Steel Dining Table

[mike13u]

Here are some build photos for a steel dining table I made for an architect's home a few months back.

First, I had to make a bunch of miter cuts in all the material on the bandsaw. This build had lots of angles.

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Next I had to put the stock in my milling machine and bore holes at another angle. This is an R8 adapter to hold annular cutters (for a mag drill) in the milling machine. The tolerences need to be tight on these holes and these worked well for me.

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Once the holes are drilled I used some scrap round tube to fit up and check all my holes and angles

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Nice and tight. There will be no welds in the cross-member tubes so I want a very tight fit up that shows no play and only the faintest visible seam.

 

[mike13u]

Next, I cap all the tube ends. I like to cut my tube inserts and have them welded flush. This saves work on the cleanup and has a better end result than laying your cap over the tubing and blending the corner radius with a grinder after.
Here I hold a small cap in the tube with a magnet so that I can tack it.
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Once I run a small bead around the seam of the tube cap, I blend with an RO and the tube has a nice 'solid' look because the edges are nice and sharp

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[royce]

Very nice
I'm curious what will keep the crossmembers from moving?
Also, what will the top be made of?
Thanks
Royce

 

[mike13u]

Once I know everything fits and all my tubing is capped, it all comes apart and I remove the mill scale.

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Then it all goes back together

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Adding another layer to the base. The bottom base has a hole in the middle so that I can weld from underneath. This keeps my edges nice and sharp. The only visible welds are at the base of the square tubing. Didnt have a choice there.

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[mike13u]

Finished product awaiting its glass top

[URL=http://s1089.photobucket.com/user/mike13u/media/ELM_Arch_13.jpg.html] [/URL]

 

[mike13u]

Very nice
I'm curious what will keep the crossmembers from moving?
Also, what will the top be made of?
Thanks
Royce

Thanks Royce. Boring the holes exactly at 1" diameter (for 1" round tube) and using tight tolerences when setting up the machine allowed for a very tight fit. as a matter of fact, I had to tap them in with a leather faced mallet.

The top was glass.

 

[rustyjames]

That is some workmanship.

 

[RivennHewn]

Another challenging build, with killer execution!
Always interesting to see what you come up with.

 

[jimgood]

Really nice design and execution. I'd be curious to know if those tubes sticking out will be knee knockers though.

 

[MP&C]

Mike, nice fabrication! What process did you use for removing the mill scale?

 

[dhammond]

Very nice piece, work of art!

 

[Mad4wd]

The annular cutter wasn't long enough to go thru both sides I believe by looking at the pictures. Did you flip the legs and just lay it out and bore thru the other side? How difficult was it to get it to line up exactly? Or did you drill small pilot thru both sides first, then use the cutter pilot? Looks great...was it clear coated to protect it?

 

[BikerDad]

BEAUTIFUL job, and a great write up as well. I really like how you handle the tube ends, smooooooooth execution.

 

[ilovevocs]

Nice piece.

This kind of work is what I really enjoy.


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[bombtech]

If you ever want to come up to Boca Raton and be my Yoda, there is unlimited beerfor the Jedis like yourself. Awesome work Sir.

 

[bigcreek]

That is so awesome, great work

 

[1/2 Cup]

That table is just awesome, thank you for sharing.

Regards

 

[longlivepunk]

Nice work!! Not a criticism, just a question: could you have nixed the visible welds at the base by using threaded inserts in the legs and counter-sunk cap screws?

That is beautiful work, are you coating it with anything?

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[LXCam]

Excellent job. Will it remain raw steel or is it getting some type of coating/paint or powder coat?

 

[saceone]

caliss.

great work !!

 

[tarbellb]

Kickass!

So the horizontal tubes are loose so to speak?

 

[Farmall450]

Really nice design and execution. I'd be curious to know if those tubes sticking out will be knee knockers though.

Doubt it, the table top will probably be large enough to keep you away. What did she cost?

 

[mike13u]

Thanks for the kind words everyone

 

[mike13u]

Mike, nice fabrication! What process did you use for removing the mill scale?

Robert, on this one i brushed a light layer of naval jelly on the tubes and plate, let it dry up over a half hour or so and soften up the scale then I just take my time and go over everything with an RO starting with 60 grit and working up. Tube isnt too bad. Sometimes I will soak heavier plate in diluted pool acid and then wire brush the scale off.

 

[mike13u]

The annular cutter wasn't long enough to go thru both sides I believe by looking at the pictures. Did you flip the legs and just lay it out and bore thru the other side? How difficult was it to get it to line up exactly? Or did you drill small pilot thru both sides first, then use the cutter pilot? Looks great...was it clear coated to protect it?

You are correct. The cutter doesnt go all the way through so I had to take my time and layout and punch both sides and flip the piece over to continue the holes using the annular cutter pilot in the punched dimples. Worked well.

 

[mike13u]

Nice work!! Not a criticism, just a question: could you have nixed the visible welds at the base by using threaded inserts in the legs and counter-sunk cap screws?

That is beautiful work, are you coating it with anything?

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I could have, yes. It would have made the precision of every other miter cut and the hole boring precision need to come in at a level that I am not capable of in my little shop. I hope this makes sense...the number of angles in all the square tubing holes with round tube running from one tube to another, the top needing to be level and flat to accept the glass, the bottom needing to meet flush, etc.. all presented so many variable that welding and filling any void at the bottom was the one area I could use to correct all those other areas that may not have come within the exact tolerance. I cut out the plate to accept the legs. If needed, the legs could actually be sunk into the plate some so that I could make an ever-so-slight adjustment to one leg if needed and tack, check the top, adjust another, tack, check the top, tack, etc....

 

[cbacres]

That is a nice piece of work.
I see your located in Hialeah, I was born and raised there. I remember there was a place called the Meatl Man where you could buy used/ surplus steel.

I like how you did the internal caps on the pipe, I'll use that in the future.

 

[longlivepunk]

Makes sense, Mike. Thanks for explaining!

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[vintagespeed1956]

beautiful work.

 

[mike13u]

Excellent job. Will it remain raw steel or is it getting some type of coating/paint or powder coat?

Thanks! Raw steel. I use an oil that keeps it from rusting. Indoor use only though.