Fixing A Play Table

Project:
Our church nursery had these neat little plastic tables the 2-4 year old kids use for their snack but unfortunately one of the legs on one of the tables broke off. They were going to throw it out but I figured it would be worth a try to fix it.

Process:
The first thing I had to do is to get the broken piece of the leg out of the table top. Because it was really stuck and I had no surface to hold on to, I split the table top in half, then used one of the good legs and a hammer to punch out the broken off piece. Next I used the air die grinder to roughen up the inside of the leg to provide a better surface for the glue. After spreading a layer of epoxy glue, I rolled up the fiberglass cloth and pushed it into the glue. Once the glue set, I put a layer of epoxy glue on the broken off piece, slipped that over the fiberglass that was sticking out and made sure it made good contact. After another 5 minutes of setting time, I mixed up another batch of glue and spread it evenly on the inside over the fiberglass cloth. Then I cleaned up the outside and voila, it was done.

Pictures:
Here's the table with the one leg that was broken off

The little piece of the leg that was jammed into the under-side of the table.

Nathaniel explaining to me how we can fix the leg

Another close-up of the broken off piece once the top half of the table-top was removed

Using a good leg to punch out the broken-off piece

Finally got the piece removed

After the first layer of epoxy glue inside of the larger part of the leg

A close-up view of the inside of the leg

Once I put the small piece on and glued the fiberglass mesh to it

A close-up of the inside of the completed leg

Mixing up the last batch of epoxy glue

All fixed

Final result

Tools:
Screw driver, scissors, air die grinder


Materials:
Epoxy glue, fiber glass cloth

Cost:
$0.00

Time:
1hr

Savings:
$112.99

Conclusion:
Success. I hope it will last.