Black Iron Pipe Table

I've been searching for the right project to my brand new tools to work. After searching for what seems like months I finally came across this post.

I knew I could build it and I knew I wanted to make this my first Instructables post. I hope you find it helpful and inspires you to build your own Black Iron Pipe Table.

Step 1: Tools

You aren't going to need much to create this awesome table.

Here is exactly what I used.

Drill:Ryobi 18-Volt One+

Circular Saw:Ryobi 18-Volt One+

Screws:Grip Rite - 1.5in Black Screws

Step 2: Building Materials

I thought I would be smart and ask the guys at Home Depot to take a bigger piece of black iron and cut it down to the different specifications I needed. Unfortunately I was informed that they can't cut pipes below a certain length, Whether that's true or not who knows.

On the bright side, they do carry pre-cut and threaded pipe at all the various lengths you are going to need. They also carry all the fittings and the wood you are going to need too.

Here is a breakdown of everything I used to build my table.

Wood:

$36.88 (2 pieces) 2 in. x 12 in. x 12 ft. Better Douglas Fir Lumber cut in half. giving me four 6ft pieces

Pipe:

$18.60 (12 Total) 3/4 in. x 3 in. Black Steel Nipple

$15.48 (4 Total) 3/4 in. x 10 in. Black Steel Nipple

$23.64 (4 Total) 3/4 in. x 18 in. Black Steel Nipple

$15.58 (2 total) 3/4 in. x 24 in. Black Steel Nipple

Fittings:

$30.12 (12 Total) 3/4 in. Black Malleable Iron Threaded Floor Flange

$21.68 (8 Total) 3/4 in. Black Malleable Iron Threaded Tee

$ 8.28 (4 Total) 3/4 in. x 3/4 in. Black Malleable Iron 90-Degree Elbow

Total Cost of Materials: $170.26

Step 3: Layout and Fasten Your Boards Together

I used some old 1/2" wood we had in the garage

Step 4: Assemble the Pipe Legs

Screw the pipes together and attach the assembled legs to the upside-down table top. You might have to adjust the pipes for a bit to get a relatively level surface.

Step 5: Flip It and Sand It

Step 6: Congratulations You Have Yourself a New Table

This is where you can stain it and seal it, or use some Danish oil and seal it.

However you choose to finish your table is up to you. Which is part of the fun in building things like this.

Comments

[lextally]

I really appreciate the idea and the detailed information that you provided.
I made a table and two benches using your pipe design. I made a few changes. First, I shortened the pipe pieces nearest the table top so that when you slide in to sit down on the benches your knees will not hit the support bars that run parallel to the table top. Doing this also raised the support bar at the ends of the table so that you can slide a chair in on the ends of the table and if someone sits at the end of the table their knees can fit under the bar. Additionally, having straight legs on the benches was too narrow causing the benches to tip if you sat on the edge. Therefore, I added elbows to flare the legs which made the stance slightly wider than the width of the benches. This solved the problem perfectly. I did use tension pins on the bench legs in order to lock the legs in place keeping them from rotating. I used remnant flooring panels to top the table and benches. I locked the panels together, secured them to the wood with construction adhesive, and cut to size. I also stained the underside and edges of the wood with a Weathered Wood Accelerator which gave it a nice patina look that matched the flooring material nicely. I used polyurethane only on the table and bench edges since that is the area that will be seen and will get the most wear. Finally, I added felt pads on the flanges to prevent scratching the floor.

[AKgrizz]

How tall does the table stand once finished?
TIA

[JustinS388]

Awesome looking table. Have you had any issues with the wood warping given that there is no apron?

