Help! (C: I just finished a mission-style desk that I've been working
on for a while. The front and back skirts (I hope that's the right
term--imagine the part where desk drawers would go) are 5" high, and
are secured to the legs via M&T joints. "Secured" isn't the right
word because...well...the joints are pretty crappy. The desk seems
fairly secure, but tonight someone accidentally bumped into it, and it
wobbles from side to side...NOT GOOD. I tested it front to back, and
it's solid. But I'm scratching my head--now that it's all
stained/assembled, how the heck do I "shore up" the front/back skirts
to stop the wobble (and prevent it from--GOD FORBID--just falling
apart on me)?
Thanks for any help...
Jim
Perhaps you might want to post some pictures of it into
alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking so that we can see what you did.
--
If at first you don't succeed, you're not cut out for skydiving
"PC Gameplayer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Help! (C: I just finished a mission-style desk that I've been working
> on for a while. The front and back skirts (I hope that's the right
> term--imagine the part where desk drawers would go) are 5" high, and
> are secured to the legs via M&T joints. "Secured" isn't the right
> word because...well...the joints are pretty crappy. The desk seems
> fairly secure, but tonight someone accidentally bumped into it, and it
> wobbles from side to side...NOT GOOD. I tested it front to back, and
> it's solid. But I'm scratching my head--now that it's all
> stained/assembled, how the heck do I "shore up" the front/back skirts
> to stop the wobble (and prevent it from--GOD FORBID--just falling
> apart on me)?
>
> Thanks for any help...
>
> Jim
"the joints are pretty crappy", Take it apart and put it back together
correctly or go to Wal Mart and get a press board one..
--
Mike G.
[email protected]
Heirloom Woods
www.heirloom-woods.net
"PC Gameplayer" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Help! (C: I just finished a mission-style desk that I've been working
> on for a while. The front and back skirts (I hope that's the right
> term--imagine the part where desk drawers would go) are 5" high, and
> are secured to the legs via M&T joints. "Secured" isn't the right
> word because...well...the joints are pretty crappy. The desk seems
> fairly secure, but tonight someone accidentally bumped into it, and it
> wobbles from side to side...NOT GOOD. I tested it front to back, and
> it's solid. But I'm scratching my head--now that it's all
> stained/assembled, how the heck do I "shore up" the front/back skirts
> to stop the wobble (and prevent it from--GOD FORBID--just falling
> apart on me)?
>
> Thanks for any help...
>
> Jim
For what it's worth, I think I figured out how to fix my own problem.
The front/back skirts are 3/4" wide, and they are tenonned at the end
to go into a mortise that is in the middle of a 1 1/2" leg. This
should leave me 3/8ths on each side. The problem is at least one
(probably 2 or more) of the tenons are too small, and/or not deep
enough into the mortise. So, my solution is to make a long strip
(about 3-4") that is 3/8ths of an inch square, and secure it on the
inside of the leg/skirt joing, right where the skirt butts up against
the leg. I figure if I do this on all 4 sides, it should stop or
reduce the wobble. DUH, why didn't I think of this before? (C;
Jim
<snip>
> "Secured" isn't the right
> word because...well...the joints are pretty crappy. The desk seems
> fairly secure, but tonight someone accidentally bumped into it, and it
> wobbles from side to side...NOT GOOD. I tested it front to back, and
> it's solid. But I'm scratching my head--now that it's all
> stained/assembled, how the heck do I "shore up" the front/back skirts
> to stop the wobble (and prevent it from--GOD FORBID--just falling
> apart on me)?
>
> Thanks for any help...
>
> Jim