Stool made from bike parts and crutches

Take a few metal crutches, a couple of bicycle wheels and inner tubes, and a few bolts along with some insulation and a piece of plywood and you have the makings for a stool. An adjustable height stool.

Mention of this project should acknowledge Ryan McFarland with a link to zieak.com as well as Instructables and this project page.

Step 1 Supplies and materials

You will need:

3 - 4 crutches
2 bicycle wheels with a 16" diameter (BMX bike size)
4 inner tubes from a 26" tire (Mountain bike type)
Sheet metal screws
Carriage bolts, washers and nuts
Rigid insulation
Plywood

Tools:
Drill and drill bits
Hacksaw
Ratchet and sockets
Sabre saw
Marker
Scissors
Rags
WD-40

I purchased the metal crutches from the local thrift store. They were $2 per pair. Try to get two pairs that are as close to identical as possible. (You might consider buying an extra pair that fit you in case you need them some day. A few years ago i tore a muscle in my leg and was charged $80 for a pair.) Remove the handles from the crutches. The bicycle rims don't need to be perfectly straight - the ones i used were in horrible shape. I didn't bother trying to true the wheel - i wanted to see if this idea would work first. You can probably get the wheels and inner tubes at any bike shop for free. You'll want to remove the axles. Wash the grease off of the hubs.

Comments

[higginbo]

I think this is an awesome idea, I made one last Christmas as a gift, made a simple modification based on suggestions from my father in law. If you notice the white on the seat, we used the bike tires to go around the outside of the rim and the insulation seat. I think it gave it a very different look. I think this looks slightly more table like, so might be appropriate for an end table if it was made shorter? Thanks for the idea! I appreciate it a lot :) (the gift went over great by the way)

[dolabil66]

Nice Job, I really like this......Very original

[Goodhart]

Very nice, and adjustable height to boot !

[zieak]

Thank you Goodhart!

[lego187]

if you brought 2 of the 3 crutches up through the seat base u could make a back or arm rests bit bloody cool mate

[incawill]

Wow I'm very impressed. I like the effect the wheel creates and using crutches, you're a genius!

[zer0pantz]

(removed by author or community request)

[zieak]

You are too kind!

[MrStuff]

Nicely Done! Love your work. Been a member at zieak since Jan of '06. Congrats on the wins.

[zieak]

Thank you!

[IamTheCreator]

I've seen alot of crutches (wood & metal) for sale at goodwill for around 5 bucks usually. Just in case some one wants to know :)

[kolrobie]

cool, lots of places have used crutches for sale. Aesthetically, I would something other than the bike rim.

[rwin]

that is a nice bar stool! i used crutches to make a tripod for my telescope. good instructable!

[macdadyabc]

that looks pretty sweet. its a good, original instructable!