table

To table timber is to secure two pieces of wood together using coaks, which are small hardwood dowels or pins driven through aligned holes that pierce both members. The term belongs to traditional carpentry and is now rare in modern practice, having been largely displaced by mechanical fasteners and modern joinery techniques.

The process involved drilling matching holes through overlapping or butted timber sections, then driving coaks (usually made of oak or other hard timber) into those holes so they engaged both pieces. The coaks would swell slightly when wet, creating a mechanical lock. This method was common in shipbuilding and heavy timber framing before the widespread adoption of bolts, lag screws, and metal plates.

Tabling fell out of use because it required precision drilling and was labour-intensive compared to bolted connections. Metal fasteners offered greater strength predictability, could be tightened or loosened, and left less room for timber movement to degrade the joint. By the early 20th century, the vocabulary around this joinery technique had largely disappeared from active trade speech.

The term persists in historical carpentry texts and maritime records, where detailed descriptions of ship construction from the 17th and 18th centuries describe tabling as standard practice for joining large timbers in hulls and frames. Anyone researching period building techniques or restoring historic timber structures may still encounter the word in original specifications and craftsmen's notes.