Found a weird trick for leveling a wobbly table without shims

I spent 2 hours last weekend trying to level my dining table with folded cardboard and plastic shims. Every time I got three legs flat, the fourth would rock. A buddy who does woodworking said to try loosening all the bolts slightly, setting the table on a flat floor, and then tightening everything back up in a specific order. I figured it was BS but tried it anyway. It actually worked perfectly the first time with zero extra shims. Now I'm wondering if this is one of those things everyone knows but nobody talks about. The table hasn't shifted in 4 days so far. Has anyone else tried this approach or am I just lucky this time?

2 comments

2 Comments

shane_wilson23d ago

My friend's dad did the same thing to their table and it never wobbled again.

karen_hart22d ago

Did you catch that article in Fine Woodworking about fixing wobbly tables with a single shim? They talked about how a lot of the time a little piece of cardboard or a folded up beer coaster is all you actually need, and it's way cheaper than a new table. It's wild how such a tiny fix can make a piece of furniture last for years longer than you'd expect.