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Brian’s Railroad Spike Coat Rack

You know we sell amazing metal legs such as our hairpin legs, tapered angle iron legs, and bench legs. But did you know we sell the hooks you need for railroad spike coat racks as well? We do! We love working in metal and our customers tell us how much they like the modern look of metal in their homes. The railroad coat hooks are a great way to make a durable lasting coat rack that looks great in your home.

railroad spike coat rack

 

Railroad spikes are the hardware that holds the rail track onto the wooden ties. Pretty solid, huh? So, we’re confident they are up to the task of holding up your coats for at least a lifetime. In fact, that’s why we’ve guaranteed them for a lifetime. If you’re thinking of putting a dent in these hooks, we’d like to see the coat you’re planning to hang on them. We sell these hooks by the piece so you can decide just how many work best for your project.

We most often see them on rough-sawn or reclaimed wood. What can we say, our customers know what looks great with the no-nonsense appearance of railroad spikes. Brian, of Sierra Road Creations put together this mirror coat rack. Why not enjoy the look of your entryway mirror as you check your look before heading out the door each day? The aged wood goes perfectly with the railroad spikes. The shiny screws Brian chose add a nice bit of contrast to the whole piece. Nicely done, Brian. Thanks for sharing!

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Rare Wood Types and Hairpin Legs

Rare woods are more than just rare. They can be amazing. Woods like mulberry, pistachio, and carob come from foods we may be familiar with but have never seen as lumber. We’ve all heard of redwood but we aren’t all lucky enough to have some in our lives. If you’re looking to create a really special and unique piece of furniture in your home, a rare wood may be just what you’re looking for. If you’re lucky enough to have a piece of rare wood in your possession, hairpin legs are the perfect way to highlight it.

Hairpin legs are the perfect complement to rare and unique wood. Hairpin legs are made of simple steel construction. They have classic simple lines. They emphasize the unique and special nature of rare wood and never steal the show. Putting together a special piece of wood to make a piece of furniture in your home will be an experience that pays itself forward for the life of your furniture; it could even be passed on to the next generation. We can’t think of a better way to immortalize a piece of rare wood than making it a functional part of your home.

If you’re on the lookout for a rare piece of wood, we’ve seen some beautiful pieces former customers have created. Take a look to get your creative juices flowing. Then pick out what style of hairpin legs will be best for your furniture. We’d love to see your unique creation – send us a pic!

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Pairing Hairpin Legs with Color Variations

Color adds variety to furniture. When we think of color we often think of shades in a color wheel. Painting your hairpin legs green or blue, for instance. But color can also match to shapes and patterns. For example, using square bar hairpin legs on an angular table can be the perfect accent, or choosing the same legs for a rounded table can add contrast.

live edge coffee table with hairpin legs

In addition to the great colors we can get through paint, there are ready-made colors wood can offer us. Nature creates its own beautiful colors. Some woods have greater color variations than others. Colors can appear as streaks or highlights throughout wood. Knots formed in wood are typically darker than the surrounding colors and can be intentionally highlighted. Wood color variations can appear as stark differences that form patterns. Displaying these patterns nature creates can result in stunning furniture.

The dark steel of hairpin legs is often a great match for the natural shades of wood, but if you want to alter the look of your hairpin legs, they can be finished in a similar fashion as your tabletop. You could clear coat both your tabletop and your hairpin legs, for instance, or add an accent color. Neither a sealant or a paint will affect the lifetime of the legs or the table.

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Ronny’s Century Old Oak and Steel Bench Legs

Old woodworking methods as well as old wood? Sometimes we take for granted how long a tree has been standing when we’re focused on the end product. Ronny realized the red oak that fell in the 2017 due to Hurricane Irma must have been standing for nearly one hundred years. What better way to pay homage to the time period from which this tree originated, than to use bygone woodworking techniques. Some of the cuts make in this longstanding tree were made with tools from that era. It gives a different perspective on what we have now by cutting up a piece of wood with a large gas or electric powered saw.

That’s one if the things we like best about our metal legs – they utilize a material that has a long history itself. Somehow is seems appropriate to use an age-old material to support your hundred-year-old slab of wood. Ronny chose to pair steel bench legs with this massive oak slab. Knowing steel bench legs can easily match the durability of a massive oak slab must be reassuring.

This oak creation is perfect for either a bench or a coffee table depending on what your needs are at the moment. We love how the shape of this coffee table provides extra “couch frontage,” if you will, without the entire table being larger. Maintaining the original shape of the tree and the living edge of the tree also connects the finished furniture to the original tree. Flat bar bench legs go perfectly with this substantial piece of furniture. That’s why we offer so many types of metal legs – we want to be sure you get just the right set of metal legs for your project. With two types of bench legs, five styles of hairpin legs, tapered angle iron legs, and tube steel furniture legs, there are lots of options to be sure you get the perfect match for your furniture.

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Combining Shapes & Colors with Hairpin Legs

Thinking of wood as a raw material may bring to mind a standard lumberyard image. Browsing dimension lumber at the hardware store may reinforce this. Buying 2x4s and building a rectangle is a legitimate way to build hairpin leg furniture, but wood comes in many colors. Combining these colors is a great way to make hairpin leg furniture. What wood color comes to mind when you think of oak? How about cherry? Mahogany and redwood are rarer wood types known for their unique colors. The color combinations of your hairpin furniture could be subtle or bold. Two different hues of the same basic color might be a subtle look that appeals to you. Or perhaps bolder color contrasts or the variety light and dark wood bring is what you’re looking for.

