how to make a coffee table from junk - house name plate

This is my coffee table made of some old oak beams and a piece of industrial scrap metal.
It was an interesting project and I learned a lot along the way.
I'm trying to cover the whole build process in this Instructure, so hopefully this will help if you're interested in doing something like that.
Thank you for your attention!
The wood on the table top comes from a pair of ancient weathered oak beams.
I bought it from a second-hand building store (ReStore)
I don't know how they used it before.
It is entirely possible that they are soaked in carcinogenic chemicals;
However, it is worth mentioning that the classic lick
The test did not find any special Nonoaky flavors.
Here's a separate note showing how I can grind these into usable plates: how to press the plates with a flat plane. The base of the table is made of this 1/4 steel plate (
(According to the label attached)
Is part of the "Forney test machine.
"In its previous life, it had two large percentage meters, which, from what I have found, could be part of an industrial concrete compression testing machine.
I found it in a pile of garbage in the same place where I bought the oak beam.
I think it's cool and rich in character so I can't miss it!
There are some great patina on the sheet metal, and the weathered old wood always has a lot of features.
I want to show these features, so I can't do it as much as I can.
Transform the core materials.
I feel like I have found the right balance and I am very happy with the finished work.
I started with four. mostly)
Symmetrical pieces on the plate
This left a straight piece and later turned into a cross section between the legs of the two groups.
Long cutting is done using puzzles with metal cutting blades and Angle Mills with cutting
Off disc is used to remove a pair of brackets welded to the lower side.
The label was carefully checked before cutting the metal;
I think this will be a great feature. affix later on.
I moved these four things around and fiddled with different ideas until the inspiration came.
I mark the area to be removed with straight edges and marker pens and use my portable metal band saw to cut the parts.
This little band saw is a great tool in my shop.
But in order to make it completely useful, I have to first build a bracket for it, which I outlined in another instruction manual: portable band saw metal bracket leg pieces are welded on top.
The original finish is grinded back about 3/4 from the edge to be welded, and grinded down at 45 degrees angle, creating a slot for the weld.
This is done on the front and back of these pieces.
The purpose is to let the weld fill the slot to minimize the new-welded pieces.
Basic knowledge of my welding setup: for cutting and grinding metal, I have: I highly recommend this excellent welding course, if you are new to welding, just on the Instructables: the welding class uses a angle grinder to smooth the weld.
The cross support is made by trimming both ends into a 12 degree angle.
The leg block is marked where this bracket is to be welded.
The cross support welding is in place, first the sticky Weld on both sides, and then the full bead weld.
New to welding and metal processing?
I'm new to it and my weld is far from perfect.
But it's interesting and definitely something I recommend to learn.
Some excellent reading about more information: Audrey's welding class Randy's metal processing class used some pieces cut from the metal plate earlier to make some labels.
These will be welded in place and the wooden top plates will be fixed to the base through these.
Drill holes using drill press, vise, fixture and cutting oil.
Then the pieces were ground into bare metal (
(For welding)
And then cut into separate pieces.
Then weld the label to the end of the seat.
Note that the external label has a slot, not just a hole.
In this way, if the desktop expands or shrinks over time or seasons, there is a little room for maneuver to allow movement.
The center of the panel should not have too much movement, so the tabs in the middle are only holes, although they are oversized and can be moved a little if needed.
To finish the base, I grind the sharp edges along all areas with a new cut.
In most cases, the original edges have been rounded up.
I gently rummaged all the edges with 100 sandpaper to make sure that any rough pieces or sharpness were completely gone.
I split my two oak beams in half with a band saw.
Using the technology outlined here, the board is leveled and planned.
As shown in the figure, each pair of boards is bound in one panel.
This step is a little longer because it is an experimental process.
But I really like the result.
My previous Wood was full of cracks and knots and I wanted to fill them with black epoxy.
But in the end, epoxy is also used to fill and darken all the porous oak particles, which makes a sharp contrast.
I bought some bartop epoxy at my local Home Depot (
This is it on Amazon).
I went to the paint counter with epoxy and a plastic mixing container (sold there)
Ask me if I can have half
An ounce of black is sprayed out of the container and used with epoxy.
They say "of course" and put the cups under their paint machine for a few seconds.
I am not sure if they will promise me or if this color will be used with epoxy. .
But I have positive results in both cases.
This epoxy is a slow one.
Set the epoxy and have some very specific instructions.
I mixed a small one exactly as indicated (but equal)
Number of each part.
Halfway through the 12 th-minute (yes)
I added two drops during the stirring to prove to be black enough.
I cover the edge of the board, pour the epoxy into the cracks and knots, and then squeeze the entire surface with the black epoxy to get it into all the wood grain and defects in the wood.
This was allowed to cure for a few days and then I polished the surface with 80 sandpaper to remove the excess epoxy.
More epoxy is added to fully fill the various defects on the top of the panel, allowing curing, and then sanding smooth.
I then repeated the process a few more times to get the edges and underside of the panel to get the same processing.
However, it is possible below (cough. . likely)
I slipped in my efforts, not as thorough as I should have done.
This may be the reason for some of the problems I encountered later. . .
The project has been rolling out for a few weeks and at some point the panel starts to go up the cup.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that no equivalent amount of epoxy is applied to seal the cracks and gaps on the lower side, or it may be due to seasonal changes as the weather warms.
Maybe both.
Anyway, the panel becomes unavailable in the cup-shaped state it is in.
Not shown here, but in the next steps you will see that I cut a series of grooves along the bottom with a round saw.
This is done to allow the panel to bend a little bit after connecting to the metal base. This was to de-
A little emphasis on the wood, which is what bongodrummer covers in this great note: fixing the twist on the slate or board.
After cutting the groove, I soaked the panel in water and placed heavy objects on the top edge of the panel to sit it like this for a few days.
This actually eliminates most of the cupping.
As the panels dry again, mostly flat, the whole object is gradually polished up to 220 of the sand using a track Sander, all edges are polished with 1/8 "round"over bit.
The panel is covered with cooked flax seed oil, allowing it to be fully soaked, then wiped clean and cured in a few days.
Once the oil is completely dry, the panel is polished very lightly with 220 sandpaper by hand.
Then it was sprayed a few layers and a halfgloss lacquer.
Oil penetrates the wood to make the texture stand out and I like the slight gloss and feel of the paint.
The top is attached to the base with a pothead screws. Note the de-
Emphasize the groove on the lower side mentioned earlier.
The original nameplate was re-applied using contact cement.
A small hole was drilled in the corner, and Brad's nail head was glued together and knocked in place.
These are mainly for appearance.
When I moved the table into my house, I noticed how ugly the shiny ground was --
In the welding area. Yuck!
I took out the acrylic craft paint and added some camouflage layers very carefully.
This is done with the bottom layer to match the general color of the gray metal area, and then a variety of Brown layers are drawn on it to reproduce the appearance of the rusty part.
Brown is also used to handle shiny cutting edges of metal legs.
It's all on the lower side of the table, because the base is so diverse and there are flaws everywhere, so it's not noticed at all now.
This is the problem.
Thank you for checking this!
Is there any suggestion, question or feedback?
This is the part that makes instructures so interesting, so please join the conversation below!