Wobble Wedge
As a grad student, I spend a lot of time working on a laptop in coffee shops and living in old houses. What that means: sitting at notoriously-wobbly cafe tables and shimming furniture on uneven old wood floors. Wobble Wedges are small, clear plastic shims with a ridged surface that are invaluable in both instances. Since they weigh just an ounce or two, I always keep a couple in my computer bag (better than jamming newspaper under a coffee shop table). I usually go to a coffee shop twice a week, sometimes more, and find myself having to use them about 30 percent of the time. Sometimes I forget and leave them behind, but they're cheap enough it's no big deal. At home, these also work great because they are clear enough to be almost invisible. They are plenty strong enough for a fully-loaded bookshelf and, in the five years I've been using them, I've never had one break down or crack. Losing them is another story: I once used some to shim a pedestal sink and never saw them again. But the sink never wobbled either!
-- Donovan Finn
Wobble Wedge
$4
(6-pack)
Available from Amazon
Manufactured by Focus 12
Favorite (15)
Seventy2002
Also sold under the Fluidmaster label as "toilet shims".
Marc
Maybe I'm just cheap, but what's wrong with using a sugar packet? Most restaurants and coffee shops have those handy.
brian
I LOVE those things. I used to keep a couple in my car, and if you've ever used one, you'd realize how much better they are than sugar packets or napkins. Also, at my local hardware store they are 30 cents each.
Mark
The tables in restaurants sometimes have a round metal foot, which can be exteded by twisting it counter-clockwise to adjust the height.
GiveMeLight
Ah ha! Something I can certainly use. While I don't normally frequent coffee shops; I find myself sitting down at wobbly tables several times each week. (cafeteria at my place of work, downtown foodcourt, conference rooms, etc)
Thank you for posting this cool tool.
Dave
I read a good mathematical argument claiming that, for any 4-legged table and/or any uneven floor surface, there exists at least one combination of simply turning the table in order to achieve all 4 legs in contact with the floor. I can imagine out-of-spec situations where it won't work (one leg 4" shorter than others), but... Can't find the link, but can report 100% personal success to date. ;-)
Brad
They also make a soft plastic/rubber version that you can trim off for more "permanent" uses. You just shove it under there until the table/toilet is level and solid, then trim off what is sticking out with a utility knife and voila!
Jen
I carry one of these on my keychain. I used one at a cafe that I love, but don't get to very often. As luck would have it, I walked off without it. Next time I visited it, they had saved it for me and returned it to me.
Moon
Ha! What a great idea. I have a bunch of these at home that I mostly bought to use to shim the toilet.
But now I'm going to put some in my backpack especially for when I go to the track - their tables ALWAYS wobble and putting a folded up newspaper under one leg is never very satisfactory.
Thanks, Donovan Finn!
Steve
Second Dave's comment re rotating the table. Any time I sit at a wobbly round table, I try the rotation solution first. So far, it's always worked.
Brad
Who are these people who constantly sit at wobbly tables? I had no idea this was such a problem. Why not tell the management to fix it? Why would you bother carrying shims around? Weird.
Alan P. Hayes
Here's the reference for that table rotation stratagem:
http://arxiv.org/abs/math-ph/0510065
It's worked for me, but if the tables have square tops and are close together, it's not all that practical!
Andy Lee
These things are great. Every once in a while I decide my bookcases should be on the other side of the room, and that means having to re-level them because my floor is uneven all over. These shims are thin enough to fit in where I need them, soft enough to grip well, and tough enough not to get mashed by the weight of the books.
I never thought of carrying some around. They would definitely work better than sugar packets or a wad of napkins, and they require very little fiddling -- just wedge them in where you need them. I'm pretty sure I've been to at least one restaurant or cafe where they used them. I think they should be standard issue anywhere there are tables.
As for rotating the table -- I generally try that first, but sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes I can put one foot on one of the feet of the table to steady it enough for my purposes.
johnboy
The hardware store has packs of pine door shims for hanging door frames. Not sure of price but they are very cheap.
fmh
I have used these...they're great. But I don't carry them around with me. What I do to "stop the wobble" in coffee shops and such is the use a couple of packs of sugar or sweetener from the table dispenser to level out the short leg. The grains (sugar is best) settle to fit.
Frank
emery
That's a great idea.
In a pinch, a pack of carpenter's door shim will work if there are no plastic shims in your bag of tricks. Shims are cheap but don't look as nice as the plastic shims.
Wood shims can be trimmed for long term use. They are cut in such a way that you can create a level spot by using two driven from opposite directions. Shims are available at many hardware and building supply stores.
iowill
darn....this got posted right after I decided to shave off an eight of an inch on all of my left foot shoes....