Make my IKEA table sturdier
May 18, 2018 4:55 PM   Subscribe

I have an IKEA Jokkmokk table. It has wooden legs that use metal bolts to affix them to a metal piece on the underside of the table. (Here’s an illustration.) No matter how tightly I twist the bolts, after an hour or two of use, they get loose again, and the table gets a little wobbly. I’m tired of climbing under there. How can I fix this permanently?
posted by ocherdraco to Home & Garden (6 answers total)
 
Loctite thread locker. Blue if you want to someday be able to take it apart; red if you don’t ever want it to come apart again.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:02 PM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]


If the nuts are actively backing off the threaded portion of the stud, Huffy Puffy's advice is great. I'm wondering, though- I think the threaded stud might be the type that has one end that's like a wood screw or a lag bolt (this goes in to the wood) and the other end has machined threads that the nut attaches to. I'm wondering if the 'wood screw' end of the stud might be slowly pulling out of the wood, which makes the nut seem loose despite it not moving relative to the stud. If my scenario is what's happening, you'd have to remove the stud from the wooden leg, fill the hole with something sturdy (epoxy?) re-drill the hole for the stud and reinstall everything.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 5:19 PM on May 18, 2018 [2 favorites]


LDS might be right. I'd try the threadlocker first though and see if it works. If it does, great. If it doesn't, it might be time to do a little surgery.

If you don't have threadlocker and want to test this out, superglue will do the trick temporarily. It'll fail sooner or later but it'll last long enough for you to tell if the principle is sound.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 5:41 PM on May 18, 2018


Response by poster: Thanks, everyone!
posted by ocherdraco at 2:47 AM on May 19, 2018


If nothing else works, you can use corner braces like these. Two at each corner, screwed into the underside of the table crossmember and the side of the leg.
posted by ejs at 9:06 AM on May 19, 2018


That's what lock washers are for. Get some of the spring kind. They're a few cents each. They go between the nut and the washer. If it still comes loose you have a different problem.

I'd try that before I'd glue anything.
posted by bongo_x at 1:22 PM on May 19, 2018


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