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Stone-Top Coffee Table Q: When is a stone more than a stone? A: When it's a coffee table. From "Rock Solid" episode DROC-205

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With the bulk of the work on the stone tabletop complete, the last major phase of the project is to create the metal base and, finally, join the top to the base. For this piece, the base is created from several pieces of metal salvaged from a junkyard: a piece of cylindrical schedule-40 pipe, a plow disc base and leaf springs from an old truck. Dean and Derek work with expert Dwayne Cranford, who has experience with welding, to create a custom coffee table base. Unless you are experienced with welding techniques and safety, Dean and Derek suggest taking your design and metal to a welding shop or creating a different type of base.

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If you're not fully versed with these tools, welding and working with plasma cutters is something you might want to leave to the pros.

Creating the Welded Base

Tools and materials:

cutoff saw with an abrasive blade
grinder
angle grinder with grinding stone
bullet level (magnetic)
four-foot level
welder
plasma cutter
welding safety equipment
structural steel pieces

Figure L

Dean and Derek want a coffee table that sits eighteen inches high. You can choose any height that you desire. With a stone top that measures two inches and a plow disk base that sits two inches high, they decide to cut their steel pipe to a height of fourteen inches. Dwayne cuts the pipe to size using a cutoff saw with an abrasive blade (figure L).

Dwayne smoothes and grinds away rust from the cut edges of the pipe. He does the same thing with the plow disc base by tracing the area where the pipe sits and then grinding away the rust in a ring. When welding the pipe to the plow disc base, clean metal should sit on clean metal.

Make sure the pipe is sitting level on top of the base--this is where a magnetic level comes in handy. If you need to make adjustments, just use whatever you've got, like knives or chisels, to hold it in place until the pieces are welded together. Tack the pipe to the base to hold it in place and then go around welding the entire base in sections (figure M). Once the two pieces are welded together, Dwayne cleans off the old rust on the new base (figure N) with an angle grinder and a grinding stone.

Figure M

Figure N

Figure O

The base is nearly complete, but it needs something to provide support along the length of the heavy table top. Dwayne places two steel strips nearly parallel into the pipe portion of the base to get this strength. Using a cutoff saw, he cuts the leaf springs of an old truck to length, cuts out two notches on either side of the pipe using a plasma cutter (figure O), and sets the springs into each notch. Dwayne levels the springs, tack welds them, and then welds the entire thing into place.

Figure P

Joining the Top and Base

With the base complete and the stone dry, the last step is to set the two together (figure P). The result is a stone coffee table with the strength of steel and the beauty of stone. This is one Rock Solid project that brings out the artist in Dean, Derek and any ambitious DIY'er who believes that stone can be beautiful.

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GUESTS :

Dwayne Cranford, Stone 2 Furniture®
www.stone2furniture.com