Gary,
I built a very heavy solid cherry loose leaf cabriole leg dinning table that extends to 108″ when the 24″ single leaf is in place. My problem is the table sags in the middle with the leaf in place. When a string is run end to end the sag is 5/8 “. I have tried both wooden and metal slides to no avail.
Before I try to re-invent the wheel and start using shims etc. do you have any ideas or a place to seek help on how to fix the problem? This has to have come up before! Since this was a present to my daughter I am desparate for help. Any ideas?
Many thanks,
Gordon Davis DVM
Replies
This problem has come up before. It comes all the time in fact but in architecture, not woodworking. It's called cantilevering. You are asking your table slides to support a cantilever that they cannot manage.
Perhaps if they had some height to them, say in the 12" tall range, they might work. But table slides of metal or wood will not do this job as they're usually 2 or 3" tall.
Consider this: a stick measuring 1" x 1" has a certain bending resistance. Double its width and it will support twice as much. But if you double its height instead it will support 4 times as much as doubling its width. Your table slides need to be twice as tall or maybe 3 or 4 times as tall to do the job you're asking of them.
The best solution to your problem is to add a central base to your table or a movable gate or pedestal. Yes, big shims, but they will support this huge weight.
Frank Lloyd Wright was supposedly heard to murmur in his sleep when FallingWater, his seminal cantilevered house in Pennsylvania, was being built: "Too heavy, too heavy". Grand house, leaks badly. Good luck. Gary
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