SELF LOCKING BASEBOARD LEGS

[jamie92208]

Some time ago there was a topic about what type of legs to put on baseboards. After much hard won experience with other layouts I have come to believe that legs should be attached to the baseboards permanently (I know that there are pros and cons to this). I made the last pair that I need for my new layout yesterday and realised that I had not photographed the process. If this is of no interest please look at other topics.

 

The first step is to build the baseboards with enough space underneath that the legs can fold inside them.

The legs themselves need to be made. A good friend at Wakefield Club made all mine for me (24 sets.)

To make self locking, or as they are sometimes called, over centre legs you need 5 flap hingesper leg. I use 1.5" square ones with the three holes on each flap in a triangular layout. This avoids splitting along the line of the screwsafter the boards have been out a few times.

Here the legs have been attached using the first two hinges so that they fold up inside the end plate of the board. Small notches have been chiseled out of the leg so that the pivots of the hinges fit snugly.

The next step is to put a block or cross member onto the board with it's top edge in line with the top edge of the cross member of the folded leg.

Now the next two hinges are attached to the two cross members.

Then open the leg up till it is at right angles to the board and measure the distance between the two hinges.

Here I have cut the piece of 2 by 1 to the correct length and tried it to check that the leg is square.

Then mark the centre of the piece of timber all the way round and screw the final hinge over the centre line on one side.

Just a point, if the two hinges on the cross members are slightly out of alignment then move the centre line by half that distance so that the pivot is the same distance from each hinge.

Then cut through the wood on the other side from the hinge with a tennon saw.

Now screw the hinged strut onto the two cross member hinges with the hinge below the wood.

If all goes well then the leg should fold and this is the result.

Some sort of retaining catch secures the leg for transport.

This form of leg is very quick to put up and can never be forgotten when packing for a show!.

Here is the completed leg in use.

I usually wait till this point before checking the legs for length and cutting them so that the board sits at the correct height.

 

 

I hope that this is of use to someone. The two key things are

a) to get the strut the right length.

B) Not to make the gap in the strut too wide which is why I use this method of cutting it in situ after screwing on the fifth hinge.

With this method three of us can put all 27 boards of Lancaster Green Ayre up in 45 minutes.

For a king board with two pairs of legs one pair is left slightly longer than the other and mounted further up inside the board so that the two sets of legs fit over each other when folded.

 

Jamie

[Campaman]

Very good, I am currently using a plug in leg system on my first baseboard, but I like the idea of the legs being permanently connected so they do not get lost.