How To: Plumbers Pipe Bench

A while ago I saw a plumbers pipe table and fell in love with it.  Originally I was going to make a plumbers pipe coffee table but then decided I wanted a bench instead to go with the new board & batten wall I did in my kitchen.  I couldn’t find any images or information online to look at a bench like this but I assumed it would be the same as making a coffee table with a few adjustments.  So I began building my plumbers pipe bench!

plumbers pipe bench

 

gas pipe bench

Supplies I used:
1) 2″ x 12″ x 8′ piece of douglas fir, cut roughly 32″ long  $20.17
1) 1/2″ x 30″ black iron pipe $7.89 ea
4) 1/2″ x 12″ black iron pipes $4.27 ea
4) 1/2″ x 6″ black iron pipes $2.56 ea
8) 1/2″ x 3″ black iron pipes $1.56 ea
6) 1/2″ black iron T $2.10 ea
4) black rubber caps for the bottom of the feet $2.19 for four
4) 1/2″ black iron elbow* $1.59 ea
4) pipe clips*  $2.28 for a bag of ten
* if the wood for the top of my bench had been wider then 12″ I would have used black iron flanges instead of the elbows and clips to attach the wood to the pipe legs.

I had a general idea on how to build this, I knew the pieces I was going to need but I wasn’t sure on the lengths for the pipes I would need for the legs, Dominick at HD helped me out, I told him what my plan was and together we built two legs, factoring the thickness of the wood top, we rebuilt the legs with shorter pipes, I wanted it around 20″ tall, taller then most benches, no particular reason for that height I just wanted it taller then a typical chair or bench.  We settled on the pieces of pipe I got to have the bench at about 20″.   I had the 2 x 12 cut at HD while I was there, saving myself the time to cut it at home!

My original plan was to use flanges to attach the wood top to the pipe legs however the flanges were going to stick out beyond the sides of the wood top, Ahh so not the look I was going for!  I could have used flanges if I wanted the width between legs to be shorter but I was concerned with stability if the legs were too close.  So I wracked my brain and decided to use an elbow with a short piece of pipe on the top of the four legs and used pipe clips to attach to the wood top this did add to the height a bit but It’s still comfortable to sit and take your boots off in the winter, the only reason this bench will really get used 🙂  The cool thing about this bench is you can easily turn it into a table by changing out the length of the pipes on the legs!!

Here is a diagram to show where all the pipes were attached to make the base

plumbers pipe bench

 Here is how the wood top is attached to the base (I haven’t attached the base at this point because I still had to stain the top at that point)

gas pipes bench

Before securing the base to the wood top I sanded with 320 grit sand paper, stained, sanded again with 220 grit, waxed the top then I attached the base.

This project cost a total of $66.04  Check back to see how I made my own Wood Stain for this project with items you can find in your own home!

plumbers pipe bench

plumbers pipe furniture

plumberspipebench2B

diohomeimprovements plumbers pipe bench

This is one of my favorite DIY projects.  What is one of your favorite crafts, DIY, home improvement or any other type of project you’ve ever done?

 

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Related Posts:
Board & Batten Tutorial
DIY Air Return Vent
Oxidizing Wood (home made stain for weather wood look)

 

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