Tightened a chair leg, now it’s too short
I had a chair with a wobbly leg. I stripped off the dust cover under the seat and removed the leg to be sure I understood how it was attached. It fitted into a channel built on the frame of the seat, and was held in place by a single bolt that went through a hole in the leg and into a threaded collar embedded in the frame. I replaced the leg, tightened the bolt, and reattached the dust cover. I found that the leg was no longer wobbly, but it was now 11/32″ shorter than the others.
I have no idea how this happened; the way the leg is attached seems to make it impossible. The hole in the leg is nowhere near large enough to allow 11/32″ of play.
The conventional wisdom that I should shorten another leg seems unwise, since I would have to remove a leg from the chair to shorten it, in light of what happened when I removed the first one. The only practical solution I can think of is to add a shim to the end of the short leg.
To do that I need a piece of wood that is exactly 11/32″ thick. How can I get one?
The obvious answer is to find a suitable piece of wood and plane it down to 11/32 inch. But I don’t own a planer; I have never needed one before and don’t expect ever to need one again, so I’m darned if I want to buy one to plane down a single piece of wood.
I have a few hand planes, but I gave up trying to use them decades ago; I can never get them to do what they’re supposed to do.
Any suggestions?
Replies
A picture will help but my guess is that there is some adjustment up and down when the leg bolt is loose. Before you start cutting on the other legs it may be worth loosening it again to see.
Disclaimer. I'm not saying this is the best solution, just an quick option to keep things functional.
When I had a table leg that was about 1/4" too short. I made a tape dam around the short end and filled it with epoxy, then adjusted with a file. It's not noticeable unless you know it's there.
That being said, on another project, I have cut a shim as you said, and glued it into place, just needed some minor filing to get the right height.
Files are an underappreciated tool.
Most likely the leg is not shorter than the others. Measure it for length against the other legs. It could be that the angle(s) are off -from when you reattached the leg. I would try reattaching the leg again. You say its attached with a single center bolt. When you do it again try rotating the leg to see if there is a sweet spot , figure out a way to compare the angle of the leg to the others... an adjustable bevel gauge if you have one. Chair legs are rarely straight up and down, they angle for stability and often in two directions and sometimes are actually based on math!
I just had a similar thing happen. I had made some temporary legs for a project just to see what it looked like. I didn't like it and ended up doing something quite different and put those legs aside. I was building a mini router table just yesterday and remembered those legs but they were too tall. I disassembled them and cut them down. When I attached the top to the legs I had a pretty significant wobble. I should have clamped the two leg assemblys together when I reassembled them but I was being too casual and ended up with the angles off by just a tiny bit. A less than 1/8" adjustment on one corner corrected a 1/4" wobble (gap) on another.
I would like to add - when you attempt your adjustment do it on a very flat surface. I discovered my problem on my work bench but corrected it on my tablesaw top. Also: Being as one leg had worked loose other legs ,though not appearing loose, may not be at their proper tension either.
you can find a board lengthener at any big box store.
it comes in handy when you "measure once, cut once, say $&!~".
it is in the same location at every store, whether home depot or lowes.
aisle 23, 3rd section, 2nd shelf from the bottom.
i forgot to take a photo, so when you find it, please take a pic and post it.
two isles over, they have a room enlarger - same price as the above product, but larger (who knows how 'they' price items???). my shop was too small, and this simple tool made it 5ft longer, 3ft wider and 2ft taller. not bad for about $19.95.
and, happy new year - year of the snake.
If nothing else works, get a flat surface, put a wedge under the short leg, use a pencil on another piece of wood and draw around all four legs. Cut at the line. Chair should be even.