Another way to make a table stand out is the design. Showing the end grain in a butcher block style or choosing a design that uses angles will make your DIY table stand out. This slash board coffee table, for example, uses larger pieces of wood turned at an angle and uses contrasting shades of wood. Maybe you’ve got some wood hanging around that would make a great hairpin leg table. Or maybe these examples will give you a mental image of the wood type you’d like as you plan your hairpin leg project. No matter your final project, we know our hairpin legs will do a great job of supporting your colorful wood creations!

 

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Specialty Woodworking and Hairpin Legs

Woodworking can be an easy way to turn rough lumber into an easily made and pleasant tabletop. It can also be a way to practice new woodworking skills or highlight the ones you already have. Why not put some special woodworking techniques to work in a gorgeous hairpin leg tabletop? Dovetailing two pieces of wood ads stability. Joints of all kind create eye-catching design while utilizing traditional woodworking techniques. Exposed bolts showcase the hardware used to create the tabletop white mixing up the standard lines of the wood itself.

Hairpin legs are easily attached to the underside of lumber. The attachment method can also be used to highlight the construction method itself. Perhaps the screws are picked out with their visibility in mind. The screws do not need to be hidden if their presence is something that appeals to you. Hairpin leg tables can be a way to create something functional. They can also be a way to highlight the character you like to express when working with wood. Pick out the hairpin leg style you like best and make a great piece of woodworking come to light with your own custom table!

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Glass Topped DIY Tables with Bench Legs

Glass tables with custom bench legs are a great addition or alternative to wood tabletops. Glass can cover an existing wooden tabletop. It can also serve as its own tabletop offering elegance and added light in a room. It can be an essential part of a custom tabletop where items are displayed under glass.

One benefit to glass is that it is (usually) a perfectly flat surface. It provides a light feel and a polished look. Glass might be the perfect element for your DIY desk or table. It can be as easy as adding a custom cut piece of glass atop your reclaimed door table, or you can build a table around a piece of reclaimed glass. We’ve seen glass-covered Zen gardens, antique tabletops, and cut wood designs. What do you have in mind that glass would perfectly highlight?

As you can see, a shipping crate, an antique piece of furniture, or a simple wooden tabletop can all be accentuated with a piece of glass. Feel free to send us your unique creation using glass and custom bench legs. We’re looking forward to seeing what you came up with!

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How do I Customize my Hairpin Leg Furniture?

Making hairpin leg furniture is, by definition, going to be a custom piece of furniture. But how do you really customize it to your tastes? Is it going to just turn out to be a simple wood tabletop with some awesome made-to-order hairpin legs? Or can it really express who you are?

There are many ways to customize a hairpin leg table just for you. Think about what you like, what’s important in your life, your hobbies, and how you spend your time. There are many ways to make your custom hairpin leg table reflect who you are. Does an American Flag table speak to you? Or perhaps a table shaped like a place you are drawn to? Perhaps there is an item in your life you would like to display or immortalize. Is it conducive to becoming a piece of furniture?

We’ve seen wooden crates, pieces of luggage, and old equipment be turned into hairpin leg furniture. Turning a beloved object into a piece of furniture gives you a functional table or other furniture while celebrating a special item in your life. Some items may be more conducive than others to being turned into a piece of hairpin leg furniture. But there are many ways to go about it.

If you’re looking for a customized metal frame for your table, get in touch. We’ll see how we can accommodate your personalized plans. And of course, we want to see what you’ve come up with! Send us your hairpin leg furniture pics!

 

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Basic or Fancy Hairpin Leg Furniture?

Hairpin leg furniture can be thought of as a spectrum from basic to expert. Your project can lie anywhere on the spectrum. Where it lies should be driven by your preferences, comfort level and how much time you want to dedicate to the project.

If you’re looking for a quick project without a lot of effort, hairpin legs are a great option. They are easy to throw onto a basic tabletop or door creating a finished table. Purchased, salvaged, and upcycled materials might be just what you’re looking for. Perhaps a pallet is where your resources and inclinations lie. Pallets are a great raw material that can be used as is, for a rough and basic table, or taken apart for use as raw material. With basic materials put together, you just might have a table done in under half of an hour. That is one of the great things about hairpin leg furniture – there really is a table any of us can create.

A specialty piece of furniture might take hours and hours to perfect. Hairpin legs may be giving you the opportunity to create your own furniture masterpiece. Rare woods, specialty woodworking, or wood inlay may be a project you’re excited to undertake. The hairpin legs might be the finishing touch for the piece of furniture you’ve been working on for countless hours. Hairpin legs are endlessly accommodating!

In the end, it doesn’t matter how much time or sweat you want to put into your project. At the end, you’ll have your very own table full of character!

 

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Irregular Live Edge Table with 3 Rod Hairpin Table Legs

Todd from APB Works in Nebraska knows how to make a great table. This beautiful walnut table shows how fun and functional irregularly shaped tables can be.

This table is also a great example of how varied the look of hairpin legs can be. Todd used the 3 Rod hairpin legs on this table. The angle they are viewed from offers many different views of the same legs; not unlike the table itself. Irregular shapes create interesting variety from different vantage points – certainly something Todd harnesses well in his work.

This table has a great balance of opposites. The table surface incorporates rough and smooth wood. It has light and dark colors. The inlay and metal are non-wood substances yet the table itself would be incomplete without the wood. The outer edge of the table has flat and natural edges. Making a table from scratch offers so many options to the creator.

Are you a person that prefers regular or irregular shapes in your furniture? Hairpin legs offer the perfect support for whatever type of table you’re looking to create. The 3 Rod hairpin legs Todd has used here are known for their additional stability. As they come in a variety of heights this table could have been a shorter table if that’s what suited your project. We like the height Todd chose; he went with a custom set of 38” hairpin legs. This unique and beautiful table will be enjoyed for years to come. Nicely done, Todd.