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Anyone interested in table legs made from books?
I made this table for the art section where I work, and I'm mostly just wanting to show it off because it took forever and I think it turned out pretty well. But I'm also wondering if anyone would like to see how I did it before I get involved in another big project, haha. I was really stupid and didn't take pictures the first time. :) (The weird sign on top of it is basically explaining that it is sturdy even though it's a little wobbly just because of the fact that it's made out of Reader's Digest Condensed volumes. :P)
Discussions
12 years ago
I was all ready to be shocked and outraged at the desecration of **BOOKS!** Then I noticed it's Reader's Digest condensed volumes. Ho Hum.. Carry on. How about bolting the books together to an MDF plate on the top of the stack, then gluing on another piece of MDF with a hole - effectively sinking the bolt flush - then the assembled leg could be screwed to the underside of the tabletop.
12 years ago
We had those for years, my dad made them from bad books with nice covers, to a hole bit on a drill and did them seperately to make it look really precarious and slid the most ricidulously large bolt possible through them, they're great, strong and sturdy. We have a massive old ledger that's never been used, it's big enough to be a coffee table top.
12 years ago
UPDATE #2 - Updated with pictures of a car coming into the art section of the bookstore I work at and hitting my table with gigantic wood shelves and an avalanche of books. :P
https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-table-legs-out-of-books/
Reply 12 years ago
That sucks. At least the table survived.
12 years ago
Can you please post the step-by-step instructions on making that, as well as the materials needed? It's amazing, and I would like to at least try :)
Reply 12 years ago
It's up!
https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-table-legs-out-of-books/
Reply 12 years ago
I'll try to draw this up tonight, actually. I've been too long in posting it up. :) And don't worry... it's pretty easy to do, just takes a LOT of time drilling 50-60 books, hahaha. And that's not as fun as it sounds!
12 years ago
Whats on the top?
Reply 12 years ago
(Just to be clear, I mean what is the tabletop made of, not the sign :P)
Reply 12 years ago
The tabletop is primed MDF, and I put plexiglass on the top of it. I tiled the top with old gift cards, and I didn't want people pulling them off - and I knew they would even though I used liquid nails. :P
Reply 12 years ago
Has anyone? :P
Reply 12 years ago
Well, no one yet. The top is on really tightly. But if I catch anyone I'll probably curbstomp them. :D
12 years ago
Aren't these metallic parts annoying when using this table ?
Reply 12 years ago
No one has complained so far! There's enough space in the middle that it still seems to work.
Reply 12 years ago
If so, what about using one of them to attach a desk-lamp, and an other one to attach a pen holder ? =o)
Reply 12 years ago
Hmm, too bad they couldn't be counter-sunk to make them level.
12 years ago
I like it, the white looks really effective. Cheers, Pat. Pending
Reply 12 years ago
Thank you! I did initially want to use pretty cloth covered books, but then there was the problem of sealing them... priming with white fixed that and it allowed me to use uglier books. :P Plus, I think it makes it look really modern and clean. :)
12 years ago
Wow, that's pretty white.
Reminds me when a bookshop in SF arranged the books by color.
link
Reply 12 years ago
Haha, I would love to do that. I've joked about doing it a few times, mostly because we get really stupid questions like the following one. "So.. um, I was in here last week, and you guys had this, um, huge green book on display, and I think it was about Ireland or something. Do you know where it is now?" THERE ARE 8 MILLION GIANT GREEN IRELAND BOOKS, YOU IDIOT!!! :D
Reply 12 years ago
Michael Moon in the UK has been doing that for decades. As well as sections of proper books, there is a section aimed at people decorating pubs and places - the books are sorted by colour and sold by the yard of shelf-space they fill.
It's the only place I've ever heard a customer walk in and say "Can I have four feet of the orange books and a foot of the dark red, please?"
12 years ago
Did you actually glue all the pages (and covers) together? I assume you did since it would be even wobblier otherwise. Considering the effort and time it'll take to put them together, I hope they pay you well :)
Reply 12 years ago
Nope! I drilled through the books and threaded them onto rods very tightly. I glued each book to the next and that seemed to help. I also used an oil based primer to cover them, and that keeps the pages from flopping and it also keeps them nice and water resistant. :D They paid for all the materials and I got overtime to work on it, so yay!
12 years ago
I don't own any books I would do that with. My wife on the other hand, has lots of them (she'd kill me though LOL)
12 years ago
That IS a good use of Reader's Digest Condensed books LOL holding up a table so you can sit comfortably somewhere and read a real book ;-)
12 years ago
i would like to know how you held the legs together... glue them? run a rod through them? also, do they still make the readers digest books like that?
12 years ago
Yeah! A site can never have too much book furniture!