Adjustable desk feet
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I'm putting together a rather ambitious design for a corner desk I hope to build in the future, seeing as I will have the room for it in a few weeks. The design is in 3 sections so far, and it spans 6 feet of wall in both directions in a corner.
Having lived in some houses in the past with rather poorly leveled floors i want to put in "feet" which can be adjusted up or down to level the entire desk as accurately as possible.
Any suggestions?
Obviously a notched peg/pin type of system isnt very accurate. Something with a threaded foot is what I am looking for, like these http://www.jwwinco.com/products/section7/
But designed for woodworking projects. Something I can just drill a hole and put in the whole unit at the bottom of the legs of the desk. I would like to be able to adjust it up to two inches if possible, just in case. The problem is I can't remember the name of these things to search for them
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You should be able to find a threaded insert type adjustable foot at a hardware store. If not, check at an appliance store, since washing machines and drying machines use these features.
Some of these may require that you use an adjustable jaw wrench, you know the type with the worm gear.
If the leg of the desk is significantly slender, you may want to consider a metal boot for each leg to keep the wood from splitting under stress of moving. There may actually be an adjustable foot that includes this boot. -
@mitcorb said:
You should be able to find a threaded insert type adjustable foot at a hardware store. If not, check at an appliance store, since washing machines and drying machines use these features.
Some of these may require that you use an adjustable jaw wrench, you know the type with the worm gear.
If the leg of the desk is significantly slender, you may want to consider a metal boot for each leg to keep the wood from splitting under stress of moving. There may actually be an adjustable foot that includes this boot.I like to over-build things, the smallest leg is 2x2 so that shouldnt be an issue.
The thing is, if I do go this route I will need several of them. Buying them one at a time from stores gets expensive. For example, T-Nuts (which I love to use) are nearly 80 cents a piece at the local hardware store, yet I can buy 100 of them for 9 dollars on ebay lol.
Do you have any alternative suggestions perhaps? I am familiar with all the tools required to build basically anything I want, I just lack practical experience in design.
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Hi, Masta Squidge:
You know, I probably should have taken a moment to look at the link to Winco that you provided. Those examples are basically what I was suggesting. Now, I understand that you are looking for something beyond.
Personally, when my first idea doesn't seem to fit, I start brainstorming with elaborate solutions bordering on sci-fi. I don't know how many bizarre tools I've invented in my mind for highly specialized tasks, while doing mundane jobs around the house.
Hope you find the right item. -
Blum, a major manufacturer of hinges and other cabinet hardware, makes leveling legs. They're designed for cabinets and are meant to be hidden behind a toe kick, but they are also designed to support the full weight of a cabinet. The alternative, I guess, would be a bolt held in place with a T-nut at the end of each leg.
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What are you doing with the legs and in what style is the desk designed? I think you could do what you want with the round inserts shown on your link of from Blum as David suggested. You could make your own feet from bolts and pieces of wood and as you say, use tee nuts or other threaded inserts. You could use coupling nuts like this:
Drill holes slightly smaller in diameter than distance between points. Then epoxy them into the holes. Grease or wax a bolt well and thread it into the coupler so that the threads don't get filled with the epoxy. If you need to, you'll be able to run a tap in and clean out the threads after the epoxy cures, too.
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The desk is purely utilitarian. I have shelves for my PS3 and Xbox 360 designed, in addition to an open area for my computer case to sit in.
There is a "center" section which goes in the corner and one "wing" section on either side. The left "wing" is for the electronics, while the right is going to have a tray type thing under the surface where i can stash a power strip so i have additional places to plug in any computers I happen to be fixing.
Im trying to make it so that I can build it in pieces over the course of a few trips out to my grandmother's house where the tools are. I also have "designed" a cheap means of mounting my two monitors. Swivel mounts would add extra cost that I don't want to deal with. With T-Nuts being 7-8 cents a piece combined with the fact that I will have to adjust heights because my monitors are both different, a simple solution cut out of plywood scraps should be strong enough to hold them.
Anyways, since you guys likely have far more practical experience than I do, I'll upload my current file for suggestions. With a couple minor notes xD
I'm also thinking about tossing a plastic grommet in the middle of the desk surface to handle the wires from my keyboard/mouse. Not sure if I want to "ruin" the clean top though. I also need to go through and name components, organize, and combine anything that is otherwise doubled. I will do this once I get the design sorted out.
On the "to-do" list is sorting out a proper height for the thing. I will do that once I know how much height whatever method I use for feet is sorted out.
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I'll wait to see your model. Relative to the cost of the lumber for the desk, tee-nuts or even the coupling nuts would be pretty cheap. One thing I would think about is if you have to extend the legs much, the lateral loads on the feet could be somewhat substantial. Tee-nuts are short and a bolt or the threaded foot will fit loosely inside. It won't take much to loosen them in the legs. You might drill the holes slightly under the diameter of the threaded part of the foot. Counterbore only deep enough to insert the tee-nut. Insert the tee-nut and thread in the foot or a bolt with the same thread pitch and cut threads in the wood. Unless the wood is hard like maple, the threads won't be great but they'll help and they'll prevent the feet from being wobbly.
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Oh I wouldn't think of using tee nuts for anything as substantial as legs. I'm sure it can be done but would involve more work than its worth. I like to save some money but I also like things to be done "right" (depending on who's definition you go with) but mostly I like things to last.
