Our friend and professional woodworker Kevin Tunis is always coming up with crazy ideas for beautiful wood tables, and occasionally they are so massive they could use a little extra support. We worked together to create a unique Texas-themed support for one of his custom projects.
The wood legs for the table are plenty strong enough to bear the weight of the top, however to ensure the table would be impervious to lateral forces a lower cross support system was designed to be fabricated from 2″ x 4″ steel tubing.
The pieces were precisely cut to ensure they fit between the uprights.
Since the support would be bolted directly through the legs another set of plates was created to sit on the outside of the legs to ensure the bolts would never pull through. They also serve as a decorative accent.
The tubular steel was placed in 90 degree jigs to ensure everything came out perfectly perpendicular, then the pieces were welded in place.
Tabs with bolt holes were welded to each end of the frame to accomodate and guide the bolt holes.
After cleaning up and clear-coating, the parts were installed in the custom table where they added to the dramatic design.