Wood Spool Serving Table

This is one of my favorite up-cycles to date! The best part was it was free! I made friends with a construction worker at a local site. He gave me two matching spool for absolutely nothing. Here’s what I was working with:

It was HEAVY. Probably around 60-70 lbs, but very awkward to handle. Wear gloves while handling, you can avoid A LOT of splinters.

What you’ll need:

• Sander
• Stain (color of your choice)
• Stain Brushes
• Furniture Wax

Optional

• 4×4 wood to cover diameter
• 4 castor feet
• 5 inch wood screws
• Wood drill bit longer than 5 inches

Get it in a place that you’re going to be able to work on it for about 24 hours. I did this on my driveway.

If there are nails sticking up take a hammer and pound them into the wood so they are flush and not a danger to anyone.

Sand down all the surfaces of the wood that you want to stain. GO WITH THE DIRECTION OF THE WOOD! If you go against it you’re going to create a ton of splinter patches. Make sure that you’re sanding down all the rough areas really well. It took me about an hour to sand the spool. I also used different grades of sand paper, starting with 50 over the whole surface and went back and ended with 120 over the entire surface again.

Ready to stain! I used MinWax Wood Finish Honey Stain. It was darker than the sample appeared, but so much beautiful than I anticipated.

There are brushes specifically for staining available. I would definitely recommend using a brush instead of a sock. The wood is very coarse and a sock definitely won’t last.

Since the stain was darker than I thought it was going to be, I only did one coat, additional coats may need to be applied if you choose something really light.

After the whole spool was stained I let it sit overnight to dry. Check the weather, if it’s going to rain you’re doing to need to store it in a dry place.

When I came back the next morning everything looked perfect. It was completely dry and ready to be waxed. I used Johnson Paste Wax furniture wax from Home Depot. Use a new sponge to apply a thin coat of wax to all the surfaces that were stained. This will help seal up some of the wood while protecting the wood from future spills or condensation from glasses that may be placed on top.

We wanted a little more height on our spool, so we added a little lift with a 4×4 piece of wood and castor feet to make it more mobile.

We cut the wood about an inch shorter than the diameter of the spool on each side to avoid a ton of it being seen. Make sure it’s mostly in the middle of the spool to support stability. You may have to maneuver it around some of the bolts in the center. This isn’t an exact science, look at the area you have to work with and make adjustments.

Mark off how deep you will need the drill bit to be inserted. We used a sharpie to make sure we were drilling down to the same point for each screw. DO NOT TOUCH THE TIP OF THE DRILL BIT AFTER YOU USE IT. It was so hot, I burned my fingers. Seriously.

Its easier to drill one hole and then screw the 4×4 at opposite ends rather than drill all the holes and then go back and screw them all in. It may take a little longer this way, but there’s nothing more frustrating than making a ton of holes and not being able to match them up. I recommend doing two screws at opposite ends to secure the wood first, then make 6 additional holes.

To fully support the spool, you’ll need make an X with the 4×4 under the spool. Repeat the same process with 2 smaller pieces of wood that will be perpendicular to the first.

After the 4×4’s have been secure, you’re ready to add the castor feet. Place the plate on the 4×4 and mark off where you’ll need to drill.

When you’ve finished you’re drilling, put the castor back on and line it up with the 4 holes. Put a screw in each hole and drill a quarter of the way down. Don’t do the whole an entire nail at a time so you have space to adjust if needed.

Once they’re all in you’re finished!

Here’s the almost-finished product:

I’ll be going back and staining the ends of the 4×4 so they don’t look so raw next to the finished spool.

Enjoy hosting gatherings with this awesome server!

May 2017 Update: