Trash Panda’s Pipe Dreams: Cutting Board and Pipe Table

It's time for another story from James Angus' 'DIY Industrial Pipe Furniture & Decor'. I needed a little stand for my wifi router, so I decided to make a teeny weeny adaptation of Angus' Occasional Table.  And look, it's so tiny and cute!
[*Coaster for size reference]

PARTS: Instead of buying new table tops, I used a broken cheese board...basically a bamboo cutting board that used to have a handle and a cheese cutting wire. Any wood or bamboo cutting board like object would do, it's just what I found in the thrift store.

I used 1/2" plumbing pipe and flanges since they were the smallest parts I could get at the neighborhood hardware store.  I also did just one leg because it's enough to balance this small a stand, especially with the extra weight of the bottom 1/2" flange.

Finally, I got four #10 wood screws, basically the screw that was the just right type to fit through and hold on the flange, but short enough to not bust through the board.

TOOLS: measuring tape, hammer and good sized nail, thin marker, electric drill*

Step 1: Figure out where you're going to place the top flange on the bottom of the cutting board. Measure out where so it would go so it's placed in about the middle of the board.

Step 2: Stick the marker through the little screw holes of the flange so you mark where each screw should go on the board.

Step 3: Make starter holes on each dot in the board with the hammer and nail. A couple good taps should do, it just needs to be deep enough to give the screw some purchase.

Step 4: Screw one of the flanges onto the board. The screws tended to wobble around when I tried to screw them in, so when I was starting them I held them in place with the fingers of my off-hand and ran the drill really slowly.** Once they got in there good, I took my off-hand away and ran the drill faster to screw them in the rest of the way. They didn't go in exactly straight, but it's good enough to hold the flange on correctly.

Step 5: Screw the pipe into the attached flange, then screw the bottom flange into the pipe.

Ta da! You've got a tiny table/ plant stand. Here it is holding up my wifi router. I ended up using is upside down because it was more stable that way, and it gave the router more air space for cooling.

Not bad for something that only took fifteen minutes to make. The pricing was waaaaay better than the bookends - $14 for the pipe stuff and screws, $5.50 for the board. Still, $21 for a plant stand is not cheap. But it is just the size I need it to be, and I got to reuse a broken cheese board, so I feel ok about it.


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* I live in an apartment, so it's not like I have a lot of room for power tools. But I do think having an electric drill is useful enough to have around. They're also small enough to stick in a drawer and you can get them for cheap at a one of the bigger thrift shops that specializes in home wares. Even new, they're not too expensive.
** Going to be honest, not sure if this is the safest way to do things.
Note: all photo credits in this post are my own

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.