Easy Table Braces

Support braces to improve the stability of a table. I find that when my printer is really going my cheap IKEA table has a tendency to wobble a bit. So I designed these simple braces to make it sturdier.

These are designed for the IKEA Linmon table with square Sjunne legs but it should work with any table (square or rectangular legs help, though).

Directions below are for a single pair of legs. Repeat the process for as many supports as you need. I ended up installing supports on both slim ends of my table but not the long ends, but your needs may vary.

Print 2 leg support pieces and 1 surface support piece. Additionally, you'll need:

• 4x zip ties -- Make sure they're long enough to wrap around the legs with enough extra room for the supports.
• 2x wood screws -- The ones I used have an outer diameter of about 3.5mm and are around 25mm long.
• 2x washers -- Mine are about 9.5mm in diameter. For both these and the screws there is some wiggle room; just use what fits.
• 2x 1/2" PVC pipes, ~316mm long
• Adhesive -- I used Loctite plastic epoxy but that doesn't necessarily mean it's the only one that would work.

Installation is easy:

1.Print the parts listed above. Orient the pieces with their flat faces on the build plate. You shouldn't need supports but I recommend using lots of cooling -- I actually pointed a desk fan at my printer while these were going to ensure the 60deg overhangs were nice and smooth. 2.Mark where the surface support brackets will go underneath the table. This helps greatly with the next step. You'll want to find the exact center point between the legs and then draw two lines -- one line perpendicular to the table edge to use as a center reference and one line parallel to the table edge to ensure the bracket is straight. Then, hold the bracket up to the bottom of the table so that the small arrows align with the perpendicular reference and the mounting holes align with the parallel one. Mark both holes on the table. 3.Pre-drill your mounting holes. It's always a good idea to pre-drill holes before installing wood screws, especially if you're modifying a table that you don't want to risk splitting. Luckily, we just drew reference marks! Drill your pilot holes where you just marked. 4.Mount the surface bracket. Now that you've got holes drilled, install the surface bracket using your wood screws. Make sure you use washers! You could probably get away without washers due to the print orientation but this way you can screw the brackets in tighter without risking splitting. 5.Glue one side of the bracket. Put some epoxy on both ends of one of your PVC pipes and insert it loosely into the surface bracket. Then, holding it in place, insert the free end into one of your leg brackets. Hold the leg bracket against the table leg and use zip ties to attach it securely. I find it helps to push the bracket upwards to ensure maximum rigidity before trimming the zip ties. 6.Glue the other side of the bracket. Same deal as before. Glue both ends, insert into surface bracket, insert into leg bracket, tighten leg bracket, trim zip ties. 7.Wait for the glue to dry. Since these brackets don't offer much in the way of mechanical connections the glue will be doing a lot of the work ensuring there isn't any amount of play in the brace. So I recommend letting it cure fully before doing anything that might cause your table to wobble too much.

Category: Household