Fixing the slide out table holder..

[Jammi]

We have a slide out table holder for our freestanding table.
The tiny screws on the sliding rails keep pulling out, probably due to all the bouncing around on potholed roads and the table being fairly heavy.

I was thinking a more permanent approach would maybe be to use something like No More Nails/gripfill on the rail before reattaching the screws.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Or any alternative suggestions?
Would the flexible sealant adhesive used on motorhomes be better? I wasn’t sure if this would work holding something on a vertical surface?

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Landy Andy]

You are only gluing it to what is there. So if you have a wall which is made of a patterned printed bit of paper, glued to a thin sheet of ply. The glues you use may well pull the paper off the wall.

 

[Jammi]

I just wondered if it would help stop the screws loosening again?
I can’t use bigger screws as the piece of wood is only 1cm or so thick.

I don’t want to make a big mess that’s going to be difficult to remove.

 

[Landy Andy]

I just wondered if it would help stop the screws loosening again?
I can’t use bigger screws as the piece of wood is only 1cm or so thick.

I don’t want to make a big mess that’s going to be difficult to remove.

Have you got a picture of your setup?
Glue would help such as a grip fill, CT1 is my choice, but no good if you wish to remove in the future. More screws than you use currently would help

Alternatively you could use something like a plasterboard fixing that distributes the load more, giving you a stronger fixing.

 

[Jammi]

I’ll nip over to the van and take some pictures.
Plasterboard fixing would be too long.
More screws would good but I’ll have to see ifs possible to drill extra holes in the rails.

Hopefully pictures will make more sense.

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[Jammi]

Won’t need to remove… unless it comes adrift again!

 

[Landy Andy]

These work, and come in different sizes/depths

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[PeterCarole29]

can you remove the panel and secure a length of wood to screw into with longer screws after you put the panel back

 

[Jammi]

 

[Jammi]

Pictures attached hopefully.
It’s a slide out table holder on the two metal sliders attached with about 6 of the tiny screws.

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[Jammi]

When I went over today to take pictures I decided to take the whole thing apart.
After feeling the weight of the metal sliders and the pull out part, even without the table added, I’m not surprised it keeps breaking!

 

[Oldrat]

If you can get to the other side of the board, use small countersunk bolts and nuts. The nuts can be dome head type if looks are important

 

[Jammi]

So I redesigned the table holder part so it just sits on the floor and table can slide out.
I’m going to tidy it up with a bit of trim, screw it all in from the wardrobe the other side, add a toggle catch somehow to keep it in place and put the door back on a piano hinge.

 

[Jammi]

Thanks for all the suggestions
I’m hoping it’ll be a bit more robust now it hasn’t got as many moving parts!
I don’t know who thinks these designs up?

 

[Landy Andy]

View attachment 926917View attachment 926918View attachment 926919

Ahhh. I had completely got the wrong idea in my head. Picture paints…………..

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[cyberyacht]

Screws can sometimes get a better grip if the screw hole is filled with araldite before screwing in. It then bonds the screw to the substrate. The screw threads are just trying to grip a bit of timber of doubtful density.

 

[autorouter]

I just wondered if it would help stop the screws loosening again?
I can’t use bigger screws as the piece of wood is only 1cm or so thick.

You can use bigger screws. These are quite thick but very short, used for holding hinges in chipboard cupboards. You may have to drill out the holes in the sliding mechanism a bit.

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Alternatively these inserts might work. Use a hexagonal allen key or screwdriver bit to screw them into a hole. They then become a metal threaded hole, you can screw an M6 threaded bolt into it. If the bolt has a countersunk head it will tighten more or less flush with the fixed bit of the slider mechanism. Again, you may have to drill out the holes a bit.

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If you can get at the back of the wood, and it's not too visually intrusive, you could use these, which give a strong metal thread that has support at the back, and are extremely strong. Again, use a countersunk M6 bolt into it.

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