A Funky Table
4 Materials
$50
1 Week
Medium
I bought some metal tables from a local on-line auction with no particular use in mind. They were cheap enough ($15) and I liked their industrial look.
They went into my “inventory” until I was recently given a 30 inch by 6 ft solid core veneered door that I thought would make a great table top for the industrial base. The friend that gave me the door was relocating and didn't want to move it.
Auction listing photo of tables.
Upon inspection, one table base was intact with splayed metal feet. Two of the feet had rusted off the other table. I cut all the legs of the rusted table to the same length with a cutoff wheel on a 4” angel grinder. The legs were the same length but had sharp edges at the foot without a surface to attach floor protectors. Some small plywood scraps were attached with polyurethane glue and some screws were added for reinforcement. They were a mess at first, but cleaned up pretty well with a coping saw, a flap sander and some filling with BONDO.
Glueing the foot to the leg.
Foot- after trimming.
The grinder with the cut-off wheel and a circular saw with a metal cutting (abrasive ) blade were used to saw the table in half. The ends were then reattached and lengthened by bolting them to a 1 by 4 by 48 inch stretcher. Once attached to the tabletop (door) cross bracing was added to remove a wobble and a 1 by 6 inch pine apron was added because the metal apron had some exposed sharp edges.
Photo of base with stretcher & cross bracing
Originally, I planned to stain and varnish the top and copper leaf the edges. But with sanding, the veneer kept loosening, requiring filling in multiple areas. The top just didn’t look right. My wife and I considered painting it or covering it with a metal wrap, linen, or faux concrete. Then Sue remembered I had recently bought a milk crate full some old (1940s) newspapers and magazines at a flea market.
I primed the table top with white BIN Primer because we decided to decoupage ads for foods, appliances, cosmetics, health aids, and toiletries from a Woman’s Home Companion (April 1949) and a Ladies' Home Journal (February 1941). . Many of the products and companies exist today, while others are only memories from our childhood.
The process of decoupaging showed our different approaches to projects. I wanted to start at one end and paste (ModPodge) them however they came off the pile. Sue wanted to lay them out then glue them in their precisely determined location and orientation. The actual process became a compromise. We laid them out as best we could, but several had to be lifted, removed, glued down one at a time, then coated with the ModPodge. There were some gaps, especially at the edge that we filled in with text or very small ads.
Decoupaged ads.
Several Hometalk postings show a dry method with a hot iron to reduce wrinkling. I think it would have worked well except the ads were old enough and fragile enough that we decided to go with the wet method. After the decoupage had dried for several hours, we significantly reduced the wrinkling by pressing with a hot iron. Pressing over a piece of parchment paper prevented scorching and sticking of the iron. The surface which still had wrinkles, had the appearance of an oil cloth table covering, but was firmly attached to the tabletop. Multiple coats of urethane varnish were applied. My go-to technique is thinning oil base satin urethane (3 parts) with mineral spirits (1part) and applying it with a gloved hand and a cotton rag. Hence clean-up only requires safe disposal of the cotton rag
What we ended up with is a somewhat funky looking table that is a little narrow and has a wide apron. But it could look good and function well in the right spot- possibly a small dining area, a craft room, or a laundry room.
Thanks for viewing.
Good view of the top.
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6 of 7 comments
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I love it! The vintage vibe is a winner and best of all, it is a one-of-a-kind table now! Awesome project! Thanks for sharing!!!
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Always great to hear from you. As an experienced DIYer you know sometimes project require more work than expected. This one: wasn't a lot of money; and came together pretty well- probably because there were not any definitive expectations to start. Still need to do better at getting in-process photos.
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Great job on the base, but I love your ephemera inspired table so much! It's like taking a walk down memory lane every time you look at it. I'll have to be on the lookout for old ads now because no matter what you put it on, it will definitely be a conversation starter :)
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Aww, thanks John!
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This is awesome and has me wondering...While growing up mydaughter was much involved in sports. Before high school softball her and my other daughter played baseball on an all boys league here in our hometown. I have a folder full of newspaper articles that I would love to display somehow. Any ideas on what I can do that won't break the bank?