What I can get so far, Soboba woods:
Maple $6.85/bf
White ash $4.95/bf
Euro Beech $5.95/bf (extremely nice)

Hayward Lumber,
Maple 8/4 $4.87/bf (deal ay?)
6/4 $4.76/bf


Wow. That sucks to be you. I thought that most any region would have
*something* under $3/bf


What is a staggered joint?

It's not a formal term; like bricks, so that the butt ends don't all line up
in a row.

I agree with that entirely now. Same woods to be used.

I was thinking of a 8x4 DF beam for a rear length-wise stretcher, using a
blind
tennon/mortise into the leg, and then a fat healthy bench bolt going
through the
tennon, the nut being a round cross dowel in circular hole, in the beam.
1/2" bolt,
head sunken in a counter bore. Then a 4x4 or 6x4 up front, same joint.
With this
idea, there would be a single shelf resting on the 4x4 but going into a
route in
the rear 8x4. 2x6 stretchers for the side ends.

But perhaps that's just my personal overkill.

Now you can see MY personal overkill...hehe

Looks like my Mother has made it clear that she wants to preserve the
table and
get new legs for it... good grief! She cares that the table has been in
the family
for 40 years. sorry for that waste of time.

Done well, the bench could be in the family for another 80 :-)

So now back to the top again, for 8/4 stock, there is a length-wise joint
that is
like T/G, but there is a routed groove on either side of the board (width
dimention),
connecting boards with an inserted stave, is there a name for that joint?

Spline is the word you're looking for. A spline adds no structural value. It
can be helpful in aligning your glue- up though.

Personally I don't use them but other folks feel differently.


Alex