Giant Pizza Table

I love Pizza. Like a lot. Like almost too much. Having pizza for every meal would be irresponsible, so I made a table that looks like a giant slice of pizza to fill the pizza shaped hole in my life. It's a pretty good work surface but it tastes awful!

So I know this project is a little goofy but hopefully you find some useful techniques in this Instructable that you might be able to use on your own more traditional table/desk build.

Using few basic tools found in most small garage woodshops, I will show you how to build a Giant Pizza Table of you very own

3/4 inch thick plywood sheet (4 foot by 4 foot) x 2

3/4 inch Black Iron Pipe (3 @ 30 inches long)

3/4 inch Threaded Pipe Flange x 3

Pocket Hole Screws x 10

1 inch #14 Pan head screws x12

1/4 inch washers x 36

Titebond Original Wood Glue

Krylon Gloss White Spray Paint

Krlyon Clear Matte Spray Paint

Red Acrylic Paint

Brown Acrylic Paint

Yellow Acrylic Paint

Acetone

Vinyl Flooring Sample Sheet

Sandpaper

Wood Filler

1 Large Pizza with all your favorite toppings (To celebrate your new table)

I start this project off with a 4 foot by 4 foot sheet of 3/4 inch thick plywood. I draw a diagonal line from corner to corner. After lining up my track saw guide to the line, I cut the sheet of plywood in half.

**Note**

A track saw makes this process fast and easy, however it is not necessary to build this project. You can get the same results using a regular circular saw and a straight board clamped to the work piece.

The side I just cut is longer than the factory edge of the plywood. In order to ensure that I have even sides, I measure the factory edge (4 feet) and transfer the measurement to the freshly cut edge and make a mark.

I want the crust to have a smooth curve and in order to do that I drive a small nail into the corner of the sheet of plywood and another nail into the mark I just made. Using a thin flexible piece of wood I brace it against the two nails and pull it to the curve that I want and make a mark. I then drive in a nail into the mark. The three nails lock the flexible piece of wood into the curve and I draw a line along the length.

After the line is drawn the nails are no longer needed so I remove them. Using my jigsaw with a laminate/plywood blade I cut along the line as accurately as possible.

Using 60 grit sandpaper I sand out any unevenness on the curve left behind from the jigsaw.

I decide where I want the cheese to end and the crust to begin and measure out 40 and 1/2 inches from the tip which gave me the perfect cheese to crust ratio I wanted.

Using another 4 foot by 4 foot sheet of plywood I'll be making the cheese that is going to be dripping off the side of the table. I make a mark at 12 inches which is how low I want the sides to droop. Using my track saw I cut out two pieces to 12 inches wide.

Using a level as a straight edge I square up both pieces and make a mark at 40 and 1/2 inches to match where the cheese ends on the top. I then cut the pieces to length.

With the side pieces cut to size, I draw an Ooey, Gooey, Melty cheese design on them. This part is especially fun because you can get crazy with how drippy the cheese is. After drawing my design I cut out the shape using my Jigsaw. I used a thin laminate blade on my Jigsaw which helps me navigate the crazy twists and turns.

With both side pieces cut out I can attach them to the table top, but there's a bit of a problem. The squared ends of the side pieces won't fit on the pointed tip of the top. To fix this I trim the ends of the side pieces at a diagonal on my bandsaw. This allows the pieces to sit perfectly on the top.

With the ends trimmed I moved on to drilling pocket holes into the side pieces, which is how I will be attaching them to the top. Pockets holes are a fast and easy way to attach pieces of wood together. With the pocket holes drilled I apply Titebond Original Wood Glue to the top of the side pieces and spread it with a glue brush. I position the side pieces onto the underside of the top and hold them in place with clamps. I then drove pocket hole screws into the side pieces to attach them to the top. After letting the glue dry overnight I removed the clamps.

**Pro Tip**

Make sure and drill the pocket holes on the inside face of the side pieces, otherwise you'll end up with big holes on the show face!

I played it pretty fast and loose at the bandsaw when trimming the ends of the side pieces and ended up with a pretty big gap where the pieces met. To fix this I cut a wedge shape out of some scrap plywood and glued it in place. After letting the glue dry I cut the wedge to size using a flush cut saw. After a bit of sanding and filing the gap is gone.

The plywood I used for this project isn't exactly the highest quality and when the pieces were cut to size it revealed some voids in the plywood along the edges. Using wood filler I filled them all in. While waiting on the wood filler to dry I could start working on the legs.

The table legs were inspired by those little plastic pizza savers you get on top of your pizza. To mimic the look of the pizza savers I will be using 3 sections of 3/4 inch black iron pipe cut to 30 inches long for the legs. To attach the legs to the table I will be using threaded pipe flanges. I start by positioning the pipe flanges where I want the legs to sit underneath the table and drill holes for screws.

I could only find 1 inch long screws, and this being a 3/4 inch top meant that the screw points would poke right through. To fix this I stacked 4 washers between the screw and flange which lifted it high enough so that the points wouldn't poke through. I then threaded the pipes onto the flanges for a test fit

With the legs in place I couldn't help myself from flipping the table over and getting a sneak peak at what the table would look like.

I will be painting the legs white to match the look of the pizza saver, but before I can start I need to prep the surface of the pipes. To remove the black coating protecting the pipes I'll be using acetone. I apply a bit of acetone to a paper towel and start rubbing away. After a few seconds and a bit of elbow grease I'm left with a nice clean section of pipe. I repeat this process along the length until the entire pipe is clean.

With the pipes all clean I can start painting them. To match the look of the plastic pizza saver I'll be painting the pipes white with Krylon Gloss White spray paint. In order to get even coverage I place the pipes on my make shift pipe painting stand which is just three pieces of rebar drilled into a scrap mdf base.

**Pro Tip**

To get a smooth, drip free paint job It's better to do several light coats instead of one heavy coat.

I wasn't able to find furniture feet that matched the diameter of the pipe so I made a custom set. They are made from a sample sheet of leftover vinyl flooring material. I trace the out line of the pipe onto the sheet using a black permanent marker and cut out the three circles using scissors. I apply a bead of e6000 adhesive to the perimeter of the pipe and press on the feet. With the e6000 adhesive dry I attach the legs to the table.

With the legs attached I can flip the table over and finish working on the top. I sand off any excess wood filler on the table top and sides. I round over the sharp edges using my random orbit sander. A router may give you a more consistent round over but the sander is way more fun!

I then sand the entire table smooth with 220 grit sandpaper.

To paint the pizza I'm using regular run of the mill acrylic craft paint. I painted the top first and then moved onto the sides. I also make sure to paint the back side of the dripping cheese as well as the plywood edges as these areas will be seen when looking at the table. The paint goes on thin, but after three coats I had a nice opaque color. To speed up the drying process of the acrylic paint I used a hair dryer in between each coat. With the base layer of cheese down I move on to painting the crust. The last detail to add are the toppings, which are giant pepperonis.

When all of the acrylic paint had dried I added a few coats of Krlyon Clear Matte spray paint. This protects the tabletop and gives me the surface finish I am after. Once the clear coat dries, this project is done!

The only thing left to do now is enjoy your table and have a slice of pizza or two, you've earned it!

If you found this Instructable useful I would love for you to vote for me in the Instructables Woodworking Contest.

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