{"id":79,"date":"2018-11-01T21:23:46","date_gmt":"2018-11-01T21:23:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/?p=79"},"modified":"2020-12-04T04:09:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T04:09:16","slug":"iron-pipe-end-tables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/2018\/11\/01\/iron-pipe-end-tables\/","title":{"rendered":"Iron Pipe End Tables"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A classic tale of “Geez, I could do that…”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While wandering a furniture store for some end tables for the basement, I saw a neat looking shelf\/buffet  unit made of rustic wood and iron pipes … but it was $700!  (and it was 50% off!)  At this point I decided (a) this is the “look” I like, and (b) ain’t no way I am paying that – I should be able to make them myself.  It’s just a bunch of piping and boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I could make that  … !<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To make matters more interesting,  I was looking at potential shelf boards at Lowes when I found that they were now selling live edge slabs of wood. Awesome – but they are not cheap and only a few look okay (I’m picky).  I best be doing a test project first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Test project – the stair table.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the test project I am finally going to get rid of that janky drink holder that I slapped together during the basement reno years ago.  The top couch is next to a step, so there was no place to put a table and no place to put your drink\/popcorn.  So I threw this ugly thing together that wedges under the couch:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ugly drink holder made from leftover bits.  Say buh-bye!<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

So I assembled some bits and got the basic structure down. (yes – some trigonometry was involved to get the correct lengths!).  For this table i will be using 1\/2″ pipe and the associated 1\/2″ connectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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 I am not going to use the live-edge wood for this, so I chopped off the end of a pine 2×12, drilled some holes for the pipes, and gave it a rustic staining…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sloppy application of two different stains to a basic piece of pine board.
Dang – that looks great ! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am going to suspend the wood from the pipes – this will give me a nice iron-pipe-railing to keep things from falling off the small surface, and also will save on pipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And putting it all together I am very pleased with the results.  Much better than the previous thing.  And since it has some weight to it, it is actually very stable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Much better !  More room, less janky.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Nipples”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few comments on buying parts.  I am not able to cut and thread raw pipe (nor do I want to) so I am at the mercy of the pre-threaded sizes available at Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Lowes, etc.  (there is great selection at the plumbing stores, but as soon as they find out you are not a contractor they add an extra $50 – just cuz – or deny you service and say bad things about your mother.)    Each hardware store had their own collection of size and lengths, so I had to calculate exactly what I needed and keep a list on me everywhere I went.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For some reason, the straight lengths of pipe are called ‘nipples’.  Not sure why, but made for interesting interactions when you walk into Canadian Tire and ask “do you have a 5 inch nipple?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main end tables<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I had assembled all the pieces, then came the big job of cleaning, de-greasing, and de-labelling them.   To be fair, the people who make this stuff are expecting them to end up in a wall, not on furniture.   I also had to wax and\/or paint them afterwards otherwise they will rust (because I removed the protective grease).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This was a big job.  Thank goodness for child labour.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even though they sold boards with live edge on both sides, I had rather particular width requirements, and also there really wasn’t many pieces with good clean edging on both sides.  So here I am gluing the two edges together (skipping over the Quest for finding the specific pocket screws they are pre-drilled for)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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glue, clamp, and screw
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Assembling and painting the legs…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mmmm… look at those bad boy pipes !<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Quick test that everything is okay.  Since I was in the cutting and staining mode I quickly made secondary shelves that fit between the legs.  I probably won’t use them, but now is the time to make them easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We use an android tablet to run our TV etc, and keeping track of the power cord is always a pain.  So for one of the tables I will have the power delivered right to the surface.  (I have all this piping … it should be easy!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here I am glue-clamping a USB hub into an LRL Conduit Body.  Yes, this is what it has come to.  I am now an expert in conduit fitting nomenclature.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I like the industrial pipe+wood look of the power station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And here is the other end table.  In the end I removed the lower shelf so you can see the piping, but I still have it on hand just in case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Leftovers Project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, whenever I am doing a project with custom materials and there are bits leftover I am like …” I should be able to use these for something…”.  (I hate throwing stuff away).   This project is not different. I have left over wood and piping …. how about a little shelf unit to hold my craft beer sample glasses !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yep .. this will work
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Looking nice !  Maybe I should add a light …. \ud83d\ude42<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A classic tale of “Geez, I could do that…” While wandering a furniture store for some end tables for the basement, I saw a neat looking shelf\/buffet  unit made of rustic wood and iron pipes … but it was $700!  (and it was 50% off!)  At this point I decided (a) this is the “look” … Continue reading Iron Pipe End Tables<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[17,13,23,8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":231,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bigbeanbag.net\/andythings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}