I carved this steel coffee table out of a single piece of a steel wide flange beam W12x53 that was 5'6" long. The beam weighed about 265lbs and cost about $275. I cut the beam with my angle grinder and used about 12 cutting wheels. A cutting torch would have been faster but this really didn't take that long. I polished the metal with 80 grit flap discs on my angle grinder. All in all, this project took around 5 hours and cost about $300.

SUPPLIES:

Steel W12x53 Beam
Grant Steel


Paste Wax
Amazon

TOOLS:

RYOBI Angle Grinder
Available at Home Depot












RYOBI Orbital Sander
Available at Home Depot

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Buying steel.
I called the office at Grant Steel and ordered piece of a wide flange beam W12x53 that was 5 feet 6 inches long. They cut it length and helped me load it into my car. The piece weighed about 265lbs and cost about $275.





STEP 2: Draw the design.
I used a piece of soapstone to draw out the design for the table.



STEP 3: Cut the beam.
I cut the beam with my angle grinder and used about 12 cutting wheels. A cutting torch would have been faster but this really didn't take that long. I worked on the beam from all sides before I was finally able to twist off the first piece.













STEP 4: Cut the other side.
I didn't worry about being exactly symmetrical I just did my best and trusted that I could smooth out mistakes with the flap discs later.





STEP 5: Reciprocating saw.
There were a couple spots that were hard to reach with the angle grinder so I switched to a reciprocating saw with a metal cutting blade.







STEP 6: Smoothing the edges.
I put some flap discs on my angle grinder and smoothed over the edges and cleaned up the curves of the table.





STEP 7: Sanding steel.
I used my orbital sander and 120 grit pads to remove the mill scale and rust off of the flat surfaces.





STEP 8: Wipe it down.
The raw steel is vulnerable to rust so I sprayed with WD40 and then took it inside to finish.







STEP 9: Clean with mineral spirits.
I cleaned the steel with mineral spirits.



STEP 10: Seal with paste wax.
I used a clean rag to wipe on some paste wax. I let the wax sit for 15 minutes before wiping off the excess.



STEP 11: Add some pads.
I didn't want the table to scratch the floor so I stuck on some felt pads I got from the Home Depot.













Good luck making your own DIY plywood shelves and please email or tweet photos to @benuyeda or ben@homemade-modern.com If you want to see what we're working on next, follow us on Instagram: @benjaminuyeda and @ijessup. Also check out our book for additional projects, DIY tips and guides.

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