I was comissioned to made this conference table for a startup called Yoshirt. I used angle irons to bind 2x6s into a sturdy solid wood tabletop, folding metal sawhorses as legs and wired 4 extension cords to the underside for charging stations. Building furniture for startups is a lot of fun. The energy level and optimism is high and their needs are constantly changing as they explore their potential. This table is great for meetings, but could also be used as a workstation or breakroom lunch table.

SUPPLIES:

2x6s
Available at the Home Depot
I used seven 10-foot long 2x6s to make the tabletop.

1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 3/16" Angle Irons
Available at the Home Depot
I used 3/16" thick angle irons instead of 1/8" because the 2x6s were a bit warped and I wanted something heavy duty to hold them straight.

Folding Steel Sawhorse
Available at Amazon.com
These folding metal sawhorses look great, are super strong and can be adjusted to different heights.



3/4" Plywood
Available at the Home Depot
I used a few pieces of 3/4" plywood to brace the underside of the table in three places.

Extension Cords
Available at the Home Depot
I used four 15' long orange extension cords and one power strip to wire the table. I held the cords to the underside of the table with screw-in hooks and staples.

TOOLS:

RYOBI 18 Volt Cordless Drill
Available at Home Depot







RYOBI 4 1/2" Angle Grinder
Available at Home Depot
An angle grinder is a very powerful and versatile tool that is surpirisngly affordable. I used my angle grinder with a lancelot blade to remove bark and shape the log. I switched to sanding discs to sand the surface smooth.



RYOBI Orbital Sander
Available at Home Depot
I used my orbital sander with 120 and 220 grit paper to smooth out the chair.





RYOBI 18 Volt Circular Saw
Available at Home Depot

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Set Up Sawhorses
In addition to serving as the legs for the table, the folding metal sawhorse legs can be also be used for making the tabletop.





STEP 2: Sand the 2x6s
I sanded the 2x6s with 120 grit pads. This takes a while since they're 10 feet long.





STEP 3: Cut Some Plywood
I cut three 1 foot wide strips of plywood to use as supports on the underside of the table.





STEP 4: Layout the top + Mark the Recess
I placed the 2x6s on the sawhorses with the nicer sides facing up. Then I used the plywood strips and a couple of clamps to hold them in place while I marked where to cut the recess for the angle iron. I made sure that all the ends were lined up and used the angle iron to mark a line across.







STEP 5: Mark the Angle Iron
Also make a mark where to trim the angle iron.





STEP 6: Cut the Angle Iron
I clamped the angle iron between two of the 2x6s and cut it with my 18 volt angle grinder. I used an abrasive cutting wheel for this task.





STEP 7: Grind the Edges with a Flap Disk
After cutting both angle irons to length, I switched out the cutting disk for a 40-grit flap disk to ground the edges of the angle irons smooth. I clamped the angle irons to my work surface so that they wouldn’t move while I grounded them.





STEP 8: Cut the Recesses in the 2x6s
I used the two scrap pieces of angle iron to set the height of the blade on my circular saw to exactly 3/16". Then I clamped a speed square to the 2x6 to serve as a guide and made a series of cuts to create a recess that would allow the angle irons to sit flush.







STEP 9: Mark the Hole Locations
I placed the angle iron over the 2x6s so that I could mark hole locations on the angle irons.







STEP 10: Drill Holes
I drilled through the angle irons with a drill bit just big enough to allow the screws to fit through. I should've used cutting oil, but I didn’t have any and it worked out fine. However, I likely dulled my bit a little.





STEP 11: Countersink the Screws
I used a larger drill bit to drill a countersink hole in the metal and selected a bit that was the same diameter as the screw head to drill just enough into the metal so that the screw head would sit flush.





STEP 12: Clamp + Screw
I used clamps to hold the angle irons to the 2x6s while I screwed through the holes and into the wood. I started with the two end pieces and then moved the clamps to screw the metal to the wood one 2x6 at a time. The first end was easy, but because of the warping in the wood, I had to use the plywood and more clamps to bring the second set of ends in-line before repeating the same clamping and screwing process.













STEP 13: Flip + Fasten
Flip the tabletop over and screw the pieces of plywood to the underside. I used about 25-35 screws per piece of plywood to make sure that the top was nice and strong and that the pieces wouldn’t bend independently.







STEP 14: Flip + Sand
Flip the top back over and give it a final sanding with 220-grit paper. I also rounded over the edges to make sure everything was nice and smooth.









STEP 15: Grind Down the Screw Heads
I countersunk the screw heads, but they still stuck up a bit, so I tried grinding them down with the angle grinder and 40 grit flap discs. This was really easy and the result was awesome.The screws were ground down, flush with the angle iron and looked great.





STEP 16: Wire the Table
I used screw-in metal hooks and staples to wrap the orange extension cords around the plywood supports and positioned the ends evenly around the edges of the table. The cords can be unhooked to reach different areas of the table or can be discreetly tucked away with the same hooks. I connected the four cords to a single power strip to make providing power easy.





STEP 17: Finishing
I finished the table with a single coat of Danish oil and Johnson paste wax to protect the metal angle irons, which had clean exposed areas from the grinding. The sawhorses have holes in the top, so you can screw through them and into the wood if you're worried about the tabletop sliding.













Good luck making your own conference table and please email, tweet or hashtag photos to @benuyeda, ben@homemade-modern.com or #homemademodern. For more detailed instructions, dimensioned drawings and different variations of the project, check out our soon-to-be-released book.

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