Setting a Broken Duncan Phyfe Table Leg in the Secret Underground Laboratory Recovery and Salvage

Modern Duncan Phyfe style pedestal table legs have flaw in the construction and they all fail in a similar way. Today we repair and build it back better, so it won't happen again.

[@war7334]

For such a famous furniture designer I would never have believed how shoddy his furniture was made.Your repair is ingenious and will last the rest of the life of the table..

[@BronZeage]

Thank you very much. This table is based on a Duncan Phyfe design and now Duncan Phyfe is a generic term for similar tables. As I showed in the video, the original Duncan Phyfe furniture shop would use the much stronger sliding dovetail joint and not the dowel joint.

[@jo-eo9ld]

genius work sir

[@BronZeage]

Thank you very much.

[@RightHandShot]

nice work, the larger bracket should work well.

[@BronZeage]

Thank you very much. I've used this method before on small tables and regular mending braces were big enough. This is the first time I had to fabricate a piece.

[@jandolph7509]

Where do you buy your clamps? Would Home Depot have them?
Where can I buy the wrap around for the furniture piece? Where it wouldn’t mark up the furniture?😊

[@BronZeage]

The clamps are sold at Home Depot and Lowe's, as well as many other places. The wooden fixtures and jigs that hold the legs are made in the Lab. Repairing curved furniture parts usually requires some kind of custom made jig for clamping.

[@annarboriter]

Wow, not only did the manufacturer skimp on the joinery but also on the metal hardware. Your metal brace is an elegant and necessary adaption. I don't think I would have bothered after finding the legs held together with just the two dowels

[@BronZeage]

Thank you very much. The dowel joint is how all modern three leg pedestals are made, even on very high end furniture and this is how they fail. It's much more likely to break when the table is moved, than when it use.

[@kathybelk1333]

great job. looks like you can fabricate just about anything.

[@BronZeage]

Thank you very much. I would like to think so. There aren't many jobs I have to turn down.

[@jar944]

When I build a table like that from scratch I'll use sliding dovetails. Most of the antique tables ive see have the steel plate and appeared to have it from the start. I actually had to repair a base very similar (2 small dowels per leg) recently and was able to use two 14mm domino's in each leg. Between those and the west systems hopefully it holds up for a few years.

[@BronZeage]

The small plates on this table are the only ones I have seen. I think a full plate that takes the stress off of the end grain of the post is the only way to keep the dowel joint from failing.

[@jar944]

@@BronZeage The bases I saw with the steel plates were sliding dovetails as well.

[@BronZeage]

@@jar944 That would seem to be overkill. I only see the ones that break, so I doubt there will ever be a sliding dovetail 3 leg pedestal table on the BF bench.