Author: sirwin

Matthew sourced the wood for this amazing finished piece from a neighbor that was doing some tree work. By adding our tube steel bench legs, he was able to marry the live edge of the wood with the sturdy clean lines of our bench legs. Here is the project described in Matthew’s own words:

My neighbor had cut down an oak in our back yard and had portions of the trunk rough cut into slabs at a sawmill. This slab was dried for about 2 years prior to working on it. Many hours with hand planes and sander resulted in a nice slab. Dimensions are approximately 78″ long by 12-16″ wide by 2″ thick. Tube steel bench legs are mounted into recesses on the underside which were routed and chiseled about 0.25″ deep so that the undersurface of the mounting plate is flush with the underside of the bench. It is finished with 3 coats of Minwax tung oil finish. It is a woodworking project that I could complete in 2 weekends. It retains the characteristics of the rough raw materials while looking clean and finished.

As Matthew mentions, the tube steel legs were recessed into the wood itself in a routed channel. This is not necessary to do in order to use our bench legs, but it does make a beautiful and more finished product. Nicely done Matthew – thanks for sharing! Your DIY bench looks great and is a great example of how a chore for one person in your community (in this case, his neighbor) can turn into a wonderful home accent for someone else.

We offer a variety of metal hairpin legs as well as metal bench legs to satisfy a multitude of styles and preferences. The furniture you can make with metal legs is limited only to your imagination. you can make a stand alone piece or multiple pieces that either use matching or complimentary metal legs. Imagine a wonderful kitchen set with solid metal legs made to order just for you; you could have bench legs on the kitchen table and hairpin legs on the chairs or stools – or bench seats at the table with matching metal bench legs on the table.

Many pieces of furniture, as well as furniture sets, can accommodate metal legs. A living room set can include a coffee table with matching end tables or accent tables. A bedroom set can include a dresser or chest with short hairpin legs and bedside nightstands with hairpin legs – or a bench for sitting while changing in your bedroom or walk-in closet. Previous customers have used our hairpin legs and bench legs for tables, chairs, benches, trunks or chests, end tables, desks, outdoor furniture pieces, storage pieces, and more. What makes metal hairpin legs great is their versatility – as you can see by past customer’s unending innovations. If it is made of wood, chances are there is a way to add a set of hairpin legs or bench legs to it. Every set of our bench legs or hairpin legs are made to order of 100% recyclable steel right here in the USA. So get your creative juices flowing and send us a picture of your beautiful creation!

Although our classic hairpin legs closely resemble the turn-of-the-century classic and are perhaps our most popular, we offer a variety of other styles of hairpin legs. The Twist hairpin leg is one such variation on the original. If you’ll pardon the pun, these legs are a twist on our original hairpin leg – literally.

Jerrod has taken a set of our Twist hairpin legs and turned them into a beautiful table. This beautiful table uses the light color of the wood and nicely contrasts the darker steel of the metal legs. Our hairpin legs come in a variety of heights…Jerrod chose to use a taller size to build this table. This style of table–both taller and thinner than average– makes a great side table, entryway table, or hallway table as it is convenient for grabbing keys or hats while you enter or leave a room and it is tall enough to offer usable space underneath.

Thinking about the placement and use of your table will help you determine the type of table top you will want as well as the type of finish you want to give your tabletop. Jerrod’s table has a smooth finish on the woodwork – even the edges are smoothed. The smooth edges are a good fit for an entryway table—they will ensure hands and clothing won’t get snagged on the way–great for tables that will be in well traveled areas of a house. Thank you for sharing Jerrod, we love your table!

There are plenty of ways to get creative with our metal hairpin legs. We see customers making their own wood tabletops and adding our hairpin legs to complete the table. But there are many people that use our metal legs to make benches as well. We offer two different styles of bench legs – flat bar bench legs and tube steel bench legs. These are heavy duty legs meant to handle the load of the added weight and motion of continual use. For a lighter use bench folks also successfully use our hairpin legs.

We’ve seen a great variety of beautiful wooden benches made with our bench legs, and our customers really enjoy the simple beauty of wood crafted into a rustic bench. But some of our customers have created beautifully upholstered benches as well.

Upholstering your own bench can be as easy as picking out fabric that works for the furniture’s intended use (a heavier-duty fabric will add more durability for heavier use furniture). Simply adding fabric on top of wood will add color and texture to the wood while still maintaining the wood’s sturdy characteristics. Adding padding between the fabric and wood will make a more cushioned surface. Fabric supply stores will offer both the fabric as well as the cushioning. There are also pre-made cushion tops that can be attached to the bench – and removed later if needed. There are many bench options – they look beautiful with natural wood, a fabric accent, or a padded seat. Let us know what you come up with…we love sharing your designs as inspiration!

Looking for ideas or just wondering what is built with our metal hairpin legs and metal bench legs? Here are some ideas!

Sometimes it is fun and helpful to know what others have built with our metal legs. Some of the more commonly used applications are for tables. A table can be one of the quickest and easiest hairpin leg projects one can undertake. It can also be a great place to start if it is one of your first do-it-yourself furniture projects. Tables can be made of repurposed lumber or they can be made using an existing tabletop that gets a facelift with a new set of metal hairpin legs.

Our customers make a lot of benches as well with our bench legs – and sometimes using our hairpin legs. Benches have many applications that make them useful both indoors and outdoors. A bench can–of course–be used alone as a sitting space or it can be combined with a table for seating that takes up less space per person than chairs may. Benches are also a nice outdoor furniture piece to be used on the patio. And yes, our metal legs can be used outdoors as well as indoors.

The DIY furniture possibilities don’t stop with tables and benches. Many customers have made beautiful desks from either hairpin legs or bench legs. The simple, solid look of our metal legs offers a solid work space without taking up a lot of room underneath so there’s plenty of legroom. Less common but very practical pieces from our customers include storage bins, side tables and more. Wooden trunks and other types of storage units go well with short hairpin legs. The sky is the limit on what can be made with our hairpin legs and bench legs, so take a look at what other customers have done or look around you at what furniture you think would look good with a new set of hairpin legs. And don’t forget to send us a picture of your creation!