Coffee Table Design — Welding + Woodworking

Items needed: welder and general woodworking tools + 6x 1inch square tubing (5 foot each), 3/4 plywood and 1/4 birch top, rectangular 8 inch brackets.

The square tubing cost me approximately $40 and allowed me to do legs for another bench I was working on. You can easily play around with thickness and shape depending on the style you are going for, but I found this prototype online and it seemed pretty easy to weld. Cut the rectangular angles at 45 degrees on each end and start by welding the rectangular top and bottom frame.

For the inner separation, I cut those at a 15 degree angle. Make sure to use a 90 degrees corner clamps and secure all for corners before tack welding each of them. For the brackets, I used a regular 8 inch rectangular bracket that you can find at home depot and cut it in 10 little pieces so that the wood top would hold on each side. These are the toughest to weld, make sure to test each of them before going any further.

By that time, I was running out of square tubing so decided to go with a different design that the original 4 rectangular legs idea that I had in mind. both inner tubes are cut straight and welded to each rectangular frame. Use your corner clamp to ensure good stability and avoid asymmetry. Now, with the frame completed, it’s time to prep it for paint and go look for a wood top.

I found two 2x4s at Home depot for a total of $27. The bottom one is regular plywood and the top one is birch. Each adding up to 1 inch to match my square tubing dimensions. I screwed in the birch top onto the plywood and draw the shapes needed by turning the table upside down. Make sure to add a little bit of buffer so you don’t cut your tops too short. Also, I would recommend using a table saw for better precision with your cut.

After cutting each shape accordingly, make sure it fits your table design and sand the edges to remove any uneven areas. At this time, I would also recommend gluing together the plywood and birch top and let it sit overnight. Also a good time to figure out which stain/poly/oil you may want to use for your top. I decided to go with a summer oak stain and water based satin clear coat (not currently pictured). You can also use a different wood top all together. I liked the more classic design compared to going with a reclaimed wood look.

while the top is drying, it’s now a good time to paint the frame. I used a regular semi gloss spray can (1 took care of the whole frame). I also sanded it with wool to give it more of a mate look and get rid of any imperfections that may have occurred while spray painting. This will be a good tester on your welds. Make sure to grind them as much as you can to get a smooth surface.

Now time for the final result. Panels will slide right in and can be screwed in from the bottom. Enjoy your new coffee table :)