Dinette Table

[Greg A]

I am changing the dinette table mounting system in the Scamp 13 and had a question for the group.
I purchased two of the aluminum stanchions and have removed all the old Scamp table hardware which I didn't personally care for. (Nothing worse then a wobble table)

Some of the pics I've seen over the months of your eggs that have the aluminum table stanchions have two, and some use one. I'm kinda leaning towards two, but maybe some of you that have that setup could give me some input before I bolt these in? They are pretty inexpensive so don't really care if I end up only using one set, but definitely would like to end up with a more stationary table.

Also, anyone that has redone the table with new materials: What did you use and especially how and what did you use to trim out the side? Also, if other than wood, where did you get it?

[Per Walthinsen]

Greg:

A wobbly table was one of my aggravations. Two aluminum columns didn't do it, it spilled coffee and everything else when you did anything more than just looked at it.

I replaced the stock table with one made from the kind of plywood made for making sandwich board-type signs. It has a kraft surface, very smooth, as a base for plastic laminate. After gluing a strip of wood on all sides I laminated Formica on the front and the back. After trimming it back I beveled the edges with a router.

The key to stability is some form of triangulation, so I made some brackets which screwed to the wall (on a single-hull trailer you'd have to devise some other kind of fastening method, I'd guess).

As you can see in the picture, a couple of knobs are used to screw into two threaded inserts underneath the table. The table unscrews in seconds, but the form of triangulation makes it super-stable. I have never found the aluminum columns by themselves to give any degree of stability, but this works well.

[Donna D.]

Remember too, there's not a whole lot of "foot room" under the table and the more stuff you have hanging down from the table and more stuff bolted to the floor the more chance of whacking the poles/stanchions which may cause the table to wobble even more than the original setup.

[John Perry]

I am changing the dinette table mounting system in the Scamp 13 and had a question for the group.

One off the reasons I did not mind getting rid of my 14' Burro wide body was both tables had to be taken down before travel. On the first trip I left the dining table up and had my 9" tv/dvd under the table. The table fell and my tv was destroyed.
It has been my experience that the aluminium post systems are very unstable.
the table in my 13'SCamp iv very stable.
John

[Gina D.]

in my 13, I traveled with both the big and front tables up

Never had a problem. I turned the long /wide side of the tables so they rested on the walls to prevent wobble. I even moved the mount on the big rear one forward so the table was OVER the useless rear bench.

My spider legs table stays up all the time too. Nothing ever goes on top when traveling, however.

[Greg A]

Wow, I'm surprised that the stanchions would wobble anywhere even close to the factory setup as they seem pretty solid. Maybe there was something wrong with my factory setup because it really rocks. I also want to not have all that hardware in the bed area even though it is on her side.
Per, I think you have me going in the right direction. If I could devise a simple latch point system similar to yours at the back of the table to tie into the plywood backer the old hardware tied in I'd be golden. I like your brace that you devised. I appreciate the table build out information as well. I was thinking along those lines and you gave me some good ideas.

[Sandra Lair]

We removed the wall mounted supports from our Scamp table after the screws pulled loose, tearing out big chunks of the underside of the pressed wood table. This happened when I dropped it down to make the bed one night.

At that point we decided to go with the two aluminum tube supports, like Casita, and have been very pleased with the results. We don't have a "wobble" problem unless we really put a lot of pressure on one side. It think it has to do with how tightly the supports fit into the thingies on the underside of the table & floor because I have a hard time separating them when I want to convert it to the bed.

Good luck with whatever you decide to use!
Sandra

[Alf S.]

Hi: The first job I did on our '77 Boler was to fix the wobbly table what a shock I got when I took out the old screws from the aluminium track on the wall under the back window...They were half dissolved So as my Dad taught me get some wooden match sticks and tap them into the holes in the wood strip under the window and then replace the screws with S/S ones. Voila now when I wiggle the table the whole trailer moves Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Tom Trostel]

My Compact Jr. had no table when I purchased it. The only mounting hardware for a table was two cups in the floor. I cut a piece of 3/4" birch plywood to the width of the space between the benches as the table top is also half of the bed surface. I trimmed the edges with iron-on birch veneer. I then painted it with several coats of satin polyurethane. I purchased two standard chrome plated columns and two stanchions for the underside of the table. The longest columns I could find were 28" and that made the table a little short. I had to make two spacers of 2x4 to mount the stanchions to the underside. Not very pretty but it works well and you don't see unless you lay on the floor. The table looks good after several years of use. It is stable and we travel with it up.

Tom Trostel

[Greg A]

Thanks, Sandra and Tom.

Originally I thought the two columns would work out OK, and it sounds like you've had success with that configuration.

How are your columns spaced under the table? Is the rear one pretty close to the back wall?

Tom, I was thinking of the Birch ply for the table and the new cabinet doors as well. It stains really well and usually comes out looking pretty good. If you have a pic of your table setup I'd love to see it.

[Tom Trostel]

My table is 36" x 22.5". The spacing on the legs is 23". The spacing places the tabletop about 2" from the wall. Tom Trostel

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/ViewPhoto?...&p=70959854

[Sandra Lair]

Greg.
One leg of our table is 9" from the front edge of the table & the other leg is 12" from the back edge. The table is 1" from the back wall.
Sandra

[Greg A]

Thanks for the spacing info. I'll keep ya posted how the table comes out.