Strengthen leg joint after glue up

[Mr umbrella]

I am working on a table and my leg assembly (pictured) is 4 legs joined to a central hub. Each leg is attached with 6, 1/2 inch dowels. (see pre assembly photo) The assembly is strong. But, the table top is very heavy. 

I was considering drilling a long 1/2 inch hole through the legs and into the assembly at an angle. Then i would glue in a solid walnut 1/2 inch dowel. See the red line in the attached photo for where dowel would go. 

My thinking is that the dowel at a different angle than the others i used to assemble it would help with compression force on the joint. Is this a good idea, or will it not help add any strength?

 

Photos

[wtnhighlander]

The 6 dowels should be enough to resist the shear force applied to that joint. The added strength might be needed if the heavy top applies pressure in such a way that it pulls the dowels out. I would be tempted to use a screw and a plug, rather than another dowel.

[Coop]

On 1/11/2026 at 6:58 PM, wtnhighlander said:

The 6 dowels should be enough to resist the shear force applied to that joint. The added strength might be needed if the heavy top applies pressure in such a way that it pulls the dowels out. I would be tempted to use a screw and a plug, rather than another dowel.

I think he means that the last 1/2 walnut dowel mentioned will a plug to cover the screw head.

[Von]

Welcome to the forum! Nice looking table.

I'm curious: are you seeing a problem or anticipating one? Given the amount of glue surface, I would suspect what you have would suffice. Yeah, your top is heavy, but it's distributed over four legs.

If what you have isn't working, echoing @wtnhighlander I wouldn't be inclined to add another dowel, I'd consider a couple through bolts each going through a pair of legs and the hub. They would then be hidden behind plugs.

Good luck!