Tuesday, December 15, 2009

We Have Legs!


I canceled my backordered legs from Harbor Freight and swung by the Home Depot on the way home and bought two sets. They are not as high quality as I would like to have, but should work ok. They were $47 with tax.


What really surprised me (and the salesperson) was how small the boxes were! They are tiny! The legs are in kit form.


Here is one kit, two sets of legs, for one table. These are NOT as sturdy as those you would buy on a pop up table, so the next time I see some old tables for sale I may grab them and strip the legs off for a future module. The kit is comprised of 1" steel tubing of a light gauge and painted black. The legs are rated for 1,000 lbs when mounted on a table. Scott says bullshit.


Here is a partially assembled leg set. It does hold up well so far. My thought is that this layout will travel once or twice a year for the three years I might keep it, so they will be good enough. The question now is where do I buy some 1" steel tubing to make the extensions? In order to make the top of the benchwork 48" high, I need to add 16" to the legs plus whatever is needed to mount the leg extensions on to the new leg assembly. Probably another 3-4". The Sippin' and Switchin' Society welds their legs on. Not sure if I'm going that far. Maybe just epoxy.

Using the handy dandy dry marker board I made a sketch. While I'd like 16", I think we'll go with 15" since it more easily folds up under the layout sections.







2 comments:

  1. Scott, try using 1" dowels for the leg extensions. Works great. Have to turn them down a bit to get them to fit into the inside of the legs. Insert them about 2.5 to 3 inches into the legs. Cut to length.

    Don't worry about putting adjusters on the bottom. A wise man, Joe, once said "If you put adjusters on the bottom of the legs, guess what? You have to adjust them!" The modules are so light that (1) the wood dowels will work fine and (2) if a leg isn't quite touching the floor due to imperfection in floor, no big deal.


    Glen Frix, S&SSNC

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  2. Brilliant suggestion! I'll get some tonight and give it a try!

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