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Hairpin Legs and Reclaimed Barn Board Table

closeup sewing table with hairpin legs

Many of us wish we had space for our hobbies. It can feel like we need another room or a garage to properly organize our activity of choice. Megan showed us how her beautiful hairpin leg table has made sewing that much better. With a small amount of space and the right amount of table, her sewing room dream came to life! Not only does this hairpin leg table give Megan a place to enjoy herself, but it was also made by her loved ones.

My husband made this sewing table for me from barn wood that was re-claimed by himself and my father, from an early 1900’s barn located north of Atlanta, Georgia. I had been searching for hairpin legs and finally found your site! Was so pleased with them, and it was special to support a local artist from the state where I grew up!

We just loved these. Thank you so much!

hairpin leg sewing table sewing table with hairpin legsIsn’t it wonderful to have a homemade table to sit down at when you are ready to sew? We’re so glad we could be a part of this project. Megan’s table points out how much character reclaimed wood brings to a project. This slab makes a perfect tabletop; it’s beautiful, holds the character of the barn from which it came, and serves the purpose she needed it to. The thickness of this tabletop allows it to span such a sizeable distance while maintaining its structural integrity. The durability of the metal legs will nicely support the tabletop itself along with all of the use it will endure. Thanks for sharing Megan, it’s an amazing table!

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Glass Topped Table with Modern Metal Table Legs

closeup glass topped table with custom metal legs

Almost every project we receive in our inbox is wood-based (and they are gorgeous) but it was a head-turner to see what Jo created using our flat bar metal table legs, a glass table top and only the littlest bit of reclaimed wood for support.

Given the right thickness and construction, glass is a durable, clean and beautiful work surface. It brings a light feeling to both the table and the room. Jo used our bench legs and a bit of reclaimed wood to create her gorgeous glass topped table.

glass topped table with custom metal table legsThe flat bar metal legs work well with the long, sleek feeling of the tabletop, and Jo can still see the wood cross supports through the glass, which ads an additional dimension to the table. Wood has a naturally softer look and feel than either glass or metal while it’s square shape nicely compliments both.

The choice between hairpin legs and bench legs can be a tough call. Both offer a solid platform from which to begin your table. Sometimes the decision just comes down to the finished style you are looking for. Our numerous variations on the hairpin leg offer plenty of variety and our two styles of bench legs can change the look of the finished piece as well. Our tube steel legs are more eye catching and geometric, while the flat bar legs offer a sleek, minimal look.

We think Jo picked the perfect set of metal legs for this table, and we have a feeling she knew the right legs when she saw them.

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David’s Oak Bench with Tube Steel Legs

closeup of wood pillow on tube steel bench

With so much mass manufactured furniture these days, custom made furniture is both unique and refreshing. Even when someone builds a piece of furniture from scratch, they don’t usually start with a tree! That is what David did when a tree fell at a friend’s place. Here’s what David has to say about his process:

When a grand oak tree fell in a friend’s back yard, my urge to reuse and create took over. The process involved drying and cutting the wood [then] curing the heavy slabs for 18 months. Then came the planing and sanding. With a coat of epoxy, a beautiful deep-grained custom bench was born. Your beefy tube-steel bench legs are the perfect compliment to the bench.

oak slab bench with tube steel bench legsThanks for sharing, David – what a treasure you’ve created! It can be a long process to start with a tree (or any raw wood) but the outcome was a piece of furniture that will last a lifetime and is truly unique to you.

If you are interested in undertaking a DIY furniture project but are not sure you have all of the equipment necessary, there are places that will help out with such a project. A local sawmill will be able to cut custom boards, for example, or sell you boards if you don’t have your own fallen tree. The bench legs David chose are also a great choice. Of course, we have many styles of hairpin legs to choose from, but with this solid dense bench not only will the bench legs be sure to hold up all the weight, but they nicely compliment the solid look and feel of the oak itself.

Great job David!

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Reclaimed Wood Table with Custom Angle Iron Legs

reclaimed wood table with modern metal table legs

It goes without saying that we love to see how our metal legs are used. One of the biggest movements of the day that we fully support is reclaimed building materials. Be it a repurposed pallet or refurbished tabletop, seeing our hairpin legs and angle iron legs give old materials new life is fantastic! Michael at Belle Creek Wood Working made this beautiful table with reclaimed barn boards. Michael says

Reclaimed wood is a bold product to work with for a table as it warps all over the place once cut, but I was up for the challenge.

reclaimed wood table with tapered angle iron legs

Michael points out that making a table with metal legs can be for anyone from the home handyperson to a professional woodworker. Depending on your level of comfort and expertise you can take on different difficulty levels in your projects. Michael had some good ideas on how to work with reclaimed boards:

The difficult part of working with this wood is in the need to make the wood as flat as possible without sanding or planning top wood where all the patina is from the grey’d barn wood. Once you actual sand the back of the wood to flatten the bottom the wood looks down right ugly, so you’ve got to keep the grey in tact.

