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Two Tables Named Compass

By Rain Noe - November 13, 2013

in Furniture Design

We recently stumbled across two pieces of furniture both named the Compass Table, very different from each other, but both very lust-worthy.

The first Compass Table comes from Ballard Designs, a furniture retailer based in the American South. The functional compass features an etched metal face and is capped with glass, while the hardwood legs (your choice of walnut or "aged driftwood oak") are height-adjustable. Solid brass fittings round it all out. Admittedly there's no real reason you need to know which way true north is while you're downing a highball after work, so sue me for liking the thing.

The second Compass Table, or Compasso Tavolo we should say, is by Italian manufacturer L'Ottocento. While also height-adjustable, this glass-topped ashwood dining table features a more visually interesting mechanism than Ballard's offering.

What I can't figure out is how the darn thing works; my instinct would be to get down on all fours and crank that large gear in the middle by hand, to drive the threaded wooden rods and bring the legs closer together or further apart.

The product copy, however, indicates "The adjustment of the height is possible by manually turning the two locks at the articulations of the legs."

Is there some type of registering piece missing in that photo above, or am I being thick? A little help, designers?

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J.Eriksson

11 years ago

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While the rod is threaded the nuts/holes might not be. The big adjustment mechanism could be an illusion.
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Mike Meade

11 years ago

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The locks at the legs have three flats on them. Adjusting these will give you one of three positions where the table can be locked in. The gear on the cross bar will need to be turned until a new selection on the locks can be set.
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Luis Gonzalez

11 years ago

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if you look at the last picture the lock seems to be able to rotate and lock positions on the flat surfaces. But like Rob Wilkey said i doubt that it would be strong enough to make the threaded rod move, so i also agree that you lock the the legs after adjusting the table to the desired height.
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Rob Wilkey

11 years ago

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Hmmm... it looks like the lock in the last picture is just a piece that prevents the legs from opening further. I don't see how that would provide enough force to turn the threaded rod at the bottom.

So, I'm assuming that you turn the threaded rod by hand (or foot, assuming that the friction created by pushing on one side of it wouldn't lock up the threads), then turn the lock to stop the legs at the desired position.

Both are pretty awesome pieces of furniture. Seeing how awesome those brass knobs look on the walnut has given me some extra motivation to finish the table I'm working on :)
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marc g

11 years ago

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IMHO, it is simply a matter of incorrect translation. "The adjustment of the height VIA THE CENTER COG is possible AFTER manually turning the two locks at the articulations of the legs."

Based on the construction, the "locks" only purpose is safety in case the mechanism was to break/shear.

Great table regardless
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R.W

11 years ago

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The knobs near the top are to make sure that the legs do not move freely, which would allow the table surface to sway or tilt. The height is still adjusted via the gear on the bottom however. I assume that the description of the usage is lacking in detail.
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