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Author Topic: Building leg pieces for an old air hockey table  (Read 6409 times)

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harryhoudini

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Building leg pieces for an old air hockey table
« on: June 08, 2011, 02:28:25 pm »
I have an old air hockey table made by US Billiards from Amityville, NY that is missing the original legs. I want to rebuild them to somewhat original specifications (mostly the look). Below is a picture of the original configuration.

What I do know is that on each end of the table where the legs are there are nutcerts (nuts with claws on them) in the underside of the table. About 6" in from each side. Right now I just put some 4x4 legs with a threaded rod (one end wood screw the other end bolt) under each nutcert.

The issue I have is understanding how the original leg sections were attached to these nutcerts. There has to be some way to put a bolt through the leg sections.

I figured I would put a cross member along the entire top of the leg section and bolt that to the table but the alignment is such that the vertical legs would be right where those nutcerts are and there would be no easy way to attach the leg section once it was built.



Underside of table...Black dots are nutcert locations... yellow area is cross member ideal layout.



Any thoughts as to how those original leg sections would have been constructed? The whole table is plywood and laminates so I assume the legs were also. I could certainly cover the 4x4 posts I have now in melamine and call it done, but that would not let me easily remove the legs, which I think would be ideal and I'd really like to make them look and function like the originals.

Any help?

windmill

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Re: Building leg pieces for an old air hockey table
« Reply #1 on: June 08, 2011, 04:03:12 pm »
Hmm, hard to tell from the original picture. What if you made the threaded rod go through each foot piece and used tension rod nuts?

Alternatively, you could make recesses underneath each foot piece for ordinary nuts/ wing nuts. Screw the threaded rod into the table-held nuts, slip the leg piece over and then tighten down using a deep socket.

harryhoudini

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Re: Building leg pieces for an old air hockey table
« Reply #2 on: June 08, 2011, 04:40:16 pm »
Thanks... all options I had considered. I was thinking of just bolting the main crossmember to the table with some "windows" cut on the inside of each MDF leg section for access. The issue with that and most other ideas is that the placement of the nutcerts is exactly where you would want to put the vertical legs, thus making it impossible to put a bolt there.

Here is my design/side view:



This seems like the easiest way to go... and I do have the option of just screwing this thing from inside the table (I have access on both ends). So that may be the way to go... I just figured the nutcerts would give a ton more stability when people lean on the table.

Really, I was hoping someone might understand the logistics of the table design. I know most newer tables have individual legs but this is a billiards company so I figured they probably used their knowledge of pool tables to make/design this leg section and someone might understand that construction. I figured the nutcerts were there for a reason and might as well try to use them if I can.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2011, 04:41:57 pm by harryhoudini »

windmill

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Re: Building leg pieces for an old air hockey table
« Reply #3 on: June 08, 2011, 10:04:14 pm »
The issue with that and most other ideas is that the placement of the nutcerts is exactly where you would want to put the vertical legs, thus making it impossible to put a bolt there.
I see what you mean. You want to have the legs separate from the cross members, and use the existing T-nuts only for attaching the cross member, not the legs themselves. However, if you build the legs and cross member as one assembly (like the original), then that solves the problem of course. You could fasten the legs to the cross member via a bridle joint, and then use the threaded rod to attach the whole leg assembly.

If you want to keep the legs separate, there are tons of other joinery options instead of bolts. You could attach the legs to the cross member using metal L-brackets in conjunction with mending plates, or even pocket hole screws. Or even better would be to build a trestle base. This will allow you to move the legs inward several inches (thus avoiding the existing T-nuts/ nutserts) without sacrificing stability. Something like this (ignore the ribbed interior - this is a super fancy adjustable height bench)


or this


Having horizontal stretchers would not be a bad idea if the table is very heavy/ long to avoid racking.

harryhoudini

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Re: Building leg pieces for an old air hockey table
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2011, 10:49:41 pm »
All this got me thinking .... what I might do is just pull the nutcerts and capture a bolt in the horizontal cross piece before I build the legs. Then those bolts will line up directly with the hole from the nutcert and I will put some washers and nuts on from the inside of the table. Still removable and fairly simple. I want to build the legs complete as the table is massively heavy and I want to move it as little as possible. Thanks for all the hints!