I ran a series of passes through my Dewalt planner to cut 1/8″ at a time off the bottom of the wood, then a trip through my table saw to make 4″ and 2″ wide planks. I laid the wood gray side up on the table, swapping each piece until I had the right look with the various width planks. Finally turned each piece upside down and glued those bad boys together.

The tabletop looks excellent! When looking for a tabletop that holds onto the original character of the wood these irregularities are perfect. Michael contacted us about getting some custom height angle iron legs and we were able to get him what he needed. That is the great thing about our hairpin legs and angle iron legs all being made to order – it is easier for us to meet custom requests whenever possible. Thank you for sharing Michael, great table!

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Hairpin Leg End Tables from Urban Mining Co

end tables hairpin legs

We hardly need to state how practical end tables are – we all know how convenient it is to have somewhere handy to set our phone our drink or whatever we’ve got in our hands. But when we picture an end table, do we all picture the same thing? End tables come in many sizes and shapes. From tall and thin to short and broad, end tables serve a great purpose in our homes, no matter their dimensions.

Building your own table ensures it will be the prefect size for your needs and location, or if you live in northern California, maybe you should have a look at the tables being built by Urban Mining Co. They shared photos of the great hairpin leg end tables they have been creating.

Here are a few examples of the hairpin leg and reclaimed wood tables the team at Urban Mining Co have been making. You can see the simple beauty of the wood as well as the added flair of the design. We love the design, the accent and how it all comes together in the final product.


You can see how useful the different shapes would be for different uses. The matching tables are nice for either side of the bed or couch; the shorter table with more surface area would go great in a corner between a couch and an easy chair, for example. The hair pin legs themselves don’t take up much space, so you can easily slide things underneath them if need be, and the simple metal of the legs allows the focus to stay on the wood.

We’re glad we can cater to differences in personal preference and utility so well; our hairpin legs all come in different height options as well as diameter size so whether you want a tall table, a short one, one with thicker hairpin legs, and so on, we’ve got you covered. Our metal legs come in different styles as well from the Original hairpin leg style seen here, to 3 Rod hairpin legs, “Just the Tip” legs, and more. You can keep the legs just as they are or you may want to paint or otherwise treat them to add color to the table. The possibilities are endless! No matter what you decide to go with we know you’ll be delighted each time you use your very own end table you made yourself!

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Mark’s Live Edge Table with Metal Hairpin Legs

From countertops to bar tops, from maple to walnut, folks are using live edge wood more and more these days, and we can see why! Live edge slabs are always one of a kind pieces as unique as the trees they came from. Whether you’re using live edge wood for a coffee table or dining room table these tables look great!

There is nothing quite like leaving the original shape of the wood intact – it keeps the piece original and distinctive. This live edge oblong table made by Mark is a great example. The rounded end of this table is eye catching; adding a softer shape to the table.

oblong live edge slab table with hairpin legs

The standard metallic color of the hairpin legs goes nicely with the darker color of the outer edge of the wood, and the irregularity of live edge wood also gives you more options on where to put the hairpin legs. You can keep them in a square pattern as Mark did here or place them around the edges of the slab giving the table the most utility for its intended use. Our hairpin legs come in heights from 4″ – 30″ to accommodate whatever table height you need. Check out our bench legs as well…many of our customers like the sturdy, angular look they bring to finished pieces.

Thanks again for sharing Mark, and keep sending photos…we love to see the finished work.

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Cross Cut Maple Slab Table with Hairpin Legs by Heath

Heath made a custom hairpin leg table with wood from his own property for his mother’s birthday – we can’t think of a better birthday gift! Here’s what he has to say about it:

I completed this project a few months back as a birthday present for my mom. This slab was taken from a Maple tree with incredible spalting that was taken down on our property. Just so happens that the rings counted out to exactly my mom’s age, although I’m not sure she would want me to share that! I took the raw steel legs and applied a blackening agent to create the dark finish. Great product and good turn around time. Will definitely be purchasing again.

maple slab table with dark finish hairpin legsGreat story Heath, thanks for sharing! What a great way to memorialize a tree by making it into a piece of furniture that will last a lifetime. The spalting, or coloration in the tree formed by fungus, certainly makes this piece unique and tells a story about the tree itself. If you have a tree that is part of your property or that of a friend or relative’s, saving a piece to be made into a furniture piece like this is a great way to do it. There will always be a story to tell about this table!

