Joint hardware...

[John Daragon]

Chaps, hi;

I want to upgrade a workbench. The top is fine, but the legs aren't as stable as they might be, so I'd like to put together a frame of (say) 4x4s, braced with some half inch ply, but I'd like to be able to dismantle the thing if need be.

So I'm looking for a simple jointing system. There is (was?) one with a metal cylinder drilled and threaded for a perpendicular bolt, which was often used for flat-pack furniture.

Does anyone have any idea what this is called and where I might buy it from ?

jd

[TonyK]

locks and dowels. HTH

[Lobster]

For an already-unstable workbench?!! Think you'll need something a a bit more substantial than that.

David

[John Daragon]

Indeed - But the thing I was looking for (which is called a cross dowel, it seems) is referenced from the page above :

- jd

[Andy Dingley]

Isaac Lord. They're called barrel bolts - you buy them as two pieces; round nut and bolt. There are also different head shapes for flush or surface heads, or tubular female bolts for a direct connection between components.

Screwfix sell a few, but much smaller range. In particular they only go to 100mm or so in length, and Isaac Lord go to 150mm.

Always insert the nut part into a through hole, not a blind hole. Blind holes need to be exactly the right depth and are a pain to get the alignment right. A spare bolt with the end ground to a point is also a useful alignment tool.

Design your workbench framing joints so that each is pulled together by two of these bolts, spaced as far apart as possible. Using a single bolt just isn't rigid enough against racking.

[Rick Dipper]

Halving Joints and screws do it for me ...............

Assuming you only dismantle occasionally.

If screws look too wimpy, try bolts or coach screws.

Rick