Wobbly/Shaky hairpin leg table


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Hey guys! My friend and I have built a conference table (7.5'x3.5') and attached the 3-rod hairpin legs yesterday. We've made the table out of some old pine from a horse racing track, so the boards are a little warped and aged. We've glued and biscuit joined about 8 boards of different sizes together for the top, and screwed the legs directly into the table using threaded inserts for easier removal and attachment when we move the table.

The table is sturdy enough when we shake it long-ways, but it's too shaky short-ways and needs stabilized in some way. One leg is off the ground a bit because the wood is pretty warped, but we can fix that by shimming the leg bracket where we attached it to the table.

Is there any advice for this to help the shakiness? Would some cross bracing along the bottom help, either metal or wood? Would adding an apron design and attaching the table top to the apron be more sturdy, even if it takes away from the aesthetic of the hairpin leg look?

It seems to me that hairpin legs are just naturally wobbly, but it makes me think it's fixable when the table shakes less in one direction. I'm personally not a huge fan of them, but the person we're making the table for requested hairpin legs.

Thanks so much for any thoughts, I appreciate it a lot!

Steve

Table, unfinished with legs on.jpg

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I agree that this is a structural problem.  Take two long pieces of stock (like 2 x 4's only reasonably straight) and clamp them length-wise like cauls to stiffen the top.  Now see how your wobble is.  If it is reduced we can blame the span being too great for the material or thickness of the top.  The good news is that you could probably devise some sort of stiffening under-structure that would not be too visually apparent.

table cauls.JPG

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13 hours ago, wdwerker said:

I have used a few washers to shim the legs so they are slightly splayed . You could also add a apron to stiffen up the top.

Steve is right, you need to splay the legs out a little. Even then I think you are going to have to incorporate some sort of apron to help stabilize it. Once you splay the legs out I would try adding the apron to lock the legs in once they are splayed out some.

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