# Loose coffee table legs



## Puffness (Dec 21, 2013)

My lane coffee table legs are loose. I was hoping to tighten them up/ re-glue as the table is wobbling.

I have included a few photos. I'm sure there are different ways to go about doing this. I would like to remove, clean out the old glue and then apply new glue. But there is an area in the middle which is quite solid and I would prefer not to mess with. 

Warm regards,

Patrick


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## Puffness (Dec 21, 2013)

Another photo


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*in general*

New glue does not adhere to old glue. Epoxy is best to fill gaps and secure loose parts.
Now the issue is .... you don't want to "mess" with the solid joints... :no:

In my experience with repairing loose legs on older furniture, I found it best to remove all the parts from the main piece that can be knocked loose easily. The structure...not shown in the photo, may restrict this approach. If the joints can be cleaned of old glue and raw wood exposed that's your best approach. Use epoxy regardless.

Another approach is to inject epoxy contained in a syringe, into small holes drilled next to the loose joints. Then pound in toothpicks or other small wedges into the holes to help secure the legs. It's kinda like surgery, take your time be precise and patient.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Removing glued pieces and cleaning off old glue from the fitted parts will change the fit. If that occurs, where there are gaps a two part epoxy should be used.








 





 
.


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## Puffness (Dec 21, 2013)

Here is another photo of what the overall structure looks like. I guess I will have to loosen and then remove the middle joints as well if I want to make the other legs solid.


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## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

If hide glue was used, a bit of steam could loosen all the joints. Then re-assembly would be easy.

BTW - There is a "concertina" type of device to inject glue into joints. The metal tube (needle) is a perfect drill size. You drill a hole into the joint and squeeze glue into the joint. I buy these applicators from Woodcraft.


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

I have a set of chairs from JC Penny. All of them have loose fitting legs. I usually just add TB 3, sit on the chair to set it and done.

I have two tubs of wood epoxy. The material is dry not liquid - by design (not dried out). Can I use this?


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

No, now that I think of it. I'll buy a better epoxy for this application.


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## OldEd (Jan 14, 2014)

I once "cured" wiggly legs - they wobbled but wouldn't come out easily - by drilling two small (3/32") holes diagonally into the the joint (at right angles to each other - the holes that is) so that the holes passed from solid wood, through the mating area, and into the leg and on through into the solid wood on the other side. I was careful not to have the holes intersect, of course...

Then I squirted in some glue (I don't remember what brand, but it was a white "woodworkers" glue) and inserted two 3/32" inch dowels. Each had a slight flat sanded into it to allow excess glue to escape. The excess dowel was carefully chiseled off once everything was dry. I then dabbed some dye/stain on the dowel ends to (sort of) match the rest of the wood.

This was in the middle fifties, when electric drills were an "advanced woodworking tool". 

The joints held solid - no wobble, no nothing for the next twenty years, until the house burned down.


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

If it only survived the fire!

I bought a CA glue designed for this. I thought I bought 20 oz but it's 20 grams.:huh:

So I'll try it, but I like your idea.


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## OldEd (Jan 14, 2014)

Yes.... If only it survived the fire. It was a very nice thing, (probably) made in the early part of the 20th century, and had been in the house for a long time. The house had been owned by the same family for quite a few generations. Some of the stuff in there dated from the 1800 - 1810 time frame. 

I call it a "coffee table" because that was what the then-current owners called it, but I don't think it was originally intended for that. There was a "children's room" - actually a play-room with three bedrooms for children opening off of it. From the size and the height, and some other things in the house, such as children's chairs from the same period and in the same style, I now think that it was probably a child-sized dining table for the play-room.

What really pissed me off was that the arsonist - and it was arson, or so the cops and the insurance investigators said - managed to burn up a truly beautiful tall clock - the sort called a "Grandfather clock" with the works made entirely of wood, except for the pendulum bob and the weights that drove it. There was no maker's name, and no record of it's acquisition was to be found in the family records, which contained date, source, price, and description of most of the major pieces of furniture.


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## wsommariva (Jan 3, 2010)

You'll just have to make a new one.


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## OldEd (Jan 14, 2014)

wsommariva said:


> You'll just have to make a new one.



don't I wish. Alas, the carvings were, and remain, way beyond my skill level, and I have no photos of it - just some 50-year-old memories


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