Just so you guys know, the right "wing" of the desk won't simply be supported by a single piece of 3/4. Im building in a 3-4 inch wide cabinet for my extra keyboards and wires and stuff. And yes I realize the three-legged approach with the center section is prone to tipping forward if it were on its own.
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Is the notch in the rear leg to allow cables to pass through from the monitors? If you plan to build this in sections, you might add some legs to the center one on either side of the "knee hole" so it'll stand up on its own.
Crossing posts.
So what are you going to use tee-nuts for? I thought you were talking about using them for adjustable feet.
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@dave r said:
Is the notch in the rear leg to allow cables to pass through from the monitors? If you plan to build this in sections, you might add some legs to the center one on either side of the "knee hole" so it'll stand up on its own.
Yeah thats what the notch is for.
I need to work on that considerably. I don't like the way that post is currently at all. Open for suggestions. The way it is now, there is nothing stopping it from just falling forward, short of throwing a couple bolts into it.
As for the t-nuts, it was just an example about prices of things in bulk compared to going to the hardware store. I'll really just be using them in the construction of the monitor stand. The "swivels" are so over-designed I don't think they will have any trouble holding the weight of a single monitor.
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Have you ever used McMaster-Carr? There are packages of 12 for as little as $3.50: http://www.mcmaster.com/#adjustable-feet/=bqads0.
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@ledisnomad said:
Have you ever used McMaster-Carr? There are packages of 12 for as little as $3.50: http://www.mcmaster.com/#adjustable-feet/=bqads0.
Thumbs up for awesome.
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Glad I could help!
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http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c241/MastaSquidge1/Desk_Render_1_50percent.jpg
The texture is a bit off in some places, but I think I have a suitable method for attaching that post now.
Sorry about the big file size. I think its the .gif I have on the screens xD
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I like the change you've made to the back corner and to the right side. I think you could mange without the channel cut in the back of that leg, though. Instead of joining the diagonal braces to the legs as you've shown, you could get more strength with lap joints.
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@dave r said:
I like the change you've made to the back corner and to the right side. I think you could mange without the channel cut in the back of that leg, though. Instead of joining the diagonal braces to the legs as you've shown, you could get more strength with lap joints.
You mean like this?
Thats doable. Didn't even think about that, I was wondering how I could do that better. I can certainly make that cut, but whats the best way to do it? Running it across the table saw a dozen times is one way, but I also have a mortise attachment for the drill press that would make that easy. I could even run the diagonal piece right THROUGH the center of the leg if I go that route. Forget the name of that joint...Would just have to pound together a small jig to hold it, hell, I might even have one already.
The channel cut into the back of the post is so I can staple in some of those plastic ties to hold power/monitor cables. If anything I'd like it to be a bit larger, but I don't like to have structural things break on me. The only reason it runs all the way to the floor is because it might be simpler just to make the cut down the entire length rather than try and only do part of it.
In case you are wondering how I have all these tools and only half a brain to put them to use, its because my grandfather (who recently passed away) had a very large collection of woodworking tools. It has since been passed on to myself and my cousin, who likes to carve. I know how to USE pretty much every basic tool you can name, and a few of the more specialized things like kreg jigs, mortise attachments, stuff like that.
So the functional experience is there to be able to do a lot of stuff, but only now do I have sufficient space (to put it) and money to buy materials. Designing things is another story, so I do greatly appreciate suggestions.
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That's what I had in mind. There's probably some sort of dado set in your grandfather's shop. It's a stack of blades to go on the table saw. You'll have to make several passes with it to get the width--max for the dado set is usually 3/4". You could do a mortise and tenon joint but it would be a little more of a challenge to get right. Not much but a little.
I think I would still forgo the channel on the back and make it flat. That's easier and you'll still have room for cable tie holders. You'll have more room at the bottom for the foot hardware.
Remember, count 'em when you go in and again when you come out. The number is supposed to be the same.
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@dave r said:
That's what I had in mind. There's probably some sort of dado set in your grandfather's shop. It's a stack of blades to go on the table saw. You'll have to make several passes with it to get the width--max for the dado set is usually 3/4". You could do a mortise and tenon joint but it would be a little more of a challenge to get right. Not much but a little.
I think I would still forgo the channel on the back and make it flat. That's easier and you'll still have room for cable tie holders. You'll have more room at the bottom for the foot hardware.
Remember, count 'em when you go in and again when you come out. The number is supposed to be the same.
Im about 80% sure he never had a set of dado blades, otherwise I will just use those. Much easier than trying to hold the board at some odd angle on a drill press. I'll probably just use the table saw to make them, when the time comes.As for the channel, the idea is to be able to hide all the cables entirely. If I made it flat they would still be visible from either side. Cutting the channel is much easier than trying to cut it at an angle. Two passes over the saw and its done. but once I have the back cut, that front face will be easier.
Cutting the flat front on that post will be harder by far. It doesn't go all the way down. As for there being room on the bottom of the foot, the area at the bottom is essentially three 2x2 squares in an L shape. The foot has more wood to go into on the post than any other ones.
I don't want to sound like I am arguing your point though! I do see what you are saying.
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So what tools are actually in the shop?
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