I know it may seem like one post about hanger bolts is enough for any blog, but there is actually a whole second chapter to the story that I have to share with you all.
For those of you who skipped that one (I wouldn’t blame you), I was installing hanger bolts into the beautiful MCM legs I got from tablelegs.com so that I could screw them into brackets to use on my bedside table. The issue was that I couldn’t get them in deep enough. When I finished the hanger bolt post last week, this is what I was left with:
See that there is still a gap between the leg and the bracket? That is because, once the bracket is installed against the bottom of the table, the bolt would still stick out too far to screw it in all the way. I grudgingly declared this “good enough” but wasn’t really that happy. I was worried that the legs wouldn’t be stable, but mostly I was frustrated that I couldn’t get this right.
There was also another wrinkle to the project. We didn’t do this at home, but instead I took the legs, bolts, and tools over to my parents’ house where we were dog sitting for the weekend. After we had completed the photos and gotten just a couple of them “done” the drill ran out of batteries… and OF COURSE I hand’t brought the charger with me.
I’ve been super busy at work and didn’t get the chance to finish it up in the evenings, so last weekend I actually brought the now fully charged drill and project over to Sage’s house to finish while we were hanging out.
You’ve got to love friends who consider “doing my random projects and going on errands to home improvement stores” as “quality time.”
It was great to get to chat while finishing this annoying task, but while I was there I had a new idea, inspired by our success transforming old silverware into high-class home decor: If I can’t screw them in far enough, why not just cut off the ends?
So that is what we did. I just screwed in the bracket to get the right spot, and in case cutting it off would mess up the edge. Some of them were a little wonky (because the bracket was weird, not because the bolt wasn’t straight!).
I fixed that with the subtle approach of banging it with a hammer until it straightened out.
I wasn’t expecting that to work as well as it did, but it was surprisingly effective.
Once they were all on straight, I just clamped them to the edge of the table….
…and then cut it off using Sage’s dremel with a metal cutting attachment. It was also pretty fun.
It made a ton of sparks! However, I wasn’t alarmed since I had witnessed (and photographed) Sage’s success cutting steel and using it to build a frame for a modern coffee table.
I was careful not to touch the metal pieces by hand – they got quite hot and turned different colors!
It only took 10-15 minutes to cut through all of them, and then I finally had my nice set of table legs! Now I’ll be on track to share the bedside tables soon. And aren’t they adorable?
It was incredibly satisfying to take such drastic measures against this small problem that had been annoying me for weeks. I think it would have just continued to nag at me if I hadn’t resolved it. But I still have to think that there was a better solution out there. Does anyone know a better way? What would you have done? Have you ever gone overboard on a solution like this before?
I am super familiar with the delicate hammer-it-until-it-fits method! Your table legs look great – this was helpful to see as an option in case I’m ever trying out something similar!
http://danielleandco.com/blog/2016/design-around-banana-leaf-wallpaper
Reading this since I am going to put legs on a wooden storage box unit that I just got and I’m in the middle of painting. Love your project! Two things I would’ve done. One, In making the bolts fit onto the brackets without a gap, if the bolt was just a little bit too long, I might have drilled a slight hole in the table/box to accommodate the extra bolt length. I have used a cut off wheel on a Dremel, and certainly that was an elegant solution, but it’s easier to drill wood! Second thing I would’ve done is make the handles mirror image on one of the boxes so that either they were both towards the outside or both towards the bed. It would have involved in removing the handles from one of the boxes, wood filling the holes, drilling new holes, and reinstalling the handles. Not too much work given you were sanding painting anyhow, which would cover the wood fill. I’m a real symmetry freak! This was very interesting reading, all in all, and I am now planning on getting some legs, with the bolts installed, at Lowes or Home Depot. I sure appreciate the tip of making sure that the bolts are already installed. 🙂