At the beginning of the month, we mentioned that one of the projects we hopes to complete was the installation of the IKEA Capita braces for the conference/dining room table. As we had delayed our 2010 Chinese New Year celebration to this weekend, we thought we had better take care of this project before the guests showed up.

The biggest unknown with installing the Capita brackets was how difficult it would be to drill a 1/2" hole through the stainless steel top. We used the rubber pad as a template to mark where to drill. In order to drill through and install the bolt, we needed to disassemble the top panel from the base. The mounting screws were underneath, but easily accessible.

When we got the top freed, we were happy to see a nice deep space in the leg, certainly deep enough for the steel bolt that would hold the brace to the table top. The steel bolt required a 7/16" hole. The closest bit we had was a 1/2", but decided it should work just fine. Drilling throught the top was not too difficult. It tooks us about 4 different size bits to work our way up to the 1/2" hole.

Once we had the holes drilled, the rest of the work was easy. The supplied nuts were self-locking so they won't work loose over time. This was important as they will not be easily accessible once the top has been remounted. With the plates and the braces properly positioned, we moved the everything back into place.

The cherry table top fits perfectly on top of the braces and the look was exactly as we had envisioned. Having the two shelves underneath the top makes this piece of furniture a lot more functional than the typical dining room table. The lockable casters will come in handy when we have to move it out of the way. As our space is limited, we like it when things are flexible or do double-duty. This table is now both!

We'll live with this table for awhile and see whether we need to make any adjustments. One problem we noticed was we may not be able to pull the chairs close enough to the table during use. As we don't really eat around the table all that often, it may not be something we'll have to address immediately, but then again...some here may disagree. [Permalink] -IKEA Brace Installation