DIY Copper Laptop Table

DIY | February 11, 2014

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!

 

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes 

 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:

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes
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

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes 

 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.
 

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes 

 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.

 

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes 

 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.
 

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes 

 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…

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes
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!
 

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakesDIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes

 

DIY Copper Laptop Table | brittanyMakes 

 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!

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20 thoughts on “DIY Copper Laptop Table”

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  10. Hi, this is rally neat! I found it looking for DIY projects I could do for my husband on our Copper (7th) Anniversary this Saint Patrick's Day (Monday)!
    Does it ever have issues with stability/balance, wanting to fall over on the side of the vertical pipes? I've seen storebought laptop tables like this, so I guess they're a magical feat of physics, and just an optical illusion that they're unbalanced. Was just curious how well it's worked for you, practically speaking. It IS beautiful!

    And do you really just glue the wood top on with liquid nails? It's stayed put pretty well? Before reading the steps I assumed there were little brackets on the underside, that screwed into the wood on either side of the pipes it rests on.

    Thanks for sharing this, and answering my questions 🙂 Happy Friday!

    Reply

  12. Thank you for the tutorial! I pretty sure I found this posting originally through Pintrest… and thought the table just beautiful and wanted to try making one myself! Just as an FYI, it's quite expensive. So, be ready to spend at least $100 on supplies (if you don't have many of the items listed already on hand). Also, I think the measurements on the piece of wood are off. I followed all the instructions exactly and it was only after I had my wood cut, sanded, and stained that I realized the measurements given were too small… so, a more correct size would be: 20 x 15 inches. Also, The liquid nails just doesn't hold it up very well. It works, but you need to really put on quite a bit – all around the inside of the tube. And, one other thing I found was that, at least for the couch I will be primarily sitting at, the table was way too high and I ended up cutting it down by 3 inches. But, that's a matter of preference. Not to discourage anyone from making it, because it certainly was a fun project and I do like the table, just some notes as you dive into this DIY. Thanks again for the posting!

    Reply

    1. Ditto with the measurements!!! I had it all cut and then as I was putting the supplies in my car in the parking lot of the hardware store, I thought, “Wait a second. With the elbow fittings, that wood top is going to be too small.” I had them cut another one at 15″ x 19.75″ (I just eyeballed it.) and I’m so glad I did. The second one is the perfect size!

      Reply

  14. This is a great idea!! And really easy to assemble , great for a day project. One can also solder the elbow brackets into place with the correct tools (blowtorch ,flux and solder). This eliminates the waiting , but changes the aesthetics if this is your first attempt at soldering.

    Reply