How To: Industrial Sofa Table

Hey everyone and welcome to the latest installment of Rustic DIY Projects!  A few weeks back I had some empty space behind my couch that's been bugging me so I decided I would make something nice and useful to fill it up. After some brainstorming I came to the conclusion that the most practical use of this empty space would be to fill it with a sofa table. Now I've never made a sofa table before but after glancing over at my coffee table literally four feet away I figured I may as well go with an industrial style table to match it. I also wanted to incorporate a somewhat natural feel and appearance to it so I bought a slab of scrap mesquite for the table top. After a bit of work and some help from my dad this is what I got. Hope you enjoy this week's project, an industrial sofa table made with some mesquite and 3/4 inch galvanized piping! Photos courtesy of my friend with great photography skills, Iris Marquez! 

Supplies/Tools Needed
Thickness Planer
Belt Sander (80 grit sandpaper)
Orbital Sander (150 grit sandpaper)
Impact Drill
Pipe Wrench
Danish Oil
3/4 Pipe Clamp x 5
Machine Screws x 10
Respirator
Gloves
For pipe measurements read Step Three

READ ALL DIRECTIONS BEFORE STARTING EACH STEP

Step One

As with most of my projects I started this table by running my mesquite slab through the planer a few times until it was nice and even on both sides. This took some time and patience but I was satisfied with the end result.

Step Two
After I got done with the planer I sanded it down with 80 and 150 grit sandpaper using my belt sander and my orbital sander until it was nice and smooth, then I brushed off all the leftover sawdust using one of my shop brushes. And no I don't hold my belt sander with my left hand, this was purely for the sake of getting a good visual on it for blogging purposes. Oh and my father helped me out by applying two coats of danish oil to it while I was out at work, so if you're going to try this don't forget to do that (thanks dad).

Step Three

For the legs I went with 3/4 inch galvanized piping. The list bellow were the parts I went with:

Flanges x 4

Tee x 4

Elbow Joint x 4

1" Nipple x 4

5.5 " Nipple x 2 (Bottom)

24.5" Pipes x 4 (Legs)

35.5" Pipes x 2 (Top) 

After buying all the materials I fastened them together using a pipe wrench, Normally I would use some form of lubricant too but I didn't have enough time and my pipe wrench offers more than enough torque to get the desired result.

Step Four
With my legs assembled it was time for me to figure out just how I was going to get the top fastened to the legs. I decided to go with these little 3/4 inch hose clamps however I didn't account for one small detail that kind of threw things off track. The elbow joints keep the table top from being able to sit flush on the top of the frame. So I just decided to use the hose clamps anyways and make sure my screws hold the clamp snug enough without cracking the wood or making the center bow in. Yes the screws stick out a little bit but they're underneath the table so they aren't really noticeable unless you go looking for them and since this table is only for me, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Step Five

Done!

Finished product!

Photos courtesy of Iris Marquez! Thanks Iris :)!

And another angle. Photos courtesy of Iris Marquez.

Gotta love that distressed look at the end.
Natural cracks are awesome. Photos courtesy of Iris Marquez.

Hope you enjoyed my "How To" on how to make this rustic/industrial style sofa table! It might look intimidating but it was actually really easy to make and cost me less than $100. Feel free to share this link with any of your other friends you think may be interested! Also don't forget to like, share, and follow me on social media! It helps! And don't be afraid to share what you made either! I like to see what kind of cool stuff other people come up with! And if you have any questions, concerns, or remarks you're more than welcome to leave a comment in the comment tab or my email if you want to do so more personally!

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Plenty more cool stuff to come so stay tuned!