How to make a Lego table out of PVC pipe

We looked all over the place for a Lego table. We finally gave up and decided to make our own.  My boys and I worked all Christmas weekend and came up with some good results.  There are several optional ways of configuring this so do what's best for your situation.  We wanted to have 2 big areas to build the Lego's and a large area in the middle to sort through them.

Step 1: Tools & Materials

Tools:
- Saw - I just used a regular wood saw for the pvc and it worked fine.
- Hammer - for the trim on the top board (optional)
- Drill
- Screw Driver

Materials:
For this project we used 1 1/2" diameter PVC pipe
1 - 2'x4' wood for the top of the table
2 - 10 7/8" long PVC (for the width)
2 - 41 3/8" long PVC (for the Length)
4 - 17 1/2" long PVC (for the legs)
4 - 1 1/2" Caps (for the feet)
4 -  Corner pieces
4 - T's
12 - bolts and nuts
PVC glue
Wood glue(optional)
Contact Cement (for the Lego pads)
Finishing nails (optional for the trim)
Paint(optional)
 
It is much cheaper if you buy the PVC in 9" lengths and cut it down.
Also, I chose the 2' x 4'  top because it was already available cut at the hardware store.

Comments

[darrennie]

Ah two of my favourite things to work with Lego & PVC.
Very Nice Job.

[Adambowker98]

Nice job!

[trevormates]

Very cool stuff. I built a train table for my boys using PVC, with a very similar mindset as this.

In my previous PVC Ible's I always recommend formufit.com, as they have 3-Way PVC Corners which would cut down on some of the work of this table and bring the legs closer to the corners.

Still, awesome work!  Especially the paint job!

[Itchyzombie]

I'll neva get a life! :P

[kittensare]

im going to by that for my kichen table.very cool!

[fbuehl]

This was a great project. Thanks so much for the idea! I made one for my two boys this weekend. Did a little tweaking to your design. I added Tees halfway down legs with a crossbar to add stability. Also moved lego baseplates to center, cutout two areas to drop plastic bins in for holding the legos. Still have to paint it, but the kids are super excited! Used four 1\4-20 bolts to hold table top down, but can be unscrewed and flipped over for a craft table for the kids. After all said and done (and some dumb moments along the way), it cost about 75-85 to build, but sooooo worth it. Thanks again for the idea and inspiration!

Derf

[thirdspaced]

Awesome job!  Looks great!

[PatrickNormandin]

Yeqah, well said! My 2 sons would love it!

[Thornburg]

If I would have seen this 10 years ago...

Great instructable man, use to love legos!

[zack247]

use to? you mean you still do, right? you are never too old to play with legos.

[zascecs]

isn't it obvious he meant "used to?"

[zack247]

no, but who can just "not" like legos anymore?

anywho, you have made comment 400! (counted by my account)

[zascecs]

XD

[headsign]

Nice one, but I could not imagine playing with Lego anywhere else than on the floor :)

[stheys1]

My brother has something similar to this out of all wood, but in the middle his slides open to drop the parts into a 9" deep bin which also slides out from underneath to pour them back out onto the table... you can also just slide the center open and scoop them out, depending on how many or how few parts you have...

[fr33fall]

That looks great.  You might want to add a large bin in the middle to hold more Legos.

[zack247]

maybe make it scoop out to the sides to allow picking from the top and bottom, maybe less searching for the perfect piece

[Orange Oz]

you look happy... jk great table

[starbricks]

did you change t-shirt?

[morningflower19]

Thanks I have been looking for a table. we are going out and getting the supplies to make it tomarrow just in time for his 9th birthday...great mom and son project too, yeppie! Thanks for the great sharing of ideas..he will be so suprised!

[vir4go]

Really cool! I have an internet cafe and want to add some non-computer activities. Even ubergeeks need offline time. I think. Legos seem like an obvious choice. Anyone have suggestions for storage and building space that will stand up to commercial use by multitudes of teenagers.

What do teenage girls like to do? Any clue?

[ajeisenhut]

PVC is pretty sturdy and could handle alot of wear. As for storage I have seen mesh bags used. How you could attach them I have not come up with yet, but I am planning on building this for my 1 year old. His bigger legos (megablocks they call them now) fit on the regular lego boards.

As for teenage girls just a scrapbooking table would work, and a bunch of teen magazines. You could do just a purple table with no boards on it and magazines in the mesh bags on the sides.

[hal9000]

Great work. Congratulations

[Datawolf]

Nice but... the best place where to play Lego is on the floor !

[raimen]

 True that :D
I love my legos still. :)

[jedi pen-gui-n]

Seconded to both of your points!

[station420]

Nice work on this,

[Say What]

From what I see in the pictures, he used the Krylon Fusion paint on the PVC and table. The Fusion paint is specifically formulated to adhere to plastics.

[92buckshots]

 That is one cute beagle in the background!

[woodvale035]

great idea, i will be going to the hardware store for some pipe soon.
just a thought, is it stable if leant on the sides or would the legs be better on the long side of the table?
I was thinking also that i may use countersunk headed bolts if i can find them.
is there a special paint for this type of pvc do you know.?

[MissAnneThrope]

That is a great job!  I remember growing up, my dad built a lego bunk bed for my brother.  Not for sleeping on the top bunk.  It was set up to be a permanent lego kingdom for him to access via ladder and never be threatened by the vacuum cleaner. 

[pab59]

what a great idea...top bunks are a pain to make...why not leave it with toys to play on like a tree house activity

[Lunarpancake]

I built one for someone a bit ago and we put a bucket in the middle for lego storage. You can also have a lid on the bucket for sorting.


just figured id add my 2 cents.

[blindbug]

Nice, I wish I had this growing up. One suggestion: I would cut the middle out to the dimensions of one of those plastic bins you can pick up at the big box stores. That way, you can throw all the Lego in the bin and put a lid on it when you're finished. If you cut it out to the right size, the lip of the bin would hold it in place, and you get extra storage (since it hangs below the table).

[Kaspr007]

That's a great idea!

[phalanx447]

This is great. Man, this really made my day.

My Dad made myself and my brother a lego table similar o this after a similar experience in searching for one. Mine had a similar layout, too- a building board on both sides and a trough in the middle to sort pieces.

This is a great project. Some of the finer moments of my childhood were spent at a lego table, and I'm sure your kids will love it.

[kissiltur]

Very splendid - I can see building one of those for my boys once they're doing more modelling with Lego.

What kind of paint did you use on the pipe?

[Cdn Sapper]

Wow that looks pretty pro!  Good job guys!

[Jayefuu]

This is excellent, I wish I'd had this when I was growing up.

[fwjs28]

agreed, i now envy those kids