Introduction: Industrial Style 2-tier Coffee Table W/iron Piping

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About: Instagram @_colurer_, or on my design-y blog at http://munstre.tumblr.com. Freelance designer working on my hobbies-- recording an album, repurposing antiques, lighting design, and some general woodworking pr…

This was my first attempt at any type of table building. I made a custom coffee table for my new place because I could not find a table which would fit the narrow space I had between the couch & television, and after about a month of shopping I was tired of searching shop after shop for one. 

The items are pretty simple, the only real added difficulty was the 2nd recessed shelf I decided to add for more storage, but all elements followed a similar process so you could easily do a table without the additional shelf.

White Pine board - Sanded. Plank 1: 48" x 16", plank 2: 36" x 12"
Iron piping - 18" x 1" (4x) // 6" x 1" (2x) // 1" flange (8x) // 1" pipe cap (4x)
Sandpaper - 150 & 220 grit
Wood stain
Polyurethane finish
brushes or rollers
Drill
Wood Screws
Steel wool & dish soap
Flat Black spraypaint



Step 1:

Sanded white pine boards, unfinished. Picked these up at Lowe's for about $35.

Step 2:

Adding Pre-stain conditioner. I added this because 1) I read that it is an often neglected step - may not be a problem, but I didn't want to risk issues with the stain later on. And 2) The internet told me to.

Step 3:

After stain. It ended up coming out darker than I wanted, so after the stain dried I spent a half hour re-sanding the wood over the grain to pull out some of the color again. It was a pain, but I actually ended up liking the control I had over where the grain would show through, and how much of it I wanted to expose.

Step 4:

Industrial Piping. You can get this at just about any hardware store, in MANY different sizes. It's a great, cheap option for inexperienced builders like myself. One detail you will need to take care of is cleaning the oil off of the pipes, they come standard pretty dirty and oily. I just used some wire scrub pads and dish soap, was quite easy.. and VERY necessary.

Step 5:

After a few coats of flat black spray paint the pipes will be ready. Be sure to rotate in between sprays.

Step 6:

The underside of the tabletop, marked for the screw holes and drilled. Be careful not to drill through or.. you will hate yourself.

Step 7:

All 4 main legs attached.

Step 8:

Building the 2nd shelf. This one has the shorter legs (piping), and are recessed from the center so they won't be visible (or get in the way) from the couch where I will be sitting. Be sure to measure evenly.

Step 9:

Attaching the 2nd shelf, as you can see I put the recessed shelf a bit off center.. this was to give my legs a little extra space beneath the table.

Step 10:

Stood up! The best feature about using the piping as legs is you can turn them to tighten or loosen, thus adjusting the height which allows you to balance all of the legs and prevent the table from rocking.

Step 11:

Final shot of the grain from above.

Step 12:

In action.