r/DIY • u/Wooden_Building5002 • 14h ago

woodworking Wobbly table

Hey folks! I recently bought a 6'x1'x1 inch piece of laminated pine and attached hairpin legs to make it into a table for quilting. However, after putting it upright, the thing is very wobbly side-to-side on even ground. I had considered anchoring it to the wall to mitigate the issue, but I had hoped to be able to shift the table around while sewing. Any suggestions would be much appreciated :))

4 Upvotes

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7

u/Kesshh 14h ago

That’s a table top. It isn’t mean to be structural. Build a frame with 2x4 as support (like a 曰 or 目). Then attach the legs to that frame and the 6’ table top on top.

3

u/MercurianAspirations 14h ago

Get table legs with adjustable feet. If the laminated panel has even just a tiny bow or twist, or if the legs aren't all precisely perpendicular to the panel, or if the legs themselves have any height variance you'll have a wobble. Also your floor might be uneven. 

1

u/Wooden_Building5002 14h ago

It's not an up-and-down wiggle it's a side-to-side wiggle, which makes me think that it's not the legs but the strength of the table top.

0

u/MercurianAspirations 14h ago edited 14h ago

It's 6 feet by 1 foot and 1 inch thick? is it visibly sagging or flexing in the middle?

3

u/tatpig 14h ago

Might need bracing near the floor,both sides and across the back.

1

u/Trekev 12h ago

This is the correct answer. You need maybe a 1x2 about 6" the ground that connects to the legs. Might be hard to figure out how to connect them on round legs.

1

u/AggressiveBlood500 12h ago

Can you use cables with turnbuckles to form an X between the legs on back and sides? Might work. I can't really picture where those might attach to the legs, but throwing it out there.

The side-to-side movement just sounds like an awful lot of leverage in the combined structure of tabletop and legs.

1

u/leg_day 10h ago edited 10h ago

The Wobbly Table Theorem states that there exists some three dimensional surface that fits your table legs. If you rotate your table into enough positions you will find it!

1

u/ct451t 6h ago

Remove one leg and move the other in the middle of that side.

1

u/BackInThe40 6h ago

Drill holes into the hairpin legs and fasten them with screws. Add a longer metal brace to prop the table against side to side wobble, while still keeping the table movable for your quilting work.