Cage Side Table

A few years back my friend purchased a coffee table that looked like a cage. I loved the design so I came up with this bad boy right here. Made from reclaimed beam cut-offs and some steel. This is a pretty straightforward project. You will need a welder if you want to create something like this. Go grab one if you don't have one already as it's an awesome way to add to your home!

You could make the top our of any wood that you'd like. Obviously, the old beams look pretty awesome but not always easy to find.

• Choose your top wood
• My top is made of two 3" x 7.5" x 17" pieces of old oak
• Square up either end
• Sand to remove any rough edges and smoothen

Now we need to weld up the metal bracket for underneath the wood top. The cage will be welded to this bracket and double as the connection point for the two pieces of wood.

• Measure out your wood dimensions
• Cut 3" flat bar to the dimensions of your wood
• My bracket is made up of two pieces cut at 11" and two pieces at 15"
• Cut the pieces and place on the wood to make sure it aligns
• When the bracket matches the wood surface dimensions, weld it together
• My bracket measured 15" x 17"
• Cut off the corners of the bracket

• Mark out drill holes along every piece of the bracket to secure wood
• Drill 1/8" holes for your screws
• Screw the bracket to the wood
• Sand the finish off of the screws to camouflage them to raw steel

Cut 1/4" steel rod into enough pieces to make your cage.

• 2 pieces at 15"
• 2 pieces at 16.5"
• 20 pieces at 20"

After your pieces are cut it's time to weld up the cage.

• Weld up the 15" pieces to your 16.5" pieces to make a rectangle (same dimensions as bracket)
• While making sure everything is square, weld up your 1/4" rectangle to your bracket using the 20" pieces
• Weld up one piece of 20" on every side to keep it level and square

• Weld up 5 pieces of the 20" pieces to each side of the table to create your cage look
• Use magnetic squares to make sure it's square while helping you keep everything together
• Sand off any sharp edges of the steel
• Clean off the steel with a steel brush and mineral spirits
• Do a final sanding on the wood
• Apply a finish to the wood (I used spray on Polycrylic)

Set this up beside a couch, your bed, or put it in a sweet spot to show it off. Enjoy it!