Pocket bolts

[billsey]

I'm still gradually cranking away on the Pat Sheehan table I picked up a while ago. I'm at the point where I need to affix the extensions to the rails in order the set the pocket width, and for the center pockets I need to trim the extensions to match the pockets themselves. The corners don't have that issue so much... So, I put the side rails in place upside down and set the pockets in to tell where I needed to trim and noticed the bolts I took out are in two different lengths:

Is there a reason for that, or did someone just replace a few at some point? Six and six don't seem to make sense, so it's not a corner vs side pocket thing. I'm thinking I should just pick up six more that match the shorter so they will all be the same length...

 

[rexus31]

I'm still gradually cranking away on the Pat Sheehan table I picked up a while ago. I'm at the point where I need to affix the extensions to the rails in order the set the pocket width, and for the center pockets I need to trim the extensions to match the pockets themselves. The corners don't have that issue so much... So, I put the side rails in place upside down and set the pockets in to tell where I needed to trim and noticed the bolts I took out are in two different lengths:
View attachment 799690
Is there a reason for that, or did someone just replace a few at some point? Six and six don't seem to make sense, so it's not a corner vs side pocket thing. I'm thinking I should just pick up six more that match the shorter so they will all be the same length...

Do you have pics of where those fasten to?

 

[billsey]

Here we go, the first image is from a corner pocket, showing where the bolt screws in.

The second image is a side pocket attached to the rails, but upside down.

The longer bolts, at least for that side pocket, bottom out before tightening.

 

[realkingcobra]

Here we go, the first image is from a corner pocket, showing where the bolt screws in.
View attachment 799753The second image is a side pocket attached to the rails, but upside down.
View attachment 799752
The longer bolts, at least for that side pocket, bottom out before tightening.

When you stick the pocket ear bolt in the hole, against the pocket ear, before you start to thread the bolt in, the head of the bolt should be sticking up about a 1/4" before you start threading it in. If it sticks up more than that, the bolt is to long.

 

[billsey]

So it shouldn't be long enough to go completely through the "nut" portion of the mount? That's a good 1/2" thick... I can seat the bolts fully with the shorter ones, so I've been working under the assumption they were correct originally and the longer ones were added in error later.
BTW, I have the extensions glued and am waiting a few days for them to dry completely. Next step is to trim them back to the same angles as the original rails, extend the cut for the feather strip and then it'll be ready to stink the place up with contact cement for the rubber.

 

[Lawnboy77]

So it shouldn't be long enough to go completely through the "nut" portion of the mount? That's a good 1/2" thick.

Correct! You want to avoid the bolt going all the way through the pocket ear and splitting the nice wood rail caps on top.

 

[billsey]

I believe those longer bolts were just installed loosely when I went to take it apart for the trip home. Luckily there is no indication they were tightened enough to start splitting the rails, but they were certainly there. The shorter ones are 5/16x1-1/4 inches, and they are available at my local home improvement center.
I've got the extensions all ready and the feather strips cut to length. Next step is to use contact cement on the facing plates and cushions, likely this coming week sometime. Then it's time to put the cloth on!