After making coffee tables, dining tables, desks and even lego tables with hairpin legs we've learned a thing or two about what to look for with hairpin legs. Here’s our “must have” list that we used when refining how to make the best Hairpin Legs we can for makers around the world. 

1. Steel: Check your supplier and be sure to get cold rolled steel. Cold rolled steel, as opposed to hot rolled steel is very precise and uniform in it’s thickness and finish. Hot rolled steel is cheaper to make and therefore cheaper to buy, but it often is pitted and not perfectly round. We recommend cold rolled steel for the best hairpin legs.

2. Bracket Size: Be sure you have an adequate bracket size to secure attaching the legs. The bigger the bracket the sturdier your furniture will be. A larger bracket can handle more lateral torsion and will last a lot longer.

3. Holes for Attaching Legs: We recommend getting legs with countersunk screw holes. When you need to mount your legs to a table or a desk you don’t want to see little screws sticking out, distracting from the design of your creation! Countersinking takes man hours. One by one on the drill press, that’s why hardly anyone offers them.

4. The Right Bend: Hairpin legs do have an origin. Henry Glass invented hairpin legs and his original design has a round and symmetrical bend. It takes a little more work to get this bend, but we think it’s worth it.

5. The Angle:  Authentic hairpin legs have a notable angle. The correct angle puts the corner of the bracket and the “foot” of the leg directly in line with each other. This way your legs can go right up against the wall without a gap between the tabletop and the wall.

6. Maintenance Kit: Raw steel is our favorite look, but it has one main enemy. Rust. Good news is that with just 5 minutes of elbow grease you will keep your legs looking clean for a lifetime! Your legs should come with a wax, applicator, cleaning pad and gloves to prepare and wax your legs. PS - each of ours now come with these items for all orders.

7. Screws: Who wants to have to run to the hardware store for a bunch of screws when they just got a set of nice legs? To help get you started on your project right away we believe that your hairpin legs should come with a set of screws. For example, we send a set of 1.25” self driving screws with every order.

 

Here's to you - we can't wait to see what you make next! Feel free to tag us on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook.

Cheers!