Thread: Attaching steel rods to jarrah for a small unit

Originally Posted by kicker12

Hi all,

Recently I began planning for a small display unit which I originally intended on making all wood until I stumbled across an idea and decided I liked the look of metal fused with wood. The idea seemed more basic at the time but basically I have 2x34mm and 2x18mm thick Jarrah boards which are to be divided by a series of black metal steel rods with gold-coated caps. The idea was taken from this:



The major problem is I have no idea how to bond the steel to the Jarrah without using hideous brackets and drill into the Jarrah which I don't want to do. Would it be enough to use a large drill-bit for the caps to sit in and possibly glue them in to hold their place?

Any help or suggestions would be awesome, but I'm getting the feeling I'm going to have to go back to the idea of an all-wood construction.

Should probably clarify all I have purchased is the Jurrah boards so I'm pretty open to ideas. I was looking at galvanised steel rods which I would prime and paint black, but I am open to any suggestion to achieve a similar look to the above unit!

My suggestion would be to make the steel support legs from around 20 or 25 mm diam steel hollow tube which could be cut to the required length and powder coated black. I then would run 10mm continuous threaded rod from top to bottom to bolt all the parts of the support leg together and including the timber top, bottom and centre shelf, you my need to use a series of spacers to centre the bolt as it runs through the tube so they all line up.
The next question you need to consider is what material are you intending to use for the gold trim spacers and bottom feet and top caps.
My suggestion and most probable the cheapest would be to get them turned up from brass and polish them . The next suggestion is to turn them them up from aluminium and have them bright polished anodised, this could be expensive.
If you are in Sydney Saphire Anosisers is the company that does polish gold anodising.
Chhers.
Malcolm Eaton

Thanks for the quick response, sounds like a far more practical and aesthetically pleasing approach!
Unfortunately I'm from Melbourne but maybe I'll be able to find something here, finding the best suiting spacers will probably be the hardest task before I start building it.

Appreciate the help I'll go hunting for materials now!

I would go along with Malcolm's idea of the tube and threaded rod with a couple of alterations. On the end of the tubes weld washers to suit the all-thread, they may need to be drilled out to be centralized. For the top and bottom do the same, but cut to the length required and have caps made to fill the ends, so that a socket can be used to tighten it all. Unfortunately holes will have to be drilled through the Jarrah to suit the all-thread.
Instead of going for a metal finish on the caps you could turn some ferules and caps in Jarrah, that way the only metal showing would be the 25mm tube which would be powder coated.
Kryn

Really, if you want any stability in the unit when it is finished, you're going to have to drill thru the jarrah. The threaded rods and spacers idea is a good one, you might look at powder coating rather than anodizing though, depending on the cost and quality of the finish you are after.

Thanks for all the input so far! I have purchased 5/8 inch threaded rods (only size bunnings had) and 25mm steel tube which has already been coated in black. Only thing left, and apparently the hardest, is to find some appropriate spacers. I've searched all over and the best I've found we're brass hexagon nuts but I'm worried about aesthetics.

I should have made it clearer, I'm happy drilling through the jarrah so long as I get a clean look, I just didn't want to use brackets/flanges that require visible screws in the wood.

I think the all-thread rod idea is the simplest but an alternative is segments of threaded pipe, caps and Female-Female unions .
If you use standard BSP threaded pipe you could even use use standard BSP brass fittings for the caps and unions.
It won't be cheap but it could look look very interesting, and while it will weigh a ton it will be very stable.

Originally Posted by BobL

I think the all-thread rod idea is the simplest but an alternative is segments of threaded pipe, caps and Female-Female unions .
If you use standard BSP threaded pipe you could even use use standard BSP brass fittings for the caps and unions.
It won't be cheap but it could look look very interesting, and while it will weigh a ton it will be very stable.

This is actually what I had in mind before I bought the wood but I'm not sure even where to begin with making the segments. I've built wooden units before but I'm completely inexperienced with metal. Any ideas where I could get the supplies to make them?

At this point cost isn't an issue (within reason of course), I just want something to be sturdy, look good and last forever.

You could use 1/2" Glav pipe - its old school plumbing pipe - you can buy short segments of it already threaded at both ends at bunnings but the cost is silly given that 6 m of it costs about $50 but then you will need the BSP pipe threading gear.

The 350 mm long segments of 15 mm galv pipe cost about $10

All the brass unions and caps will also be available at any plumber supplies or at bunnings. Don't worry if the brass looks dull and lifeless - a bit or elbow grease and it will shine like teh sun

If there are 3 shelves each leg will require 2 caps, 3 short segments of threaded pipe to pass through the shelves, 4 FF unions ie 9 bits, allow $3 each, plus two segments of galv pipe ($20) that's $47 per leg (eek!)

BTW I reckon it would look better in 20 mm rather than 15 mm pipe - price won't be much different.

Wow, thanks man. My dad is actually a plumber....maybe I can see if he can get me stuff cheaper or I can find some scraps at his place. Just one question...how would I get the union securely in the wood? Or would the fittings and pile apply enough force for it not to matter?