There are two kinds of trestle desk: as with

trestle table In woodworking, a trestle table is a table consisting of two or three trestle supports, often linked by a stretcher (longitudinal cross-member), over which a board or tabletop is placed. In the Middle Ages, the trestle table was often litt ...

s, some have trestles joined by one or more

stretchers A stretcher, gurney, litter, or pram is an apparatus used for moving patients who require medical care. A basic type (cot or litter) must be carried by two or more people. A wheeled stretcher (known as a gurney, trolley, bed or cart) is often ...

(and sometimes to the desktop), and some have free-standing trestles. They can be dismantled, with the desk top removed from the

trestles ATLAS-I (Air Force Weapons Lab Transmission-Line Aircraft Simulator), better known as Trestle, was a unique electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generation and testing apparatus built between 1972 and 1980 during the Cold War at Sandia National Labora ...

, for storage or transport.

Antique trestle desk (linked trestles)

The antique{{clarify, date=May 2021 trestle

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks of ...

has linked trestles. It is usually very much like the

writing table A writing table (French ''bureau plat'') has a series of drawers directly under the surface of the table, to contain writing implements, so that it may serve as a desk. Antique versions have the usual divisions for the inkwell, the blotter and th ...

desk form, which offers a simple flat desktop surface with a few drawers underneath it. Unlike the writing table the trestle desk is supported by two legs instead of four, and the legs are designed to be dismantled easily in order to store or move the desk efficiently. More precisely, the two legs are two strong side supports which branch out in two feet each (for a total of four) at the bottom. These trestles are fastened together, and sometimes to the desktop, to make a rigid support. Some antique trestle desks are fitted with small cubbyholes and nooks or small drawers at the extremity of the work surface, and thus resemble a

bureau à gradin A bureau à gradin is an antique desk form resembling a writing table with, in addition, one or several tiers of small drawers and pigeonholes built on part of the desktop surface. Usually the drawers and pigeonholes directly face the user, but the ...

. As with most antique desk forms, this trestle desk surface is usually 29 inches (73.7 cm) from the floor (suitable for handwriting).

Modern trestle desk

The modern trestle desk is not so much a desk form as a desk improvisation. In shape and manufacture it sometimes resembles certain variations of the antique field desk which was used by officers not too far from the battlefield. Basically, the modern trestle desk improv is a plank of wood set on two trestles. It is eminently portable, and eminently practical, when care is taken to provide stable trestles. The advent of the cubicle desk created a market for independent desk elements of all kinds, such as short, rolling filing cabinets. These proved suitable for use under a trestle desk and encouraged improvisation. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, a desk or a table set on X-shaped trestles is sometimes called a sawbuck table. See also the list of desk forms and types.

References

*Gloag, John. A Complete Dictionary of Furniture. Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 1991. *Moser,Thomas. Measured Shop Drawings for American Furniture. New York: Sterling Publishing Inc., 1985. Desks Portable furniture