It’s a safe assumption to say that everyone reading this has, at one point in their life, encountered a table that starts to tip when one person puts their weight on it. It seems that a sturdy looking, heavy topped table, made of a material like marble or granite or solid wood would actually be sturdy. Yet often it’s these top heavy tables that are the most likely to tip. This article hopes to help explain why a table might be out of balance.

The answer lies in the science going on underneath the table, in the material and weight of the foundation. These heavy stone and woo d table tops are most often attached to standard metal table bases, often made from cast-iron or steel. While they may do the job in holding the table up, in the long run the standard table base doesn’t successfully counter the problems that cause instability.

The first and most important issue is the unbalanced center of gravity in a top heavy table. Any object’s balance is determined by its center of gravity; in an object where the weight and shape are uniform the center of gravity will be in the middle. However for a table, especially a table with a larger heavier top, the center of gravity will be drawn upward to where more of the weight is. This is because the center of gravity is impacted by the distribution of weight. A top heavy object will have a higher center of gravity, which ultimately cause the object to be more unstable. This is why objects with top-heavy weight must be balanced out with increased weight on the bottom. A heavy cast-iron table base can hold up the table and create stability because its increased weight balances out the table and draws the center of gravity down to the middle, rather than the top.

The second factor for creating a stable table is the strength of the materials used. A table base’s purpose is to hold up another, normally heavy, object. To do so requires high compressive strength, or the ability to remain rigid, rather than flex or warp, when the weight pushes against the base. In terms of high compressive strength, cast-iron is the number one choice since it does not bend or flex as opposed to steel.

Finally, it is important to assess how the table base is attached to the table top itself. Most top plates in table bases come in contact with the table in four places. This works well on a smaller table, since the four points of contact are equal to the weight of the table. However, as the table grows larger and heavier, the four points are no longer strong enough to take the weight of the table without bending. The solution is to increase the surface area between the top plate and the bottom of the table top. This is achieved by increasing the points of contact from four to eight, using a metal, preferably cast iron due to the weight and compressive strength, top plate. The larger the top plate the more surface area that come into contact with the table. The weight of the table top is then more equally balanced and less likely to tip.