[MarlaS7]

I am about to make a coffee table but I am unsure what is the best thing to clean the black iron pipes with to get all the black resisue and grime off

[DarrenD15]

No this older Post But The Sand Blaster is Only Thing i would try with out needs all them nasty $$ chems Mess Cleanup deal with use of sand blaster it will not harm the pipe surface so u able Paint & Prime afterwards use of Harsh cleaners or other dangous acids one use on Aircraft those can offer major health issues not using all proper gear i pick up a cheap o blaster Harbor Fright & Lowes or Home Depot $4 sac of kids play sand it does well smaller jobs cheaper having a stranger blast ur parts Plus no wait around on ur stuff some guys loves take there good old time do 10 min job they has best tools seems to take forever get ur stuff back not big fan wait around on others do there jobs

[wildsummit]

greased lightning seems to work well

[jongscx]

Pay attention to pricing when buying your raw materials. For example, a 12 foot piece of lumber is always more expensive than 2x 6 foot pieces of lumber because large and long pieces of wood are harder to get from a tree.

Pipe and sheet goods on the other hand is the opposite where larger pieces are cheaper per unit than pre-cut pieces.

[Sdmh]

I'm building something similar with 1" black iron pipe. Seems as if most of my flat flanges are threaded a bit crooked. Is this possible? I had a plumber check my threads and he says they're perfect. Flanges aren't going on straight with the ends threaded by Home Depot. What should I do? Try some new flanges at the store and pick the best ones? Have you or anyone else here ran into this problem? Thanks.

[dreamwork]

I have had this problem with every single trip to Home Depot/Lowes. The quality control on the flanges is absolutely horrible. The threading is 95% of the time not centered in the flange. Furthermore, the flange itself almost never sits flat. Made in China...

[chriskleslie]

Ivar, that looks amazing. Great job! Scaffolding materials were a great idea.

[darnaiz]

Great! I'll do it, excelent job.

[sfixx]

The 1/2" boards stretching the width of the table are called battens. I would definitely want more support for the table top boards at the ends, so would add battens there as well. 3-4" in from the end would work well. Better yet: 4 battens supporting the 8 top flanges would be perfect. Chamfer the ends of them as well.

[brookefox]

Nice. Perhaps move the supports in to the location of the brace flanges to allow for end seating and eliminate the braces by adding a connecting pipe at the middle of the horizontals with a tee there: resulting in two 'H's connected by the pipe at the middle of the crossing bar. Traditional config.

[vladivastok]

GREAT LOOKING, STURDY LOOKING, SIMPLICITY. GOTTA LOVE THAT. THANK'S [ VLAD ]

[bjohnson3]

I like this. But on the backside I would have ran a pipe the length of the table and used T fittings instead of elbows. Would add some structural integrity to the table.

[Xamu]

I was thinking that would be a good idea too, but because the fittings are all threaded, one of them would need to have a union fitting or you can't screw in one of the joints without unscrewing the joint at the other end of the pipe. :)

[chriskleslie]

I am working on a bench seat for it next that is going to be using a union fitting. So that way the pipe can run the length of the bench. I'll post it too as soon as I get done =)

[chriskleslie]

Thats a great Idea. Especially the larger the table too.

[Ricardo Furioso]

A brilliantly simple design.

Thank you so much.

One suggestion is to perhaps turn the side braces to aim closer to the center of the table so you don't bump into them with your knees when sitting at the sides of the table.
What I mean is, imagine the corner-to-corner diagonal lines of the table top. By moving the side braces and floor flanges toward those lines, while leaving the legs where they are, would eliminate the knee-bump issue—at least for the people sitting to the sides of the table.
The guys on the ends still may have the bump-the-bar challenge with their knees.

[Xamu]

Good concept. I like it.

As a desk or a dinner table, there are some minor drawbacks (that others have pointed out) but nothing that you couldn't live with for as long as you wanted.

If it's a stand-up work table, you probably won't bump your knees because 1) you'll be standing, 2) it will be taller (36~42") than a typical desk (30").

Although I will concede that if you use a bar stool, you still could whack your knee. ;) So Ricardo has a great point. Rotate the supports away from the edge and it's less likely. And the beauty of this design is that you can raise or lower the table by changing bits of pipe.

I realize that iron pipe is pretty rigid but to make it even more so, I would also recommend moving the bar that connects the legs from the top to the bottom. That way, if you need extra stability (as a workbench), you can drape a sandbag across the bar. It also eliminates the knee-knock on the end. The trade off there is that (as a dinner table,) chairs on the end won't tuck under. :\