Leveling legs on a six-legged table

[Chris Merriam]

How's that for a tongue twister?? Sooooo, before I do something I regret, can I get some advice? I've just wrapped up a six-legged table/desk for the wife. It's almost 80 inches long, and about 14in wide. Normal apron construction. I glued it up in two sections, leg pairs A and B were glued together to form one half of the table, then the next day I glued leg pair C to it. Since I don't have an 80in long workbench, nor an assembly table that long, that second glue up was.....difficult....and done on my shop floor. It didn't go well, some of the joints didn't want to go together smoothly. I got through it, but I think I ended up skewing the base assembly a bit.

Fast forward to today, I bring it in to the house for a test fit, and my suspicions are confirmed, the legs are out of whack. I realize my floor probably isn't flat either, but I tried it in three places, and in two of them it rocked way too much.

I've read tips on how to level a four legged table on the table saw or workbench, but nothing on six legs.

Will this work: can I just place the table in its final spot, then note the height of the shortest leg (that is hanging in the air right now, about 3/16ths), then draw a scribe line on each of the other five legs, starting from the floor, and extending up that same 3/16ths, then cut along that scribe line?

It feels ok, but I don't want to start chasing my tail and end up with a coffee table before I know it!!

As a final FYI, it's actually the middle two legs that are the tallest, so the desk actually rocks left and right like a seesaw.

[Chris Merriam]

Here's what it looks like:
IMG_2395.JPG

[Danny Hamsley]

That is a beautiful table! Too bad you are not close to me. I could put it upside down on my sawmill and cut the legs all at the same time to get them level. Do you know anyone close by with a horizontal band sawmill like a Woodmizer LT40?

[Kent A Bathurst]

I would consider this approach:

Get a pack of the cheap beveled softwood shims from the BORG.

Use them on the outer 4 legs as you monitor a level on the table top. Get it level and non-rocking.

Then - - I would get another set of hands, and snap a chalk line from top-of-shims to top-of-shims, against the center legs. Once for the front set of legs. Once for the back set of legs.

Then - handsaw or sander, stopping short of the chalk line.

Check it out again, and sneak up on it slowly. You need to take the time -- breath in long, slow, breaths. If you overshoot, you just multiplied your problem................

At the end - some hard plastic shims would not bother me - - I'd think McMaster Carr or others have them in increments of one thou or so...........If I was off by 2 thou on one leg and 1 thou on another, I would put the tools down, shim those, and claim victory.

[Chris Merriam]

Thanks guys, unfortunately I don't know anyone with a horizontal bandsaw.

Kent, I like your approach, and yes I'm trying to be very cautious so I don't do something I regret. This is meant to be used as desk, and I didn't leave much wiggle room for the drawers and comfortable thigh-space. I think I'm going to have to take off a fat 1/8th, so probably go the handsaw route.

I'm trying to visualize your chalk line. I clearly see how it will mark the middle set of legs, but what about the legs on the outside? Take an extreme example, say I jack up one side six inches, and the other side only one inch. I snap a chalkline, and it won't tell me to remove anything from the outer legs, only the inner set. Am I thinking of this right?

[Kent A Bathurst]

Chris -

I did not explain myself well.

The center legs are long, from what you say. OK - - then leave them on the floor, and shim the other 4 only as much as needed to keep the level on-line, and eliminate the rocking.

This simply isolates the center leg deviation from target. On the front legs - - a chalk line held tight to the intersection of the left leg and the top of the shim is stretched to the far right leg at that same intersection, and snapped against the center leg. That tells you how much needs to be removed. On the back 3 legs - rinse, repeat.

If there is a difference in shim height from the left front to the right front - - well, then, the problem is more complicated than you thought. But - these steps will not have been in vain - they are necessary either way. And, hopefully, some [nearly] invisible plastic shims can solve this remaining issue[s].


If the real situation is 6" on the left, and 1" in the right, and the center legs are touching, then get a hatchet, make firewood, start over........ Mebbe take up fishing.

[Andrew Hughes]

If you don't want to build a flat referance surface in your shop to cut the long legs, a penny or dime or nickel are what I use under my hall tables in my house.
maybe someday you'll have a bigger assembly table to level the legs.Then it's just a simple as laying a flush trim saw on a piece of scrap and sawing around the long legs while its standing up.Its not hard to do at all.

[Wade Lippman]

I had to level an 8 legged bookcase; just shimmed with felt pads. Easy, looks fine.

[Chris Merriam]

Thanks all, that makes good sense.

I think I'll be fine using any of your methods on the front three legs, they are just marginally off. It's one leg in the back that is messed up due to my wacky glue up. It's about 2-3 times the error as the others, and is noticeably hanging in the air. So I think at a minimum I need to do something with that back row. Won't be doing anything until tomorrow after work so I'll take plenty of time to think it through.

I think my original thought is pretty close to what Andrew is saying about using a flush trim saw on a piece of scrap. I'm thinking that I shim both side of the table to get it level, then measure the gap on the gimpy leg. Say it's 3/16ths. I'll build up a piece of scrap so that when I lay my flush saw on it, it will cut right at 3/16ths above the floor. The two center legs will get the full 3/16ths chopped off. The other three outer legs, which are shimmed, will get a lesser amount cut off. I think this will put me back to where I should have been in the first place, then I can go with the felt pads for final finessing.

[Mike Henderson]

If the legs are big enough, I'd get some screw feet. Put one on each leg and adjust as needed. It will also allow you to move the table to another place where the floor might not be level.

If you don't want to do that, Kent's idea is good. Just go slow so you don't overshoot. And remember to level front to back as well as side to side.

Mike

[Kent A Bathurst]

Chris -- do whatever makes sense to you, and you are comfortable with. BUT - before you start cutting into the OEM legs' length, step back, take deep breaths and think about it a few times.

When you are digging a hole for yourself, the most important task is to throw the shovel away.

It is especially good that you have isolated the symptom, and have diagnosed the disease - that give you a better understanding of how to move forward.

If you do not get back to us with updates on what you did, and how it worked, then you are an unrepentant sissy.

[Mike Henderson]

Another approach is to make a shim from the same wood and attach it to the short leg with a dowel. People will not notice a tight glue line on a back leg.

Mike

[Pat Barry]

Before you do any cutting, can you verify the leg length by carefully measuring from the underside of the table top to the end of each leg. You could use a story stick and mark each leg. Assuming they are all OK then what you are saying is the top is not planar but warped a bit. You could trim the center legs as outlined by Kent above, but if the legs are all the same I would be tempted to use the felt pads and let it be for a while. If they are not the same length, then trim the long ones to even it all up

[Chris Merriam]

Thanks all, after a night spent dreaming of complicated angles and slopes and triangles (really!) I think I'm going to go with Kent's method and just cut the two center legs. My hope is that will put me close enough to then finish with the "leveling with felt pads" technique.

[Marion Smith]

My think outside the box plan on this one would be go buy an assortment of felt feet in various thicknesses, put two thin ones on the center legs, then stack the L & R ones until it stands stable. Kill 2 birds with one stone.. Level the table, and protect the hardwood floor as well.