Utility table.

Question 2 We put a couple of the free packets of sweet and low that are on the table under the short leg at restaurants so that we can eat without having to keep one's elbow on the table for "lock down" stability.

milo

Why did I not thought of the elbow treatment before?

Ages ago the company I work for sponsored a small part of the national beauty pageant (I don't know why) One of her prizes were to be wined, dined and danced and I drew the short straw.

The table at the restaurant wobbled and in my wisdom I decided to stabilize it by lifting my heel an inch or two.

Only problem was that my nerves objected at some stage and my leg started to tremble badly. The red wine on her dress looked awful.

The rest of the night was OK.

Thanks for the link. You deserve a GA vote for that but it will be divided by 2 because you only answered the second question.

The preliminary vote was given but you have to guess what the table was made for.

By the way this table is perfectly stable the 2 front legs are just shorter than the back ones.

Hello Sparky

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not convinced by Martin Gardner's proof as it stands. When the table has been rotated 90°, the contact points with the floor are same as before. But the proof says there is an intermediate position which gives stability. We don't know the levels of all the intermediate points (as it's an uneven floor!) and a change in one these could prevent stability, the way I see it.

No doubt the full proof referred to covers the above (if it's at all valid)

BTW I remember enjoying Martin Gardner's columns in Scientific American all those years ago.

Cheers......Codey

Ah, but then would one be cutting off ones leg to spite thier adjustable foot????........I got nothin.

Yet another copy and paste answer from the google engineer

Del

Some one is taking my name in vain...

I was on holiday last week.

There are several bottles of red wine which can testify to that...and a Lancia with a dented door.

Del

Hello Del the cat

I hear faint echoes of that old song:" Writers on the Sly".

Sorry to hear about the Lancia, and good to hear you're OK.

No doubt a wandering tree caused the damage to the door.

Kind Regards....

Other than the Yanks causing a global financial meltdown it's bin pretty ho hum.........

Hi Sparkstation,

I live in the Black Country, a heavily mined area in the middloe of England, and because of subsidation we have a very famous pub called the leaning house!

In this pub everything looks level, but it is not, if you put a ball on top of the bar it looks like it is rolling upwards, all the tables, bar, chairs etc have legs of different dimentions! When you enter the bar you are walking upwards, when you go to the toilet you are pisssing at an angle that is not normal, and when you leave by the backdoor you are walking downwards, but you should realy try to play darts there!!!

Spencer.

1) How did you get the table to balence with only two legs?

2) I usually do the sugar packets, or a match book.

1) Will power - I can give you a sworn affidavit that the other two legs are there.

2) I always wish I have chewing gum available to fix it permanently.

Looks like a howework table for kids to work off the floor, a cushion or a Bean Bag.

Regards,
Sapper

The camera angle is slightly off horizontal, and I can't tell which legs are shorter. Is is 2 on the left (stable but angled table surface), or two on opposite sides of a diagonal (wobbly) ?

Hello Hendrik

Your photo has been taken with the new invention: The M C Escher Lens, and at left I attach a typical photo taken via the "escher" lens.

As bricktop stated above, it's for curbs or sloped outdoor areas to maintain level surface and not spill your beer or martinis. This way the level areas are left for people to stand on, leaving uneven areas for the table. Makes sense to me!

Agreed: look at the step just behind the table. If you turn the left side of the table towards the wall and lift the shorter legs onto the step the top will be level.

Use a telephone book under the short leg, if its too thick, remove some pages, the balancing is as accurate as the thickness of the pages your removing.

If The height is the height of a step, then the table could have been designed to sit in the area of steps, so you have short and long legs depending on what level the table legs were situated on the corresponding steps ;o)

The table legs are of equal length. The legs appear to be shorter on one side due to an optical illusion created by the camera angle. Basically tricking the brain. As simple as that!!

1) Is the table rectangular? It looks as if if the top is a parallelogram, but the legs are on a rectangular frame. If so the legs are probably all the same length.

2) I have some of the old withdrawn Ugandan shillings which could be used instead of Zim$ - totally worthless as against almost worthless.

The table appears to be square and the legs on the left side of the photo look as though they are the short side. Looking at the sill in the wall behind the table, the legs look to be short enough to sit atop the sill and level the top. I would assume a walkway clearance issue, but maybe not!!!!

