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Thread: Need help with finishing table project: screw holes and a short leg

  1. #1

    Need help with finishing table project: screw holes and a short leg

    Hey Creekers,

    I am almost done with a kind of goofy project that I have been working on where I sandwiched yellowheart between walnut for an entry way table. This is the prototype so it's not perfect!

    Anyway, I have two issues before I can apply the finish. I tried searching the site but I couldn't find the exact answers I was looking for:

    First, due to the way that I had to accomplish final assembly (and probably some slightly-off dimensions), I ended up with one leg that's ~0.10" shorter than the rest on a flat surface....they are all of equal length when disassembled. The picture below is taken with the table upside down and a piece of MDF on top of it to assess the level of the legs. I figure the easiest way to "fix" this issue is to add an appropriately-thicknessed shim under that one leg since my wife won't care (this one is her piece). Alternatively, just using differently-thick felt pads would probably work too. However, given that the glue has to go on before I can get to this level of measurement accuracy, how does one level (shorten) the other legs after assembly (and therefore after sufficient clamping leverage is not available) without spending a lot of time hand-sanding the edge grain? Do I just go at them with a ROS and be very cautious and patient?

    Second, because of the delicate joinery to the table's top, I thought the only way to ensure long-term stability in the entire piece was to use screws to affix the shelf to the legs. Now I have these holes that need to be filled/covered. My preference (and the reason I am reaching out) is to fill them by getting as close to the yellowheart's color as possible. I tried mixing a good amount of the yellowheart sawdust into some epoxy in a test piece. That worked, but the color is still pretty grayish looking. Is there a better technique to accomplish this, or should I drive the screws a little deeper, bore out the holes a little more, and then just go with a yellowheart plug? My easy alternative is to just use walnut plugs but again I would prefer to hide these screw holes rather than bring attention to them.

    Thanks for any advice you might be able to provide. The zoomed-out picture is just for perspective.

    -Joe

    TablePerspective.jpg ShortLeg.jpg ScrewHole.jpg

  2. #2
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    I would counter bore the screw hole so the head of the screw is at least 1/4" below the outside surface of the leg. Then use a plug cutter to cut a plug from a similar grain piece of the yellowheart. Carefully orient the grain of your plug with the grain of the hole and glue the plug in place. Once the glue dries sand the plug down to the surface and your hole should nearly disappear.

    It would appear that your table top may have a cup in it if the pieces are all equal in length when disassembled. If you can't flatten the table top your only recourse is to trim the other three legs.
    Lee Schierer
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  3. #3
    Place the piece where it is going to be used, you may not need to do anything to the other legs. Most floors will have some variation and it may be fine. If not suitable then place sandpaper on flat surface and then sand the other 3 legs.

    I would try try to do a plug from a piece of scrap.

  4. #4
    Wood plug is probably the best way to go. Looking at the design you probably would have been fine just using a good glue.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul K. Johnson View Post
    ... Looking at the design you probably would have been fine just using a good glue.

    I agree; or if you just had to have a screw for peace of mind, a pocket screw from the bottom of the shelf into the leg would have been much easier to disguise.

    As for the short leg; I personally wouldn't fool with a shim, make the other legs match the short one.

  6. #6
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    I also vote for plugs to cover the screw heads. And I think I'd go for the old tried and true method of making legs match - put a piece of 80 grit PSA sandpaper down on a table saw top. Sand until you get a solid stance and level top. Then final sand with finer grit.
    Brian

    "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger or more complicated...it takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction." - E.F. Schumacher

  7. #7
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    Fill those screw holes with yellow heart plugs with careful grain matching for best results. Sawdust and glue will always stand out more than using actual real wood plugs that are carefully matched.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  8. #8
    Thanks everyone! I went ahead and sanded the other three legs down last night before replies started coming in. I will work on the plug tonight. Thanks again!

  9. #9
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    Invest in a set of the tapered plug cutters from Lee Valley or elsewhere...very good to have in your shop to make plugs from scraps of the same material your project is built from so you can match both color and grain for each countersink you need to fill. Plugs will not be "completely invisible", but if you are careful, they will blend in very well.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  10. #10
    Thanks again everyone. I got a plug cutter from the local Rockler today and it worked out fine. I'm still kicking myself for not thinking of pocket screws as John Lanciani suggested. If I reproduce this prototype I will definitely use that. The cutter that I got at Rockler is tapered and it seemed to work out well enough. If I wasn't dealing with a darker-colored wood so nearby these spots, I think it would have turned out much better. At any rate, it's a prototype and again my wife and her guests will never notice these flaws that I will take to my grave (the list of woodworking mistakes is already long enough!). The other picture is after one coat of BLO because, you know, I'm lazy.

    Thanks again!!

    Plug.jpgFirstCoat.jpg
    Last edited by Joe Craven; 03-22-2017 at 10:11 PM.

  11. #11
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    So I'll give you an additional tip relative to the plugs and will refer you to your first photo in post #10 to start. Look at the grain pattern of the "sandwiched" yellow heart vs the plug. The plug is "plain cut" grain and the board is edge grain with a quartering effect. You want to cut your plug with the same orientation as the material it will live in...in this case, your plug needs to come from the edge of a similarly cut board so you get that QS/RS pattern. If you do that, it will disappear even more.

    And yea...that's a heck of a nice prototype!!! Send it to me if you don't want it. LOL
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  12. #12
    Thanks Jim. It may not be obvious but I did take the plugs from the edge grain of a scrap...they didn't come from the same boards as the legs due to uncareful inventory of scraps through my process (nor, I admit, did I pay too much attention to grain orientation). If I ever need this kind of "fix" again I will definitely heed your wise advice. Thanks so much!

    PS I think the next time that I do this I will take a banding/inlay approach with the lighter wood rather than sandwiching them all the way through. I love what I learned about gluing (pressing, really) these woods together but the contrast between the edge grains and side grains of the yellowheart is too much to be truly presentable using this technique. Thanks for the compliment, though. The Mrs. is happy so that's clearance to move on to the next project!
    Last edited by Joe Craven; 03-23-2017 at 10:29 PM. Reason: typos

  13. #13
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    Yea, I'd do banding for that leg inlay, too...and that means you can drill, countersink, fill and then band for a truly invisible attachment. It's also an opportunity to do some creative pattern routing to get the edge contours and inlay trough.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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