84, страница 10

84, страница 10

had to nudge your cabinet just a little closer to the wall.

Heavy-Duty. As you can see here, levelers come in a variety of shapes and sizes. But what you don't see are the lightweight plastic kind. They're just not strong enough for shop use. In my shop, I use the sturdy, all-metal levelers that you buy at woodworking specialty stores. (Sources on page 51.)

A leveler isn't all that complex — it's essentially a pad attached to a threaded rod. The rod passes through a metal bracket attached to the cabinet. There are two advantages to this design. One is added strength. The other is the brackets and pads can be ordered separately, allowing you to customize them for your specific needs.

Adjustment. You can adjust the height of levelers in different ways. For example, some levelers are adjusted by simply twisting the pad or an adjusting nut. Others are adjusted by using a screwdriver (top left photo) or a hex key (bottom left corner photo) on top of the threaded rod. Most of the time, you'll have to adjust these types of levelers through a hole drilled in die bottom of your cabinet.

SIDE-MOUNT

Levelers come in either side-mount and corner-mount. Two types of side-mounted levelers are shown on the left. They can be mounted to either die inside or the outside of the cabinet. But if you mount them to the inside of die cabinet, you'll have to drill an access hole in the

10 ShopNotes No. 84

Access hole

shop cabinet

Levelers

Keep your shop on an even keel with a set of heavy-duty levelers.

Nothing is more frustrating than to set up a shop cabinet and have it rock and wobble because your shop floor isn't level. The solution for this all-too-common problem is to install levelers.

Advantages. Besides leveling your shop cabinets, there are other advantages to adding levelers. Keeping your cabinets off the floor protects them from absorbing moisture through the floor or from any spills. That's especially true if your cabinets are made from parti-cleboard or mdf, because they can soak up moisture and swell.

Another benefit of using levelers comes when moving the cabinets around. Levelers not only make the cabinets slide easier, but they also protect the bottom edges of the cabinet from the chipping or splintering that moving may cause. There's nothing worse than hearing the sound of veneer peeling off plywood because you

Rubber pads protect floor and

"Lip" supports cabinet weight

Con: Stick out from sides and get in the way

Swivel base

SIDE-MOUNTED LEVELERS

Sturdy design is strong and stable

f

OUTSIDE MOUNT Pro:Easy to install

N

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