Question # 2, as far as keeping the table from wobbling, and since I am fresh out of Zim $1,000,000 notes and Ugandan shillings, and really hating math, I would flip the table over, drill a 3/8" hole in the bottom of each leg, insert a 1/4"-20 "tee-nut" into each hole and then screw an adjustable leg leveler in each leg. Then you can move the table any which way and be relatively certain that you can stop the table from wobbling.

Of course these are just the ramblings of an old Ike drenched cabinet maker.

QUOTE "The cheapest way is to take a Zim $ 1,000,000 note and fold it until it is thick enough and place it under the shortest leg."

Instead of using you Zim $1,000,000 use a US equivalent. It would be cheaper.

#1 - I think it was meant to be askew, but whether it went bad or not depends on whether it is askew enough.

#2 - simply turn the table...upside down. The top will then be level with the floor, and will not wobble. You didn't specify that you had to be able to actually USE said table...

Apparently, there are not many traditional engineers monitoring this site, who would remember the traditional drawing table, the most convenient being those with a top with adjustable tilt. That was way back in the old days when drafting was an art, not a computer skill. Actually, my keyboard for this computer is on a tilt top as well, making it much easier to use for extended periods. Not all table tops are level...

A really sexy solution, if you need to change the tilt for personal comfort, would be motorized adjustment screws on the appropriate legs, coupled to personalized sensors that would remember each user's preferred settings...

Yes, but on a real drafters table the legs would be perpendicular to the floor. The top of the legs would be mounted at an angle to the table.

When you make a table and one leg is longer, you set the table on a flat surface and with the long leg hanging over you mark it even with the top of your flat surface.

With two long legs it is a bit harder. You have to shim the short legs until the table top is flat, then using a board that is just a little taller that your shims, mark all four legs and carefully cut to the mark. I know you wander why you would cut all four legs, the reason I do is it works better.

Hello Hendrik:

it looks to me that the floor in this case is relatively level.

Regarding the table, if two legs are shorter than the others no amount of twisting will remedy this problem to make it level.

If however there is two shorter legs, it may have been designed as a display table? I am thinking for the display of fruit, or veg' at English 'Best and Biggest' shows?

All legs on this table are even in length. One leg is resting upon the sill. The photo records an optically false parrallelogram.

One would need a defined point or datum to do the photogrammetry.

In this case I assume that the doorway sill is two inches above the floor. One leg resting on it would reduce the visible angle of the leg closest to the viewer because the photo is shot from an elevated angle. That leg only appears to be shorter.

To answer your question as to whether it is skewed enough I can only suggest that those who posted replies are most definately stewed. If that's not the case then the table was built for a recipient of a hip replacement that went terribly wrong.

Hello Duckinthepond:

me understand Datum.....................But, rapperallegrom........? A real tongue twister.

Take care, and I love your pic by the way.

Hello babybear

Time for a new pair of spectacles for you, old son.

<"....parrallelogram...."> In the original Post above.

Not <"....rapperallegrom...."> (Your above).

The two above should properly be replaced with: parallelogram.

Evidently the has both the above incorrect spellings in it's Spellcheck Dictionary, which is, of course, the US English Spelling, not the Queen's English, as written by Her Britannic Majesty's Subjects.

Kind Regards....

The spill chucker won't help with getting people to agree on "trapezium"/"trapezoid". 2 side equal is "trapezium" in the UK, but "trapezoid" in the US. With no parallel side the words swap.

Hi Sparkstation

It must be this Coriolis thing - every thing is in the reverse direction up above (down under inverse)

This is what I think.

Front legs of the table are having same length. But, if you carefully observe it seems that the red circled bottom of the right side leg is not actually touching the ground. Now why is it not touching?

The reason may be that the top portion of the same leg (shown by another red circle) is actually tied down by some string (it is clearly visible in the circle) to the back side (may to the collapsible door on back side). Now the table is placed such way that the left two legs are tuching ground & right two legs are not (due to tension of the string (so, the string tension is taking the load of the two left legs). Thus making it look as if it is tilted but actually it is not.

Ahh,

Both the visible legs are the same length: the front right leg is off the ground because the back right leg is on the step.

There is still something odd about the way the picture was taken: this ruler is not to scale but both instances of it are the same length:-

Hi Bricktop and all

I am going for a lower back fusion and this table was a quick attempt to make a laptop stand for working (I am going to earn money while lying on my back) in bed.

