DIY Copper Laptop Table

Today we have another amazing tutorial from my contributor, Brittany! She is constantly coming up with great projects on her blog, brittanyMakes. I LOVE her latest DIY project as a new take on a sidetable!

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Today I'm sharing a tutorial that might look a bit difficult, but is actually one of the easiest projects I've done: a copper pipe laptop table!

   

 Copper is trending hard right now, and I swear you can whip up this table in under an hour and impress your husbands, your friends, even your husbands friends! Not to mention you could make yourself one amazingly utilitarian & chic portable work station. Let's get to making this thing, here's what you need:

• 8 x 3/4" 90-degree copper elbow fittings
• 12' of 3/4" copper pipe (I bought one 10' rod and one 4' rod)
• 1 x 3/4" tube cutter
• Scrap wood cut to 14" x 18" (I had a piece of wood cut to size at the hardware store)
• Wood stain of your choice
• Metal glue (I used liquid nails)
• 2 x clamps

I mimicked the dimensions off of this table, which measure 18" W x 14" D x 26" H. This means you'll need to cut:

• 4 x 14" pieces of pipe
• 2 x 18" pieces of pipe
• 2 x 26" pieces of pipe

STEP 1 - measure and cut your pipe  

 Pipe cutters are so amazing, you literally can cut a clean piece of pipe in two minutes! All you do is twist, tighten, twist, tighten, and twist.

   

 STEP 2 - Using some heavy duty glue, place a few liberal dabs inside the elbow fittings, and begin assembling the top and bottom bases. I let these sit for about 15-20 minutes to let the glue set. It actually takes about a full day for the glue to cure, so you don't want to actually use the table until the glue is completely set. While the two bases are sitting, go ahead and stain your wood. I just brushed on two quick and light layers. I chose a dark walnut stain, but this table would look great with literally any shade of wood stain.

   

 STEP 3 - Apply more glue to the elbow brackets and attach the legs to the top and bottom bases. To help these pieces set, I sandwiched the table between two heavy objects I found lying around in our garage.

   

 After your wood is dry to the touch, dab some glue on top of the corner elbows at the "top" base, and clamp your wood in place. A trick I learned to clean the red die from copper pipe is to rub the pipe down with high acetone nail polish remover. It literally wipes off in seconds! Make sure it's high acetone, I started using a medium acetone (pictured below) and it was much more laborious than it needed to be. Another trick to polish the copper is to rub it down in (wait for it....) KETCHUP! Seriously, I didn't photograph this step but you can make your copper bright and shiny with a good ol' bottle of household ketchup. Kinda makes you wonder what's in it...

The only difficult part of this project is patience in letting the glue cure. Otherwise, the assembly is a cinch and the outcome is a stunner!

     

 Now go on, craft yourself a laptop table. You'll get oohs and aahs all over the place, I promise.  

Learn about all of my great contributors on my Meet The Team Page. 

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Hi! I'm Brittany from the blog brittanyMakes, where I journal my adventures in DIY projects ranging from everyday home decor to handmade jewelry, from tips in photography to stories of bulldogs, and everything else in-between.   I am a fierce accountant by day and a zealous DIYer by night.  I spend my time balancing my love for home decor and design with the everyday responsibilities of my corporate day job.  My main mission is to inspire my readers to do what they love, take risks, and above all, to exercise their creative muscles!