Live Edge Wood and Gas Pipe Shelf
How to Make a Live Edge Wood Shelf with Gas Pipe
It’s easy to see why people are going gaga over gas pipe shelving. Gas pipes, when combined with cool shelving material, like re purposed or live edge wood, combines an old world charm with a strong, unique look. In this article we show you how to create a live edge wood and gas pipe shelf.
Shelving Material
On this live edge and gas pipe shelf project, the client wanted us to create a two-shelf, wall mounted unit. The shelves would be 1-1/2” thick, vertical grain Pine, with the “live” or natural edges of the board showing and held together with ½” gas pipe.
We went to a Parlee lumber mill. Parlee is the oldest, continuous running lumber mill in the Unites States. We walked the yard and handpicked vertical-grain, Pine boards. The boards still had their bark on one edge and cost only $15.00.
Designing my Shelf
There are many ways to support a live edge shelf. You can rest the shelf against a pipe elbow, a union or screw a flange under it. I decided the best look for me was to create a look of a continuous running pipe through the two shelves. To support the shelves weight I would use pipe unions. Unions connect two different pipes, and are larger than the pipe diameter. By drilling a hole just large enough to slip the pipe through, allowed me to rest the shelf onto the unions, as a shelf support.
I designed my pipes so that they would run a little above and below the shelves. The pipes then return toward the wall and terminate at wall mounting flanges.
Sourcing Pipe
Threaded or gas pipe fittings are easy to find at a plumbing supply store or hardware store. I picked up most of the components I needed at my local Rocky’s Ace Hardware.
Threaded pipe comes in varying diameters and lengths as well as different connections such as; elbows, tees, couplings, end caps and flanges.
Gas pipe fittings come in many thread sizes and lengths. These black pipe nipples allow you to find the proper fit in different situations and come in these sizes:
- 1” to 6” in ½-inch increments
- 7” to 12” in 1-inch increments
- 18-inch
- 24-inch
Once I had my pipe in hand it was time to go into the shop and make the live edge and gas pipe shelf a reality.