Scavenger Chic

Upcycled Rusty Turkey Fryer

• By Joan
• May 15, 2017
• 10 Comments

I have a great upcycle for you.  Today the rusty legs to this old turkey fryer are getting a major overhaul.

My sister and I found this old  turkey fryer at a flea market a few weeks ago.  We didn’t even know this community wide yard sale was taking place or we wouldn’t have arrived at noon, long after all the good stuff had gone. At least we assumed there was good stuff. We hadn’t bought anything until we stumbled upon these rusty  turkey fryer legs.

When we asked the price we both could have sworn the guy said $50 (he probably said $15), but he quickly lowered the price to $10 when he saw the shocked looks on our faces.   Uhhhh, would you take $5?  Sold!

The bottom part of the fryer was held on by only 6 welding points.  If I got rid of those, I’d have the base for a great table.

I was just able to fit the grinder in to cut the welds.

Did I mention that it’s hard to take a picture while sparks are flying?

The same grinder that I used to cut the welds was also used to clean up all the rust, this time with a sanding disc.

That rust was hiding a lot of nice looking metal. I thought about keeping the raw metal but ended up spray painting the legs black.

From the hardware store, I picked up a 24″  round table top and stained with a walnut stain.

For the tabletop I wanted to get rid of that brand new pine look and go with a layered chalk paint finish.   First layer teal, followed  royal blue.

For the bottom shelf I’m using a piece of wood from a tabletop I dismantled.

I got the perfect size circle tracing around an old V8 hupcap…. Anybody have any ideas of what to do with a cool old hubcap?

The smaller circle was cut out, sanded and given the same treatment as the larger table top.

Final coat, a layer of mossy green.

Time to attack the tabletop with a sander.  You’re looking to get rid of any hard edge brush strokes…just soften up all the edges.

It looks like a shadow, but the right side has a layer of vintage wax.

Final coat is a second layer of vintage wax.  Where it looks just a little bit darker, I mixed in a couple drops of black chalk paint. Be careful with the black, a little goes a long way.  Paint your wax on and rub off with a rag.

The top was attached to the base thru three preexisting holes.

I don’t know what these screws were originally used for, but they hold down the lower shelf perfectly.

You would never guess that this table started it’s life as a turkey fryer.

Have a great week.  Stay inspired.

Shared at DIY Salvaged Junk Projects, Talk of the Town,

Wow us Wednesdays,

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