The large table that came with our 21C was just too large since there are only two of us. It was awkward to slide it back and forth to get in and out, and took up more room than we wanted.
So, I decided to make a smaller table. It is made of cedar, finished with spar varnish. It is about 6 inches shorter in the center, with the sides about 12 inches shorter. The shape makes it easy to get up and down, while still giving us plenty of surface area. It is as wide as the standard table, so we can still make it up to be a bed if necessary.
The smaller table allows us to get rid of one of the posts, resulting in a lot more leg room and ease of moving around. Because the standard table uses both posts to secure the sliding mechanism the new table does not slide, but we find it is not necessary at all.
As you can see in the underneath photo, the single post is not in the middle. That would have required drilling new holes in the floor, so I decided to try something else. The post is about 1/3 of the distance from the wall, with the remaining 2/3 cantilevered, unsupported. This naturally required some type of solution to prevent it tipping forward. Since I did not want to put any fasteners in the front wall of the trailer I mounted a long piece of velcro type fastener to the straight edge of the table and to the rear wall of the trailer. It is quite strong and makes the table quite steady. We took it on one trip, it did not fall over or move. It remains to be seen if the fastener tape glue deteriorates over time and temperature. If, upon further use, it needs more support, I will angle a brace from the base of the table fixture toward the front of the table, preserving as much leg space as I can.
So, I decided to make a smaller table. It is made of cedar, finished with spar varnish. It is about 6 inches shorter in the center, with the sides about 12 inches shorter. The shape makes it easy to get up and down, while still giving us plenty of surface area. It is as wide as the standard table, so we can still make it up to be a bed if necessary.
The smaller table allows us to get rid of one of the posts, resulting in a lot more leg room and ease of moving around. Because the standard table uses both posts to secure the sliding mechanism the new table does not slide, but we find it is not necessary at all.
As you can see in the underneath photo, the single post is not in the middle. That would have required drilling new holes in the floor, so I decided to try something else. The post is about 1/3 of the distance from the wall, with the remaining 2/3 cantilevered, unsupported. This naturally required some type of solution to prevent it tipping forward. Since I did not want to put any fasteners in the front wall of the trailer I mounted a long piece of velcro type fastener to the straight edge of the table and to the rear wall of the trailer. It is quite strong and makes the table quite steady. We took it on one trip, it did not fall over or move. It remains to be seen if the fastener tape glue deteriorates over time and temperature. If, upon further use, it needs more support, I will angle a brace from the base of the table fixture toward the front of the table, preserving as much leg space as I can.
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