DIY Industrial Side Table

I've been cleaning the garage and putting things where they belong, kind of boring but a necessity if I want to find the stuff I work with. So, this project was born out of that, organization! ☺

In one of my previous posts I showed you a big pile of wine crates one of our friends gave us.
The one I used for this project wasn't in that picture below, being my favorite, I took it indoors as soon as I brought it home.

The wine crate was the one that gave me the idea of creating a little side table, the other important material, the base and/or legs, came from our old garage door.
Five years ago when we changed the whole door, we asked the installers to leave the angles that were on it. Since that time, they've been stored under a good pile of wood scraps.

I'm going to show you how the whole project went, I'm not going to give you precise table dimensions because it can vary depending on the crate/box you have or the wheels (mine were a thrift store find).

Materials

• 13' Plated slotted angles
• 5' 1x6 pine
• 4 wheels
• 8 5/16 x ¾ Hex head bolts with nuts, split lock washers and tooth lock washers
• 8 ¼ x ½ Hex head bolts with nuts, split lock washers and tooth lock washers
• 1 Wooden wine crate (the dimensions for the one I used are 22" x 14" x 4-1/8")
• 4 Wheels
• Finishing supplies

Tools

• Measuring tape
• Square ruler
• Hacksaw, Jigsaw or BladeRunner with metal blade
• Saw or miter saw
• File for metal work
• Vice grips
• Drill with metal and wooden bits
• Gloves and safety glasses

Directions

Cut the plated slotted angles to your own dimensions, a total of eight parts were created (4 legs, 2 top supports and 2 lower supports).

I made the cuts with my Rockwell BladeRunner (Aff.), using the metal blade, it was really easy, but after the fourth cut the blade was done (dull) and I had no extras :(  I had to go and finish the remaining parts with a hacksaw. Puff! All that work gave my right arm a good workout. 
The silly thing is, I also have a jigsaw, but just as I was editing the pictures I remembered I could have use those jigsaw blades, they are the same I use with the BladeRunner. :/

You're going to end up with rough cuts, rough corners, use a file for metal to round those corners smooth.

Once you have your parts ready, is time to assemble the base.
Connect all the parts (legs and supports) with the hex head bolts, use the bigger bolts to connect the top supports.

At first, I thought I could simply use the slots the angles come with but they didn't fit quite nicely, the corners wouldn't be neat -"quality control" aka the husband ;) - wouldn't approve of that! 

Use vice grips to hold the corners together, and drill a hole through both parts.
Mark those corners, they all look similar but they ARE different and you can get confused easily.

Time to assemble the base.
I didn't tighten anything at this point because I still wanted to paint it black without painting the bolts. The small bolts where used to attach the lower supports because the wheels also share that same space. 
The 1x6 pine was also cut to size. I would've love to use only one, thicker piece of wood but I worked with what I had.

The space to accommodate the screws were notched out on both wooden ends. Then, holes were drilled on the wood through one of the angle' slots for the wheels to be installed. They have to be installed by pressure, the holes have to be a lot smaller than the diameter of the wheel's base.
One more reason to use a thicker wooden piece is for the wheel's base not to show through.

Finally, placing the crate upside down with the base on it, mark the screw placement.
Do pre-drills.  Then, with the crate and base the right side up, screw both pieces together.

This is how it looked at the end.

There was no need for a screw at the top front, I added it just for looks.

This is how it looks inside the house.

It is hard to come up with a price for this table since I already had most of the materials, the price for the angles is around $25 for the 9', wood for the shelf around $5, the wine crate maybe $20-$30?, the wheels I used were $1/each, but I know if you're going to buy them new is more than that, perhaps $20?, screws would be around $5. Like $80/$85 total without finishing supplies.

The hardest part was dealing with metal, gloves are a necessity. It's good to have a set of extra hands when trying to assemble it.

I hope this can be of help if you give the industrial look a try.

Thanks for stopping by!







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My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Savvy Southern Style, Stone Gable, Miss Mustard Seed, Thrifty Decor Chick, Funky Junk Interiors, Between Naps on the Porch, Uncommon,