Table Repairs of the Dummy Variety

table leg bracket

Many of the staff believe that they could recognize a how-to article written by one of the freelancers at the former eHow.com just by reading through the "things you'll need" list. They're probably right: along with the planks, beams, and circular saws that show up in almost every post involving woodworking; you can expect to find a reference to "metal corner braces" whenever something wooden needs repairs. You know, like the botched job of "How to Install a Table Leg Brace" that John Walker wrote for HomeSteady.com.

Walker, already a four-time winner of the DotD, introduced his topic by asserting that,

"Table legs can become wobbly over time. Several furniture manufacturers construct contemporary tables with the legs braced against mounting boards running along the skirt of the table."

Based on that alone, we already know that John had no idea of what he was talking about: "mounting boards running along the skirt"? Did he even know what the skirt is? Be that as it may, Walker – drawing on his vast furniture-repair experience bolstered by a  book that contains no such information – proceeded to explain how this would be done at home:

"Adding a corner brace, an L-shaped or V-shaped strip of metal, to the table to strengthen the table legs is easy."

Ummm, yeah, John, that's what an experienced furniture-builder would do: stick in an "L-shaped... strip of metal"; or maybe a couple of them. More to the point, Walker said to install those "corner braces" of his with 1-inch screws driven into the leg and... into the table top!

Sadly, had Walker ever gotten down on the floor and looked at the underside of the nearest table, he would have learned that that is not how tables are braced. Such a "solution" would not stand up to the everyday abuse that tables receive.

No, a table leg is braced with much sturdier and, more to the point, extensive bracing. In the first place, the leg is not secured to the tabletop, it is secured to the skirt. In the second place, the easiest DIY solution for a wobble table leg is a pair of wooden corner blocks that are screwed and glued in place. If you really want to do it right, you buy a table leg brace of the type shown above. But the wimpy scraps of metal John called for? No way, José! 

Walker didn't know that, of course, he merely took the lazy way out and pretended that he knew how to do something he was too lazy to look up. You know what we do when we see that kind of freelancing? Yup: we hand the writer a Dumbass of the Day award.

DDIY - FURNITURE