Table System - How to Finish the Tops of the Table Legs

You've probably seen the knock down tables I built for my camper. Oh, you didn't? Well, check it out - it is a table system that makes 2 snack tables or a dining/game table, comes apart, stores flat, takes up very little room and can be easily built with inexpensive materials! See it here!

When the dining table is up, the tops of the legs are visible. So, I thought I should finish them off a little nicer than just bare pvc. 

First I filled them with a wood dowel. This worked great, but when I made a second set, I didn't have another dowel.

I did however have a can of Durham's Water Putty.

Have you ever seen this stuff? It's really a great product! Believe it or not, it's the same price on Amazon as it is in my local Home Depot. $7.98 for a 4 lb can. I would appreciate it if you bought it through my affiliate link, if you are going to get some :) It's nice to have all my hard blog work appreciated.

It can be used as a wood filler, or in craft projects to cast models or anything from a mold. It dries hard and BEST OF ALL - it never gets old!! Plaster of paris will eventually stop setting up or getting hard, and regular wood filler dries up, but Durham's Water Putty can be 15 years old (like mine LOL) and still mixes up smoothly and sets up hard as a rock. It dries to a nice almond color and when its dry you can sand it just like wood.

So, I started out with my pvc pipe & fittings - I just wanted to fill in the top of the pipe and not the whole pipe. But, first I wanted to cut the pipe fitting a little shorter so that it didn't stick up above the table top.

Take my word for it, these cutters are great! 

 I highly recommend investing the $9 in a cutter if you're going to anything with pvc. I marked where it needed to be cut.

To make a dam to hold the Water Putty, First I cut a piece of cardboard and a piece of aluminum foil the same circumference as the pipe.  I just traced around the pipe

First put the aluminum foil in. This will keep the wood putty from sticking to the cardboard. It probably doesn't really matter, but I like things neat even where I can't see them lol.

Don't cut the cardboard into a circle. Cut it into a square that fits into the pipe. This will make it fit tightly and not fall out when you put the Water Putty in.

 looking down from the top you can see the aluminum foil

Measure out a couple tablespoons of Water Putty - this is what it looks like dry.

Add water, a little at a time, until it's not too stiff. Something like thick pancake batter is good.

Pour carefully into the tops of the pvc fittings. 

After a little while, it will be stiff, but not hard. You can scrape the top flat at this point. After it sets up, you can sand them to a nice finish.

Then you just attach them to the pvc legs and you're done!

Now, go play outside!!