I'm making a dining room table by gluing alternating strips of ash and lyptus in a butcher block style. The size of the tabletop will be about 29"W x 43"L x 1" thick. The top will probably be relatively heavy given the wood used.

Because this table will be used with bench seating, I wanted to avoid a traditional four-leg table to allow more legroom underneath for people to slide in and out. So I was going to make two pedestal-type legs using three 1x3's glued together to form 3x3's. Both legs would have an attached foot in the shape of a "+" sign - two crossed boards with a lap joint. The boards in the feet would be about 10-12" apiece. Finally, for stability, I was going to run a board about 8" off the ground connecting the legs to each other with M&T joints.

But looking at some pictures on Sawmill of others' projects, I now think that the two 3x3 pedestal legs are too spindly and may not support the table. So my questions are these:

1) Will my plan of two 3x3 legs, the "+" shaped feet, and the crosspiece be strong enough to support the table and the lateral movement it will inevitably face when the table is sled across the floor? Will the "+" shaped feet (maybe 12" per each of the two boards in the "+") and the crossing piece connecting the legs be sturdy enough?

2) Regardless of strength, is 3x3 too "spindly-looking" for a table of this size? Do I need bigger legs, or maybe I should go with two pairs of pedestals - one on each side?

3) Finally, what is a good system to attach table legs to the underside of the tabletop? Even if I decide to go bigger than 3x3, or use more than two pedestal legs, I will likely stick with square-profile legs. I was going to do vertical dowels, but read a recent thread here where a lot of folks don't like dowels.

Thanks! I will post pictures in the event the table actually stands up.