Factory Cart Coffee Table
4 Materials
I wanted to start by showing some progress we've made with updating an antique factory cart we bought off of craigslist.
It was a very rustic piece to put it nicely and had probably done some hard labor in its previous life. The wood was terribly uneven on the top and full of protruding old nails that were bent in different directions--like someone went to town hammering them in blindfolded! Though I'm sure that wasn't the case. One piece of wood on the end didn't match the other weathered wood and clearly wasn't original to the piece. And then there were the factory cart wheels which were also covered in rust.
It was a very rustic piece to put it nicely and had probably done some hard labor in its previous life. The wood was terribly uneven on the top and full of protruding old nails that were bent in different directions--like someone went to town hammering them in blindfolded! Though I'm sure that wasn't the case. One piece of wood on the end didn't match the other weathered wood and clearly wasn't original to the piece. And then there were the factory cart wheels which were also covered in rust.
Quite the recipe for an un-safe and non-childproof coffee table. The hubs had the good sense to start with the wheels so they wouldn't leave a rusty residue on the carpet.
Next the top was painstakingly sanded only to decide the wood was too deteriorated to salvage. We ended up replacing the top boards with pine wood. The planks were cut to size by the folks at Home Depot. The boards were then attached to the frame with framing nails to give an industrial look. The whole piece was then stained with Minwax stain in Dark Walnut and finished with polyurethane.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 of 3 comments
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I used to convert a lot of these carts into coffee tables. Now they are becoming so scarce. Great job and lucky you found one. I love these!
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Thanks! Yes I was looking on Craigslist for quite some time until I found one.
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