Please help
I have a table that is swinging and I do not know what the problem is or how to stabilise it without fastening it to a wall.
As far as I know, all the legs are the same height. They are quite heavy +/- 5kg per leg. Currently I have a masonite door on top as top. I want to change this to solid wood, but are scared to spent the money if it will still not be stable.
On top of the legs I have a steel plate 15cm x15cm x 2mm. 2 Screws are going down into the leg and on all 4 corners of the plate I have screws going up into the door/top.
if i push on the side of the table it swings forward and back. All 4 legs stay on the floor. The table just swings.
I love the legs.
Have used similar legs before with a tempered glass top, that was uv glued to the legs with no problem.
Please advise what the mistake was too so that I can learn for future designs.
Yours sincerely
Christelle
Replies
It sounds like the legs are not exactly even or else the floor is not completely flat. I would suggest that you slide one or more playing cards or business cards under one of the legs that are moving and see if that corrects the problem. Once you have identified the leg that needs attention, you can glue or epoxy a small shim to the bottom.
Jim
Table Top
It sounds like the top is too light in weight. Put 50 or more pounds on top of the table and see if the problem is less -
SA
With only two screws through the plate and into each leg you have a line of rotation formed by the two screws, and huge leverage due to the length of the legs. I'd suggest at least three screws into each leg, with the screws describing the llargest triangle possible, or four screws describing as large a square as possible.
In addition, if the door is hollow the lower skin can flex easily and those screws can pull out easily.
Can you find a pretty darn straight reference as wide as the tabletop? If one person holds this straightedge against the bottom of the top and a second person pushes sideways to make the table swing, and both are watching carefully the screws, plates, and bottom of the table, you may be able to see what is allowing the swinging.
A couple of screws just isn't adequate to hold legs to a top. At the very least. if I didn't have rails between the legs I would want a round tenon at least an inch in diameter going into a hardwood top. It should penetrate into the top as far as possible. A wedged through tenon would be a good thing, but if accurately fitted, a tenon that doesn't penetrate fully, stopping short something like 1/4" or so should work. . The top would have to be solid enough for that tenon to have real substance surrounding it. I'd think at least a 2" thick top of hard wood. .
I would suspect:
1. the legs themselves... they appear rather slender in places. They could be flexing.
2. The steel attachment plate is too thin. Use at least 3/16" (5 mm) in thickness.
3. The attachment screws.
4. As another suggested.. be sure the masonite door surface isn't flexing.
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