I just got stern orders from the top to drop all active projects (except yard work) and finish this one…
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I just got stern orders from the top to drop all active projects (except yard work) and finish this one…
My wife came home with a second-hand desk before the move. Upon setting it up, we discovered one leg was wobbly and unusable, thus so was the desk. No mention of the problem from the seller, naturally, and the desk was disassembled when bought for transport.
She needs it in her office. I need it out of my shop area.
(Start of thread…)
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I don’t have an assembled photo yet, but the skinny legs are joined to the overly-heavy top by rather short M10 bolts with wood threads on one end (screwing into legs) and metal threads on the other (into the desk).
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G gustavinobevilacqua@mastodon.cisti.org shared this topic
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The problem (and cause) with the lame leg was apparent upon inspection. Two hairline cracks had formed on opposite sides of the screw hole in the top of leg. Their trajectories highlighted with black here. The hole would no longer hold the screw tight.
The table had likely been dragged or pushed on the floor, torquing the week join and cracking the leg, which is no surprise. It’s a wonder they all didn’t crack.
The construction is poorly conceived, but my wife likes it. So, to task.
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I’m still not certain of my approach, but it might be best to start with the hole. In theory, if I bore that out twice as wide, plug, and rebore to original hole diameter, that fixes at least half the width of the cracks.
But if I also drill lateral holes at bottoms of cracks, preventing further running, I might even be able to glue them after the bore-out as they should flex open easier with all the waste removed.
Other ideas welcome. I’m diving in soon. But first a trip to hardware store.
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Received good advice about adding a ferrule to the leg top, in addition.
The available width for that is 9mm. Not a lot. Enough? I could take off that top ring of wood, too, for more ferrule width. That would bring it to about 25mm, a good band, and removing more crack in process.
Maybe I can find a wood curtain ring, smooth it inside, and slide it over the ferrule. A fake ring. But it wouldn’t really matter. This will be a back leg and nobody would see the mod anyway.
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Now you absolutely have to buy a metal lathe
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Went looking for metal tube today to make a suitably-sized ferrule. The leg round at top is 34mm. I tried to find pipe that size with a 1–2mm wall. Nothing even close to that diameter. At home I remembered I had tubes left me in the hangar, and sure enough there was a length of galvanized pipe, 33,7mm with a 2,5mm wall. Solid. So, I’ll take off a band of wood on the leg (sneak up on it) and that should work.
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Now you need a suitable lathe to clean it!
I try to say "Oh, if only I had a lathe!" at least three times a day, to persuade my wife I absolutely need it (even if I know she'll have a lot of fun with it).Also "Look at that MTB! It's more expensive than a lathe!" is another great classic.
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Ferrule sized. Fit’s so good I had a hard time getting it back off for a photo.
Here shows the tools used.
I want to say, if you have files too worn out for metal, they still work great for fine wood removal, and sneaking up on snug fits like this.
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New washer and ferrule made. The washer now fits as well as the ferrule, but with a tenth off to turn easier.
New bolt also cut. It’ll be 3 cm deeper than before. That puts it into the thickest part of the leg. I think that’s good enough.
Just need to drill and then assembly time.
But it’s been a long day. It’ll wait.
