Home: Furniture: Change
4 Buckets of Sand   (+9)  [vote for, against]
Fixes the wonky legged table problem.

When reading [xenzag's] most excellent 'Two Tables, Four Legs' idea, I noticed that leg levelling wedges were mentioned to stop the inevitable table rocking (which we've all experienced). I suggest selling packs of 4 small buckets filled with specially selected 'table levelling' sand. Jam each table leg into a bucket, adjust the table to your desired position and VOILA! no more rocking table.
-- AusCan531, Jul 27 2021

How about a set of tiny extending legs upon each leg which can be adjusted in length? Imagine a pliable, high friction rubber gasket. Surround this with a tightening metal wingnut, such that the collar can be placed upon the bottom of the leg and securely attached. On the outside of the collar place four tough stiff rods with some high friction material where they will rest on the floor. Each rod can be adjusted in height by turning it. If this is insufficiently precise each rod can have a similar device connected to it.
-- Voice, Jul 27 2021


//buckets of sand//
If you use sand + cement, once it is stable, add water = permanent solution!
-- neutrinos_shadow, Jul 27 2021


//permanent solution!//

Until someone moves the table across an uneven floor or deck.
-- AusCan531, Jul 27 2021


Approved {+} (even though over time, the legs will settle down at the bottom and push the sand to the one side.
-- xenzag, Jul 27 2021


High tech version has a tiled or mosaic floor, each tile of which is mounted on top of a hydraulic extender. Laser scanners mounted in the corners of the ceiling continuously scan the volume of the room, auto-detect any approximately horizontal flat surface in the space, detect the support structures connected to said flat surface, and extend or retract the appropriate tiles until the surface is horizontal.
-- pocmloc, Jul 27 2021


I think to make this work instead of a bucket you'd just use a little packet or bag of sand. You'd still get the leveling effect but wouldn't 'have to worry about the sand getting all over. Plus you could attach them to the table at the factory and they wouldn't look as weird as the buckets.

Or the bucket assemblies could be put into a recession in the table legs and still work just as good. Have the buckets all lower to the floor by gravity and the table actually be supported by rods that extend into the sand in those little buckets. That was all you see is these self adjusting table legs that don't drop off when you move the table.
-- doctorremulac3, Jul 27 2021


+ yes. so much better than folding up matchbooks to level the wonky leg!
-- xandram, Jul 27 2021


[+]

Would go far to prevent spillage of Ian's Two Cups of Coffee, should we find them.
-- whatrock, Jul 27 2021


if the sand were appropriately dense the tendency would be to float which could /tend/ to level the table.
-- WcW, Jul 31 2021


Wouldn't that tendency be contingent on the sand being agitated enough to behave like a fluid?

Perhaps this furniture would be most suitable for people with tics such as restless legs - they could be harnessed to agitate the sand and thereby level the table. They wouldn't have to be there all the time, but could be called in periodically, like piano tuners.
-- pertinax, Jul 31 2021


What if your table has 3 legs? Or 6? This could be a fundamental problem that undermines the entire basis of this idea.
-- pocmloc, Jul 31 2021


To make the floating effective, have a fitting to connect an air compressor to all four corners at once to blow air in and fluidize the sand. Once it's level, disconnect the sir to lock it in place. Otherwise, if it's floating and you put a heavy load on one side it may start to list.
-- scad mientist, Jul 31 2021


Sounds like a plan to me. I love to dump moist buckets of sand over at the beach. BRING it home, if there are extras, I say. Play "beach day" and surprise the littles.
-- blissmiss, Jul 31 2021


//What if your table has 3 legs?//
3 legs will be inherently stable (might not be level...).
On that note, for any number of legs, you could keep one without a sand bucket, to provide a fixed point of reference (generally, the longest leg or over the highest floor-point).
-- neutrinos_shadow, Aug 01 2021



random, halfbakery