HLC Support
Shop Table Legs
  • Welcome to HLC Support
  • Table Legs
    • Choosing the Perfect Legs
      • Choosing The Correct Height Table Legs
        • Anthropometrics
          • Desk & Dining Anthropometrics
          • Counter & Anthropometrics
          • Bar & Poseur Anthropometrics
      • Choosing Legs for a Strong & Stable Build
        • How to Improve Stiffness of a Table Top
          • Brace-Free Stiff Tabletop Examples
          • How to Add Bracing to a Table Top
        • Building Long Tables
        • When to Choose a Full Frame Leg Base
        • Leg Weight Loading Guidelines
          • Estimating the Weight of a Table Top
          • Strength & Stability: Tall Legs (86 - 102cm)
          • Strength & Stability: Table Legs (71cm)
          • Strength & Stability: Bench Legs (40cm)
          • Strength & Stability: Coffee Table Legs (25 - 35cm)
          • Stength & Stability: Furniture Feet (10 - 20cm)
      • Choosing Legs for Difficult Materials
        • Fixing Legs to Glass Tops
        • Fixing Legs to Stone Table Tops
        • IKEA Furniture
      • Choosing Legs for Different Environments
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    • DIY Guides & Instructions
      • Product Guides & Care
        • Hairpin Leg Build Guide
        • Box Section Leg Build Guide
        • Box Frame Assembly
      • Project Build Guides
        • Building a Plywood Table
        • Building with Construction Lumbar
        • IKEA Hacks
        • Building a Scaffold Board Table
      • DIY Essentials
        • Positioning Table Legs
        • Wood Acclimation in Furniture Building
        • Dealing with Wood Movement
        • Dining Table Dimensions
        • Using Threaded Inserts
        • Fixing Legs to Stone Table Tops
        • Fixing Legs to Glass Tops
    • Specifications & Dimensions
      • Hairpin Leg Dimensions
      • Hairpin Leg Shipping Data
      • Box Section Leg Dimensions - Table & Bench
      • Box Section Leg Dimensions - Coffee Table
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      • Box Hairpin Dimensions
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  • Colours & Finishes
    • Choosing the Perfect Finish
      • When to Choose Raw Steel
      • Clear Coat vs. Raw Steel
      • When to choose stainless steel
      • What are the Different Finishes?
      • Colour Options & RAL Codes
      • Legs for Outdoor Use
    • Self Finishing
      • Cleaning Raw Steel
      • Painting Raw Steel
      • Self Finishing Raw Steel
      • Painting Over Powder Coat
  • Shelving
    • How to put up a Shelf
    • Specifications & Dimensions
      • Prism Shelf Bracket Dimensions
      • Suspense Shelf Bracket Dimensions
      • Prism Wall Desk Bracket Dimensions
  • Wall Hooks
    • J Wall Hook Build Guide
    • Specifications & Dimensions
      • J Wall Hook Dimensions
      • Hardwood Wall Hook Dimensions
  • Delivery
    • Set Delivery Location via "what3words"
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On this page
  • Plywood - Tables
  • Plywood - Benches
  • Scaffold Boards - Tables
  • Scaffold Boards - Benches
  • Solid wood
  • Chipboard & Particleboard

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  1. Table Legs
  2. Choosing the Perfect Legs
  3. Choosing Legs for a Strong & Stable Build
  4. How to Improve Stiffness of a Table Top

Brace-Free Stiff Tabletop Examples

The below examples are really just a guide and will not guarantee results in all situations. They are simply a collection of things we have either tried or seen our customers complete with good results.

Plywood - Tables

  • 24mm thickness will be suitable for a table up to around 2 meters in length, just under the length of an 8'x4' sheet.

  • 32mm thick will work up to around a 3 meter length, just under a 10'x5' sheet.

Plywood - Benches

  • Without any support a standard 24mm thick sheet wont really hold any more than 1 adult without it bouncing.

  • A 32mm will support up to around 1.5 meters and 3 to 4 adults.

  • 50mm will support up to around 3 meters and 5 - 6 standard sized adults. You would however be pushing it on the weight for the hairpin legs so make sure you go for either a heavy duty 3 rod hairpin, or some of our industrial box section legs.

Scaffold Boards - Tables

  • Scaffold boards are designed to hold a lot of weight. A single thickness board (38mm) will make a pretty solid table up to its full length of 3.9 meters, assuming everything is tied together well underneath!

Scaffold Boards - Benches

  • Standard 38mm board will easily hold 4 adults if not 5, up to around 2 meters in length.

  • The thicker 56mm boards will hold quite a few more adults but this is not something we have tested. If you have - let us know! :-)

Solid wood

  • Solid wood has a huge range of soft and hard woods to choose from. Its very hard to predict but as a rough guide you could treat a hard wood with the same rough guide as the plywood examples above.

  • For softer woods such as pine reduce these by a little and be prepared to need to add some support... read on below!

Chipboard & Particleboard

  • While these kinds of woods appear strong to start with, they do have a tendency to sag over time. For anything over more than 1 meter we would suggest adding additional support bracing.

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Last updated 1 year ago

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