Custom industrial outdoor table

[ogosh]

I was designing a outdoor table as a present but couldn’t locate the Merbau fence panel we’d wanted to use as the table top.

So whilst searching for other suitable Merbau boards to use we came across H4 sienna pine sleepers 200 x 50 x 1800 the perfect size for our table top. It’s rich red colour and rough rustic look was the clincher.

We selected the 4 straightest boards we could and set them aside for a week to dry out and acclimatise in situ.

Added in two palings to act as bracing for what would a very heavy tabletop.Chose our legs

Picked up our fasteners and we were ready to go.

 

To start off the build we laid out our boards picking the faces and orientations we liked the best, numbered and marked them all, and got set for plenty of sanding. You can really see the difference in the finish between the rough sawn sleepers and how nice they come up once sanded to 80 and then 120 grit.

With plenty of measuring, pre-drilling, spacing and clamping we finally had our top complete.

Some more measuring pre-drilling, some very heavy lifting and plenty of hammering we had our legs on as well.

Some cinching up of washers n nuts from

underneath and a final sand of the top sides and rounding over edges….. It was done.

Time to complete was around 4-5 hours for two taking it easy with plenty of breaks.

Costings are always of interest, and were  as follows:

4 x sleepers @ $15.31ea = $61.24

2 x legs @ $49.00 ea = $98.00

8g 50mm outdoor timber screws = $5.40

8 x 1/4” x 2 1/2” bolts, washers and nuts @ $0.56 each = $4.48

1/3 sheet sander, sanding block and sand paper were on hand.

TOTAL = $169.12 ($161.93 PowerPass)

Hope you like our new table!

Fire away with any questions or comments!

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @meghannstewart. Great to see you have been inspired by this project and got a prompt response from @ogosh. Perhaps you might build your own? Let us know if you need a hand with anything.

We look forward to reading all about your own projects and plans for around the house and garden. 

Jason

[bindi63]

Hello, can you tell me the item number for the table legs I have been trying to get them in store but cant at my ocal so will have to order them in.  Thanks

[EricL]

Hello @bindi63,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's brilliant to have you join us and thank you for sharing your question about the outdoor table.

The table legs are called the RapidMesh 70 x 73.2 x 6cm Black Rio Steel Table Furniture Leg. The item number is 0054911. It sounds like you're planning on building your own outdoor table. Any updates you can provide once it's finished would be much appreciated.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[bindi63]

Thanks Eric, I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

[EzzyHutchy]

Hi @ogosh thank you so much for sharing! This table looks amazing. I’ve been trying to think of what to use my table legs for and you’ve inspired me to attempt this project! I think I have everything I need but want to ask if you would mind telling me what size fence posts you got for the braces and if you could share a photo of the underneath so I can see how you have placed your braces? Thank you in advance 

[EricL]

Hello @EzzyHutchy

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about the industrial outdoor table.

Let me tag @ogosh to make them aware of your kind words and question. It would be interesting to see how they braced the outside pieces of the table. It's great that this project has inspired you to make one yourself. Will you be staining and sealing it or will just use a clear varnish to preserve the natural look of the table? Any updates you can provide would be much appreciated. 

If you have any other questions regarding this project, please don't hesitate to post them.

If you need further assistance, please let us know,

Eric

[ogosh]

Hi @EzzyHutchy,

Glad to have provided some inspiration... I guess that's what this whole community is all about right?

Overall finished width width was around 820mm, so we only needed around 700mm to reach to the centre - 2/3rds across the width of the outer two sleepers, so as not to see them from the side or angled viewpoints. We used 2 x 1500mm long 12mm fence palings, cut down to 700mm with a touch of waste to get four supports.

In hindsight the the palings were a bit thin/weak and haven't been able to stop a bit of twisting as the sleepers dry.

If I was doing it again I'd widen the holes in the steel and bolt straight through each sleeper directly into the steel legs, only worry there would be if the sleepers start twisting as they dry it could lift the whole leg and make it all a bit wonky.

Perhaps a basic rectangle ox X shaped support frame underneath would be the trick, would also cut down on any racking/sway/movement end-to-end.

[sonyaw]

I love this! I have been looking everywhere for a table made out of sleepers, thanks to the old owner of my house I found 6 x 6m sleepers nicely wrapped up the side of my garage and I’ve been racking my brain since as to what I can use them for, thought of an outdoor table but all I could find was people making them out of panels. So thank you for your inspiration! 
my panels are only 130 wide so I’d need to use more but I’m curious as to wether you need spacers in between all panels or can they butted together? Also for the bracing underneath you said you used Pailings, I have lots of these laying around too but I also have some 89 x 19mm Dar Pine Laying around could someone let me know if it would be better using this or something else? 
sorry for all the questions! 

[EricL]

Hi @sonyaw

It's great to see that you've been inspired to create your own outdoor table. Before you begin please note that it is important to find out what your sleepers have been treated with. If it has been treated in CCA copper, chrome, and arsenic, I don't recommend using it as a tabletop. 

The timber that @ogosh used is called the Sienna MicroPro slabs these sleepers are treated with MCA Micronized Copper Azole. It is termite resistant and is suitable for use in vegetable beds and Children’s play areas. I recommend using Sienna MicroPro slabs which are safe for casual contact. 

Here is a link to Bunnings Health and Safety: Health and Saftey Notice 

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[sonyaw]

Oh thank you for that it’s something I didn’t think about, how would I find out that information? The last thing I’d want to is use something that’s unsafe