jane's apron: feats of strength and stupidity; my galvanized pipe table

February 25, 2014

feats of strength and stupidity; my galvanized pipe table

The purpose of this post is not really a DIY for making a galvanized pipe table (although it is based very loosely on these excellent plans). Its purpose is to serve as a warning for the things you may not know and how to avoid the same mistakes I made. As an overview, let me just say that I spent about 4,000 hours in the pipe aisle at Home Depot and made many mistakes (in both design and in my calculations (including a mistake in my Pythagorean Theorem calculation when the design briefly did not have crossing bars (oh, the math teacher shame)).

DO make a very detailed list of parts.
DO wipe all of the parts with a de-greasing cleaner.
DON'T mistake a "coupling" and a "union" for the same thing. A union is VERY important if your design has any closed loops (no matter how strong your teenager is or how hard you hammer and try to close the loop)
DON'T let the pipes get wet (like during an unexpected rain shower when you are at Home Depot again and can't get anyone to cover the table legs or move them into the garage)
DO use a pumber's wrench to take pieces apart.
DO understand that the table will possibly cost more than you expect.

We had a great piece of butcher block leftover from my mother-in-law's apartment and that's what started this DIY. In the end, I've forgotten how hard it was to build and I really love it. It's a perfect perch to watch TV, eat, or mess around on pinterest looking for the next DIY. (And DO try to make your kids drink from a cup with a lid).

Feb 25, 2014 4:30:00 PM | {at home}, {make}