Scavenger Chic

Upcycled Brake Drum Side Table

• By Joan
• March 26, 2025
• 2 Comments

Upcycled Brake Drum Side Table

If you love making something useful out of various odds and ends I have a great side table for you.  This one uses 2 thrift store finds, a candlestick and a table top,  plus a wheel thingy I picked up from a dump pile in the woods.  I’m also using a bike gear and a cannister lid but I’ll get to those in a second.

I had to look up what the wheel thingy was with Google Lens and it turns out to be a brake drum.  Could even be worth some money but I envision it as a perfect table base.

I have used car jacks before and a car spring but never a brake drum.  It was time.

I took the brake drum outside and used a wire brush attachment  on my drill to get rid of most of the rusty chunks.  I didn’t need it to look new.  I just didn’t want any  of the rusty chunks falling off.

The flat surfaces were made a touch smoother with a final pass of an electric sander.  Wipe off any rust dust.

I liked the metal look so I finished the  brake drum with 2 coats of spray matte varnish. You could also use a coat of  paint to get rid of the metallic look.

It was at this point I turned the candlestick upside down.  Well darn, it has a hollow base.  I sort of needed it to be solid.

I am not deterred!

I had to have something in my stash of junk which could fill this void.  A wooden cannister lid would work and it was the perfect thickness.

If I didn’t have the lid, Plan B would be to cut a piece of wood with a jigsaw.

The cannister lid was glued in place with builders adhesive and left to dry.

The bottom of the tabletop had this attached metal piece . I unscrewed it from the wooden tabletop, added more builders adhesive and used long screws to attach it to the candlestick.

Once the builders adhesive had dried I reattached the metal piece back to the wooden tabletop.

Without the metal piece, use long screws directly thru the tabletop into the candlestick.  Countersink and patch.

Everything is turned upside down.  Now to attach the extremely heavy brake drum  ( it weighed in at 22 pounds) to the candlestick with the cannister lid insert.

Over top of the cannister lid I placed the upside down brake drum.  And this is where keeping all your bits and pieces comes in super handy…to hold the brake drum to the cannister lid I’m using this bicycle gear and long screws.  The screws need to go thru the lid and an inch or more into the  actual candlestick.

Make sure you predrill your holes.  I did predrill and I still had the cannister lid crack.

The upside down base of the new table with all screws attached.

If you’re going to use your side table on carpeting or wood flooring you may want to  put felt on the edges so it doesn’t scratch the wood floor or leave rust marks on carpeting.

With the weight of that base this little table is not going anywhere.

Save all your bits and pieces because you never know when they may come in handy.  Until next time, stay inspired.

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