Ways of Connecting Tables to Bases (1 Viewer)

[MoscowRadio]

I'm having a hell of a time getting everything lined up and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'm lining everything up (no upholstery), drilling the holes, and I still can't seem to get it to work. If anyone could chime in with any advice, articles, anything, I would really appreciate it.

 

[Shaggy]

You should be drilling the holes through the mating parts at the same time. This ensures that holes line up. Additionally, you need to mark top/bottom, left/right. Because if anything gets flipped, holes won't align.

 

[Mental Nomad]

I'm having a hell of a time getting everything lined up and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I'm lining everything up (no upholstery), drilling the holes, and I still can't seem to get it to work. If anyone could chime in with any advice, articles, anything, I would really appreciate it.

If you're not flipping any of the pieces and have the same orientation, and you drilled all the holes through all the pieces while they were clamped together, they really should line up.

The last variable I can think of is to make sure you're running the drill totally perpendicular to the wood. even a little bit of tilt may cause an alignment problem when you seat your nut flat and then try to bring a bolt in at an angle.

 

[rcpokertables]

drilling straight is a big factor along with maintaining the orientation and proper sides of wood together. I mark all my pieces just prior to drilling and clamp the pieces tight. I draw a V across side and mark the tops.

If you end up needing a little bit of wiggle room to help line up, you can slightly enlarge the bottom holes if you are using connector bolts as they have a wide diameter head.

 

[MoscowRadio]

Since this is something that I'll be doing often, I've decided to invest in a portable drilling guide so I know I'll get straight holes.

Thank you to everyone who has chimed in. You've all helped me take my table-making to the next step and I'm very grateful for it.