Our original hairpin legs look great blackened as Heath did for this table. It sets of a nice contrast with the light color of the wood and it highlights the wood itself. Our hairpin legs are sold individually, not in sets, and this is exactly why. Heath chose to use three legs on this table which works perfectly; not only will three legs hold the table and keep it stable; the slightly asymmetrical shape of the table nicely fits the three legs. Thank you for sharing Heath and Happy Birthday to your mother!

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Virginia’s Cable Reel Hairpin Leg Coffee Table

closeup cable reel table with hairpin legs

Some of you may have used a cable reel for a table at some point…maybe in college? You were probably excited to put that behind you and get a ‘real coffee table’. You may rethink that when you have a look at Virginia’s cable reel hairpin leg coffee table.

Virginia took something pretty ordinary and made an amazing piece of DIY furniture with it! Built with two overlapping layers of wood for durability, cable reels can take anything you dish them in your home, and Virginia finished the top to make it smooth, attractive and ready for use inside your home. If you’re looking for a round tabletop, this is perfect – no cutting required. The markings left on the reel from its previous life add a unique look and transcends the expectation your family and guests may have of a coffee table.

Last but not least are the hairpin legs. Virginia’s cable reel has a nice pair of hairpin legs supporting it that have been painted yellow for added color. All of our metal legs can of course be painted or left just as they arrive–whichever you prefer.

Virginia’s tabletop has been sanded and finished with polycrilic. You can follow suit with your tabletop or leave it unfinished depending on how you want your finished product to look. We’re proud to add Virginia’s table to the blog…if you’re looking for DIY furniture inspiration, check out all of our hairpin leg styles and past DIY projects. All our modern metal table legs are made to order right here in the USA, and we know you’ll be as happy as Virginia when you’re done.

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Grant’s Hairpin Leg Coffee Table

Sometimes simple is best! Here is a great hairpin leg coffee table Grant made. If you haven’t built a piece of DIY furniture yet, there is a special pride in sitting around a coffee table you made…we’re sure Grant has that feeling these days!

grants hairpin leg coffee table

We often say all it takes to make a beautiful DIY table is a tabletop and a set of hairpin legs. That maxim is proved true time and time again when customers share their creations with us. We’re glad we can help people make their own custom furniture.

Grant chose to use our original hairpin legs for his coffee table. These modern metal legs have simple lines and classic style. We like to say they go with anything! But we do offer different styles of metal legs as well. Our twist hairpin leg, for example, is just that – literally a twist on the original hairpin leg. We also offer the 3 rod hairpin leg which, as the name suggests ads a third rod to the original hairpin leg for additional stability.

But don’t be fooled, our original hairpin leg is plenty strong to hold up Grant’s table–or pretty much any table–they are made of 3/8-inch steel rod after all. You can also order them in ½-inch steel rod if you’d like. The list goes on and on, but we’ll let you check out all the styles for yourself. Suffice it to say we’re confident you’ll find the perfect set for your next DIY table.

Thanks for sharing the photos Grant…the table turned out great!

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Jodie’s Slab Side Table with Painted Hairpin Legs

We talk a lot about reusing, repurposing, and scavenging materials for your DIY hairpin leg projects, and sometimes a piece of wood comes into your life and you know it should stay there. That is exactly what happened to the Jodie! The longer we’re in the hairpin leg business the more we’ve noticed that there is usually a great story to go with a great hairpin leg table!

Upon moving into a new house Jodie noticed an oddly placed old timber slab – it was attached to the brickwork of the fireplace. No longer wanting it on the fireplace, but wanting to keep the timber, Jodie realized it would make a perfect side table, with the right set of hairpin table legs. She chose a tall set of 3 rod hairpin legs.

She knew she was looking for painted legs so Jodie applied an etch primer and then spray painted the legs. The finished table preserved the beautiful slab of wood while making it functional at the same time.

You can read more about Jodie’s DIY furniture story on her blog. This is one of our favorite hairpin leg stories! If you have a piece of wood worth preserving as a new piece of furniture…send us the story and some photos when you’re done!

We’d be happy to provide the metal legs for your project whether you’re using 3 rod hairpin legs like Jodie or one of our other modern table leg styles. We offer different hairpin leg styles, heights, and diameters, and all of our metal legs can be painted or left just the way you they are. Let us know what you come up with!