French Polishing and Bespoke Furniture
Mounting blocks are a great way to attach legs to a table without aprons. They attach to the underside of your furniture with 4 screws (supplied). A 3/8” x 2 ½” bolt is installed part- way into the leg , the remaining ¾” of exposed threads are screwed into the mounting block.
Keep the bolts center and straight in the legs . If they are misaligned, the legs will appear crooked when you attach them to the T-nuts. To make this part easier, put a pair of metal nots on the end of each hanger screw. Tighten them, slip the screw into the wood , and then use the nuts to tighten the screws.
Step 1: Mark Out the Brackets and Use the Bandsaw to Cut Out. Step 2: Cut a Stool Base From the Old Chair Seat. Step 3: Cut All Legs to the Same Size. Step 4: Pre Drill the Centre of the Brackets and the Centre of the Legs . Step 5: Glue and Screw Legs to Brackets. Step 6: Attach Legs to Base of Stool .
For dining tables , position your legs 16-20” from the end of the table to allow for seating someone on the end. Mark all of your mounting holes with the legs in place .
The best way to stabilize almost any table is to add corner blocks to the legs . Look under almost any custom or expensive table . You’ll see angular blocks spanning across the top of leg diagonally from side to side, encasing the leg under the table apron, which is an overhang that goes around the table .
Place 2-inch screws in the holes. Drive them in tight enough so the head of the screw sinks slightly below the surface of the plywood . The leg should look like a “T.” Drill two holes, evenly spaced, through the plywood on each side of the extended edges of the plywood . Use a drill/driver and 3/16-inch bit.
To cut the legs , set you saw at a 5 degree angle and a 5 degree bevel. Trim off the end of the 2×2 as close to the end as you can. Then measure 23 1/4″ along the same edge and make a cut . You’ve got one leg .
Some sofa legs have hanger bolts that screw into T-nuts installed into the sofa . There are also screw-mounted sofa legs that attach directly to the sofa frame with wood screws. You can attach a leg to your sofa , regardless of the way it was originally attached.
The length of your leg is determined by first deciding what angle you want your leg to be cut at. If you use a 14 degree angle like most sawhorses that is the equivalent of a 12/4 pitch. This means that for every 12 inches of height you want your leg to have, it will kick out 4 inches.
Most dining chairs are 16″ – 20″ wide and you’ll want several inches of space between the table leg and the first chair and between each of the chairs. Typically, the rule of 24″ to 28″ per person works, but if you have abnormally wide or narrow chairs you may need to adjust accordingly.
Dining table legs are 29″, which leaves about an inch for top thickness. If you’re planning on a top thicker than one inch, you can shorten the 29″ legs to maintain a finished height of 30″. The apron boards that connect the table legs to form the base are generally about ¾” thick and 4″ wide.
For a coffee table , the ideal cleat length is 3” to 6” shorter than the width of your table top.