Trestle Style Dining Table

 I had never attempted to build a dining table, so I was intrigued, and ready to give it a shot when a friend asked me if I was interested in building one for him and his family to go into the home that they had recently purchased.  I fabricated it from poplar....a hardwood species, but one of the softer ones and in hindsight, it was a learning experience.  While I have always enjoyed working with poplar due to its fine texture and its stability in regards to expansion and contraction with moisture conditions and also its ability to mill very cleanly, I still will have to think about using it again for the main wood for large projects.  Just a tad to soft for my liking.  The entire project took five or six days from procuring the lumber to wrapping up the build of the table.  The staining and finishing of the table and the chairs took a few days more.  Customer chose Minwax Jacobean stain.  I thought it would turn out very dark, but it actually was pleasing to the eye at the end result as the "green" of the poplar mixed well with the tint of the stain and the result was a pleasing shade.  Topped it off with several coats of Deft satin brushing lacquer, sprayed at a dilution of 20 percent.  Just a few pictures of the process:

The chairs were purchased unfinished by the customer and I stained and finished to match.