the top.

What do you think? A project worth starting, and any cool ideas? Thanks!

 

[Eshmiel]

I have part of a huge old oak barrel that I got for free about two years ago. It was going to be thrown away or turned into firewood!

I'd like to get around to making a dining table out of this wood, but I'll need to first come up with a design, and also figure out how I plan to work this lumber into a piece of furniture.

Here's the material I've got (more or less, I haven't yet taken precise measurements):

- The bottom of the oak barrel, which is an oval of about 2.20m x 1.50m. Each board is about 65mm thick and the whole oval is chamfered at the edge.

- a handful of boards from the side of the barrel. They're curved, about 2m long, and thinner in the middle.

- a 2m x 40cm oak board probably from the top of the barrel. It has an extra hole with some kind of tap.


I'm thinking of using the oval as the tabletop, but maybe leaving off parts of the side to make the table less wide (shaoe would be an oval with straight sides). I could also leave the shape as is, but maybe have an excessively wide table.

This tabletop would also be massively heavy, so it would in theory make sense to resaw the boards to gain inch thick boards and still have a 40mm tabletop, but I don't think I have the kit for that kind of job. Also, I've been told that old oak from barrels is particularly rough on saw blades.

It would be cool to use the curved sides to somehow make legs or trestles, but it'll be a challenge to make something that isn't too lightweight compared to the top.

What do you think? A project worth starting, and any cool ideas? Thanks!

I've made two oak tables that might appeal and be possible from what you have in that barrel - a 3ft X 6ft trestle table and a smaller round-top table-for-four inspired by a Gimson design. Both are over-engineered as part of their style. Mortise & tenon and housing joints are the main construction theme. Decorative effects are minimal - chamfers and lambs tongues for the most part.

 

[AJBaker]

Nice! I especially like the double columns on the trestle table, they look good.

 

[Orraloon]

Can you post pics of the barrel wood so we can have a better idea of how the bent staves may be used. Seeing is understanding. A lot of wine barrels are fired so the inside is scorched black charcoal. Thats likely why its bad for blades. Still the sacrifice of of a blade or two would be worth it for a project of this scale.
Regards
John