Shopsmith Forums

Hi,

I made a homemade small dropleaf table for my small RV. Because of the small size, I'm having trouble finding supports that I can use to hold the leafs up. Any suggestions?

Thank you

I would consider making some home made supports. Wooden toggles secured under the table that can be turned parallel to the long dimension of the table when the leaves are down and then spun perpendicular to support the leaves when the leaves are up.

tks..that may work but due to the location of the hardware, I was looking for something that might fit in between the hinges and table support. I've been looking at possibly using door bolt latches...but the bolt part seems a bit shortto provide support under the leaf.

Looking at the table in the orientation seen in that photo, you could put 3 or 4 small metal wall brackets across the top and the same across the bottom situated such that you could slide a bar (hardwood or metal bar stock) through to support both drop leaves. These bars would function similar to the bars that secure a door or gate, like on a fort where they yell “Bar the gate!”

Seriously, you would make sure the brackets are snug to the bar, and you may need to put more than 4 brackets to make sure the screws don’t get pulled out from any weight that might be put on the leaves. If the bars were metal, you could use magnets to stow them in an idea out of the way location.

Support both leaves always, or sometimes only one at a time?

There is a lot of drop leaf table hardware available like these metal supports: https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-71426-M ... 123&sr=8-1

An all wood support with that same basic design of a bar sliding through an opening should not be hard to construct. With wood it's a good idea to have the bar wedge into the opening to lock it and account for changes in the wood. I once saw such a table that had the support bars from either side wedge into each other under the center, however in relation to the question posed in the previous post, that design required both sides to be up or down together.

You may be too far along to do this but here's a video about making a Rule Joint.

edma194 wrote: Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:20 pm There is a lot of drop leaf table hardware available like these metal supports: https://www.amazon.com/POWERTEC-71426-M ... C123&sr=8-

Thank you for everyone's input. I actually bought the above supports, but are too long as is and was looking for other options. Have looked for awhile for shorter versions. I think I will mount them a bit diagonally on the center piece, but will have to cut the inner sliding part a bit shorter. I realize the top is not the best looking, but I quickly made as we are leaving on a long trip in a week or so. I plan to stain and poly the top. I think it will look ok for our use.

just curious are you wanting to do something that will allow you to use one side at a time or both at once ?

Hi, Here my final product. I ended up cutting the sliding leaf supports and positioning them at an angle. The leafs drop on both sides as it's in the middle of the sleeping area. The table is in a small RV that acts as a place to eat if the weather outside is poor. (Beds slide back to provide more room)

Tks for the help...

Looks like it works!