Make a Tree Table

Welcome to my first Instructable! Hope you enjoy it.

Please vote for me in the Furniture Contest. Thanks!

A few years ago, my wife had a client who wanted a table that looked like a tree for her breakfast nook. She had searched high and low, but couldn't find what she wanted. She heard that my wife, an artist, might be able to help her out. A couple of weeks later, she got what you see here.

We made this in our garage and forge, using scrap iron, Oriented-Strand Board (OSB), concrete countertop mix, and a few odds and ends.

Step 1: Gather materials

Materials

Scrap iron
available at your local steelyard for ~$.50/lb or
FREE if you know how to scrounge (cue Sanford & Son theme)
  -5" x 16" steel pipe
  -1" square tubing, various lengths
  -12-gauge sheet metal scraps
  -1"x1" scrap angle iron

Wood: 1- 4'x8'x3/4" sheet of OSB, cut in half
1" x 4" boards for forming concrete

Concrete countertop mix (different brands available)

Miscellaneous:
(2) Sheet expanded metal lath (~ $7 @Home Depot)
(1) Tube of Liquid nails or equivalent wood constructive adhesive
(1) Box drywall screws 1 1/4" long
Tar paper
Staples
(5) Wood screws 1/4 x 1" (to attach the branches to tabletop)
Felt furniture pads (little circles of felt available at Home Depot)
Concrete stains: yellow, red, and brown
Metallic paints: brass & copper
Concrete sealer

Tools:
1/2" drill with mixer attachment
5 gal. bucket to mix concrete
Staple gun
Tin snips
Scissors
Screwdriver
Arc or MIG welder

Forge, hammer and anvil
or
Vise, hammer, & 3-4' length of 2" pipe

Comments

[bshreve]

Looks great!

What did you use as an aggregate in the 'mud'?

[KoomoriForge]

Thanks, bshreve!

We used sand as an aggregate to keep it smooth.

[keepintouch]

great

[KoomoriForge]

Thanks! Nice F/A-18 pic!

[spylock]

Too cool,I can never find the materials to carry out such a beautiful project.the table fits my style and personality, Ive never saw one any finer.

[KoomoriForge]

Thank you very much for your compliments!

Spylock, you underestimate yourself and your abilities. Think positively! Do you know why WD-40 is called that? It's because WD (Water Displacing) formulas 1 thru 39 didn't work! They kept trying and eventually got it right.

Instructables is all about making something from "nothing", and showing others how you did it. If you want to do something badly enough, you'll figure it out. That's how I made this table. It took some time and thought, but I learned from my mistakes and, most importantly, I enjoyed every minute of it.

As for materials, they are all around you! If you walk around your neighborhood, I'd bet you would be surprised to see what people throw away. For years, I've been telling people I do blacksmithing, then asking them if they know of anyone who has any metal they want to get rid of. I've gotten some neat things that way. I take whatever I can get and, if I don't use within a certain period of time, I turn it in for scrap. Look up Nemomatic on this site to see what you can do with "junk".

Here's one of his ideas: http://www.instructables.com/id/Giant-Kinetic-Robot-sculpture-from-recycled-and-fo/

You can do it, Spylock. Get out there and try!

[Lord of The Things]

Very cool Sir...

[KoomoriForge]

Thank you, sir!

[bajablue]

This table is a work of ART!!! Absolutely gorgeous!!!

[KoomoriForge]

Thank you, young lady! If it's gorgeous art, it is my darling wife who made it that way. I'm just the knuckledragger who built the structure and wrote about the process.

By the way, your recipes look fantastically delicious! The photos of the finished dishes are brilliant!Well, except for the peanut pranks. They're giving me nightmares, as I (used to) bite through peanut shells when eating them.

[pfred2]

I can't believe scrap steel is so expensive now! When I worked in a machine shop in the late 90s we'd get new cold rolled steel delivered from the distributor for 25 cents a pound. Then I worked for a demolition outfit and they'd only get $20 a ton for scrap they sold. Call whoever you're buying your scrap from and pretend you want to sell them some scrap, see what they quote you. Then negotiate a better price for buying it if there is a large difference. Because 50 cents a pound for scrap seems pretty steep to me!

[KoomoriForge]

Welcome to the California economy. Things ain't cheap here. I can't remember exactly how much I got for the last ton of scrap iron I turned in, but it was quite a bit more that $20. That's why I'm always on the lookout for junk iron in people's yards. Most of the time, they just give it to me. All the iron I used in this project was out of my scrap pile. Thanks for your comment.

[pfred2]

California? I'm on the east coast. I guess shipping is a killer.

[streetrod5]

Very well done! What kind of bender did you use? Also, thank you for your service.

[KoomoriForge]

Thanks and you're welcome! I used my coal forge and anvil to bend the branches and roots, then arc welded it all together.

[Lorddrake]

how much does the table weigh?

[KoomoriForge]

Thanks for your question. It weighs about 100 lbs (50 kg). Most of the weight is the table top.

[kithso]

Also, where did the idea for this come from?

[KoomoriForge]

Thanks for your compliments. Our client had seen a tree table with a glass top in a designer's catalog, but it was too small for her breakfast nook. She asked us to shape the top to fit her nook, with cutaways for her chairs. The shape of this table base was inspired by a tree we saw at a local college that had large, exposed roots surrounding it. I formed the steel into random shapes for the roots and branches, then positioned them to support the table.

[kithso]

Freaking awesome!
At first I thought it was actually wood, which would also have been cool as hell.
Concrete though? Awesome. Period.