Choosing Legs for a Strong & Stable Build
Ensuring your project has a strong, safe, and stable base is crucial, particularly if it's designed for work or dining.
Strength vs. Stability
While strength (the weight at which something breaks) is critical for safety, stability (ensuring a rock-solid table) is almost equally important for every day use.
Table Top Stiffness
Before looking at leg strength, it is important to make sure the furniture that they are attaching to is going to be up for the job.
If the tabletop is flexible, the table will wobble side-to-side regardless of the leg strength. Thin or long tops are especially prone to this. To ensure a stiff top, we suggest:
18mm plywood, or equivalent : Up to 1.2m leg span
24mm plywood, or equivalent : Up to 1.8m leg span
32mm plywood, or equivalent : Up to 2.4m leg span
For flexible tops or particularly long tables, choose a Full Frame Leg or make the table-top stiffer.
What weight can legs support?
At The Hairpin Leg Co., we do not specify absolute weight limits for our products. This approach is deliberate; the capacity for weight support significantly varies depending on the design and construction of your overall project, and the weight an individual table leg can support is mostly irrelevant.
Furthermore, we believe in prioritising the stability and quality-feel of your project.
Once you know that your table top or furniture is going to be up to the job, it is time to choose the best legs to support it.
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