Where to Find/Make Adjustable Table Legs?
 

I am making an outfeed table (converting from an old desk). Because of
the fact that the floor is very uneven and the outfeed table must be
moved around and cannot stay in one place, I would like to find a way
to easily adjust the height of the table. I think wheels with
adjustable height should be perfect for this application. But I cannot
find such a thing. There are many wheels available in Home Depot; but
their heights are not adjustable. Some wheels that have screw thread
are meant for attaching the wheels to an object and are not meant for
adjusting height – even if I try using it, I will find that the
adjustable range is very limit and is not convenient.

Can someone suggest a source of this type of adjustable wheels?

If this thing doesn’t exist, I would like to know a way to make
the length of a table leg adjustable and can be adjusted conveniently.

I am hoping that people who have constructed their outfeed tables may
have already solved this problem, and may want to share the solution
with me.

I know I could solve the problem by leveling the floor. But I had a
very hard time leveling my basement floor last year, and I don’t
look forward to do this again. I could have hired a pro to level the
floor; but I don’t want to spend good money on my old garage. I
would much rather spend on something that I can take with me when I
move to a new house.

Thanks.

Jay Chan

"Jay Chan" wrote in message
om...
I am making an outfeed table (converting from an old desk). Because of
the fact that the floor is very uneven and the outfeed table must be
moved around and cannot stay in one place, I would like to find a way
to easily adjust the height of the table. I think wheels with
adjustable height should be perfect for this application. But I cannot
find such a thing. There are many wheels available in Home Depot; but
their heights are not adjustable. Some wheels that have screw thread
are meant for attaching the wheels to an object and are not meant for
adjusting height – even if I try using it, I will find that the
adjustable range is very limit and is not convenient.

Can someone suggest a source of this type of adjustable wheels?

If this thing doesn’t exist, I would like to know a way to make
the length of a table leg adjustable and can be adjusted conveniently.

I am hoping that people who have constructed their outfeed tables may
have already solved this problem, and may want to share the solution
with me.

I know I could solve the problem by leveling the floor. But I had a
very hard time leveling my basement floor last year, and I don’t
look forward to do this again. I could have hired a pro to level the
floor; but I don’t want to spend good money on my old garage. I
would much rather spend on something that I can take with me when I
move to a new house.

Thanks.

Jay Chan

These guys have threaded casters.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...roductId=24399

http://www.castercity.com/eshop/10Ex...de=3ARF3X-TS22

On 24 Aug 2004 08:54:30 -0700, Jay Chan wrote:
I am making an outfeed table (converting from an old desk). Because of
the fact that the floor is very uneven and the outfeed table must be
moved around and cannot stay in one place, I would like to find a way
to easily adjust the height of the table. I think wheels with
adjustable height should be perfect for this application. But I cannot
find such a thing. There are many wheels available in Home Depot; but
their heights are not adjustable. Some wheels that have screw thread
are meant for attaching the wheels to an object and are not meant for
adjusting height – even if I try using it, I will find that the
adjustable range is very limit and is not convenient.

Can someone suggest a source of this type of adjustable wheels?


Mount casters on a block, mounted on some threaded rod. How much
adjustment do you need?

Mount casters on a block, mounted on some threaded rod. How much
adjustment do you need?

I think I might not have explained this clearly. Let me try again.

The outfeed table will not be stationary in one place. The woodshop is
my single-car garage. I intend to move the car out in day time in
weekend to work on my projects, and then move the car back at night. I
cannot leave the outfeed table in the middle of the garage. I intend
to move it to the center of the garage and unfold its legs when I work
on my project; and then fold its legs and stand it up on its end when
I am done for the day. This means I need to move the outfeed table
around. Today, it stands on one spot. Tomorrow, it may move to a
slightly different spot.

The fact that it will not always at the same spot, and the fact that
the garage floor is "very" uneven. If I move the outfeed table two
inches to the left, I will have to re-adjust the height of the outfeed
table; otherwise, the top of the outfeed table will not align with the
top of the table saw. I can adjust the height of the outfeed table
every morning; but I want to do this easily instead of using a wrench
that can get old very quickly.

I find something like what I want in a woodworking catalog last
evening (from WoodTack or something like that). Is is designed for
constructing a mobile router table. It has wheel, and its height
adjustment mechanism is like the screw-mechanism in a bar-clamp --
convenient enough. But that costs something like $60 for a set of 4
stands. I have a feeling that anything similar will not be cheap -- oh
well...

I guess I may have to settle for other cheaper alternatives, like:

1. Put an inter-locking mechanism in the rear of the table saw to
lock it with the outfeed table. At least I can get one side of the
outfeed table to be perfectly even with the top of the table saw, and
I just have to live with the fact that the other side of the outfeed
table may not be perfectly level.