The 2 front legs (left pair on the photo) is shorter to have a slight tilt for typing.

I used lightweight tubing and cast aluminium flanges. The fit is poor and 2 of the legs kept falling out (the reason for the black insulation tape). I have scraped this design and is replacing it with a sturdy trolley with adjustable tilt (strong enough to hold a PC).

The tilt will work well for the laptop(s) but I don't think having a PC and a 19" screen on a tilt above fragile me would be a good idea.

Should I rather keep it level and have a keyboard clip-on at an angle?

Although not bedridden, I do use a hospital-style table for my laptop. It is pedestal mounted, with the base designed to slip under the bed. This particular model has adjustable height and a tilt top. This was not purchased in a hospital supply store, but in a cheap computer furniture store. I'm going to try to send a picture:

Maybe this design would help you out...

Hello Hendrik

Sorry to hear you're a'heading for the Hospital, trust that the operation will be 100% success and you can place a Post complete with pictures

<"....Should I rather keep it level and have a keyboard clip-on at an angle?....">

Having a PC and 19" monitor above you while in a state of recovery is not a good idea.

Reaction time and your physical wellness would mean that if any suspended mass fell, you would be further injured.

Use the angled keyboard please.

Kind Regards....

Hi Sparkstation - I will use a keyboard bracket - even for the laptop.

For internet use I have this Asus eee-700 with wi-fi. very neat.

I need to find a solution for a mouse pad. I was thinking of using my belly but it is not that comfortable.

I actually just discovered something about my Dell latitude laptop that I did not know.

There is this grey sanding bit button between the G, H and B key. I thought it was a cover for a holding down screw. Today when accidentally touching it I realize it is a joystick / mouse.

(It will teach me to always first read the instructions).

I don't think I will manage this mouse.

Any ideas for a mouse pad ?

Have you seen this?

With a little balance weight adjustment, you can have an overhead computer desk.

I hope the surgery goes better than hoped for. I know back problems are a cause of much pain and worry. I had bought a hand held mouse for my wife. She hated it. I brought it to work to use it. A co worker borrowed it last year, and I have not gotten it back. He loves it. Tomorrow I will get the info on it and send it your way.

Have you tried a trackball? The base sits still and you roll a golf ball-sized ball with your fingers which acts like the mouseball. I like them, tho' they take a bit of getting used to. Easier on the hands, too.

I had to almost pry it out of his hand. The device is made by Felloees, located at www.fellowes.com

model FDM-G60 P.

It slips over your index finger. Has a roller ball under your thumb. The function of "left click" is still done by the same function,pushing the index finger. Because there is a button under the index finger. There are two additional buttons that are just above where your thumb. The right button is the same as traditional "right click". The button to the left of that is a "scroll" button.

The total length is less than 3" long, and 1.75" wide. Small and light. It can be used in either hand, and is connected by USB cable. It might be available in cordless by now.

The mouse with a G code sounds nice.

In my next life I will sell painless steel screws and clamps. It is amazing what they charge for these things.

The doctor also ask me what material screws they used in 1991 and I had to tell him I was occupied with Mr sandman at the time and did not pay close attention. Anyhow they fitted the screws behind my back.

Easy on the medication.

The doctors are painless.

The screws are stainless.

Yeah, but I see what he means - painless steel screws would sell like hotcakes!

Hello Hendrik:

call yourself an Engineer..........and you use tape to hold the legs in? HA!

Just to say, good luck and I hope you are not out of action too long. Get well VERY quickly!

By the way and, no offence here...........I know some people who make money working on their back.........

Take care...........

I kept wondering which craft build the table.

Not a Carpenter - it doesn't have any sheet rock screws showing.

Pipe fitter would have build it square but in the wrong place.

Boiler maker would have broke it.

Iron workers would not bother to work on something so small.

So it must have been a stone mason!

Cheers

Right again it was witch craft - I just waved the hacksaw and a few grunts and it was done.

In defence of my craftsmanship honour I must add that this was only a prototype of an idea. The final version would have been better. I think it came out rather nice for a man in pain.

Although it was possible to work a laptop it would have been impossible for me to lift and move the laptop around when needed to.

Watch this space for the final version.