2. Level the four small spots where the legs of the outfeed table
are most likely to stand on. Make sure those four spots are perfectly
level with one another, and leave the rest of the garage floor alone.
Highlight those 4 spots with spray paint. Then, I can use the
wheels-with-thread that the other newsgroup member has suggested, and
I only need to adjust them once, and don't need to adjust them for the
rest of the life of the outfeed table.

Seem like alternative-#-2 is what I will most likely do.

This sounds like a plan to me.

Jay Chan

These guys have threaded casters.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...roductId=24399

http://www.castercity.com/eshop/10Ex...de=3ARF3X-TS22

Thanks. I find something like that in Home Depot. They look promising
for my revised plan that I mentioned in another post in this thread.

Jay Chan

"Jay Chan" wrote in message
om...
Mount casters on a block, mounted on some threaded rod. How much
adjustment do you need?

[snip alternatives]

Jay,

Charles is suggesting that you make the legs adjustable and use regular
casters. I rather like his idea, it would give you height adjustments up to
double the length of your leg.

So you would drill ( or route/dado a groove) a long hole in the bottom of
your leg to hold your threaded rod. Then attach a nut to the bottom of your
leg to hold the rod. The other end of the rod would be fixed to a small
block of wood and the caster would be screwed to the other side of the block
of wood.

I might use two nuts a few inches apart in the leg to give me better
stability. Perhaps you could even find a long threaded nut with a plate
attached and just screw it to the bottom of the leg.

"Jay Chan" wrote in message
om...
I am making an outfeed table (converting from an old desk). Because of
the fact that the floor is very uneven and the outfeed table must be

Instead of a rolling outfeed table, what about one that fastens to the back
of the table saw and folds down when not in use? Whatever imperfections on
the floor might be, the table would always be the correct height for the
table saw.

Instead of a rolling outfeed table, what about one that fastens to the back
of the table saw and folds down when not in use? Whatever imperfections on
the floor might be, the table would always be the correct height for the
table saw.

Actually, that was the first thing came to my mind when I was
designing the outfeed table. But it won't work well because my table
saw is a "contractor" table saw, not a "cabinet" table saw. It has the
motor assembly at the back of the table saw sticking out a good 12" or
so. This means if I attach an outfeed table to the back of the table
saw, I can only fold it _up_, I will have a hard time designing it in
a way that I can fold it _down_ because the motor is in the way.

I am sure that I can fold it down _if_ I design it very carefully and
with many clever operating joints. But that will be too "precise" for
me to pull it off. I just want something relatively simple and will
not go wrong.

Thanks anyway.

Jay Chan

Charles is suggesting that you make the legs adjustable and use regular
casters. I rather like his idea, it would give you height adjustments up to
double the length of your leg.
So you would drill ( or route/dado a groove) a long hole in the bottom of
your leg to hold your threaded rod. Then attach a nut to the bottom of your
leg to hold the rod. The other end of the rod would be fixed to a small
block of wood and the caster would be screwed to the other side of the block
of wood. ... Perhaps you could even find a long threaded nut with a plate
attached and just screw it to the bottom of the leg.

Thanks for the explanation. Now, I can see that this is a good design.
I can use my hand to turn the wood block at the bottom to adjust the
table height without using a wrench. This is indeed a very nice
feature.

I might use two nuts a few inches apart in the leg to give me better
stability.

I don't understand this part.

Let's me explain what my understanding based on your description is:
- We drill a long hole at the bottom of a table leg.
The hole goes up inside the leg.
- We chisel a square hole on the bottom of the leg surrounding
the hole that we have drilled. The shape of the second hole
matches the shape of a square nut.
- Attach the square nut onto the square hole that we have chiseled
out using epoxy. We will screw a long threaded rod through the
square nut into the long hole soon.
- Prepare a wood block, and drill a long hole at the center of the
wood block and through the entire length of the wood block.
- Put a long threaded round-head bolt through the hole in the wood
block. The square area under the round head of the bolt will bite
into the wood and the long threaded bolt will not rotate.
- Attach a caster onto it using screws. The caster will cover the
head of the bolt. This is OK.
- Put wax on the exposed thread of the long bolt.
- Screw the long threaded bolt through the square nut into the
long hole of the table leg.
- Repeat this for the other 3 table leg.

I don't understand how the "two nuts" that you suggested fits into the
picture. I must have misunderstood something very fundamental.

Look forward to learn more from you. Thanks.

Jay Chan

I was thinking of using square nut and cartridge-bolt. I change my
mind:

- I think a T-nut is better than using a square nut. Then I don't
need to chisel a square for the square-nut, and I don't need to epoxy
it in place.

- I think a cartridge bolt will lose its bite on the wood sooner or
later if I turn it often. I think I will use a threaded rod and bend
it onto the wood to secure it.

Great! Seem like I get the idea.

Jay Chan