Old Car Tyre Stool

Old car tyre waste is a big problem worldwide with enormous quantities of tyres being dumped in landfills each year. While lots are used for fuel or recycled to make other products large amounts still go to landfills each year. I know making stools from them will not get rid of the problem but it definitely stops a few from being dumped and sure every little helps. Before I start I will clear up any questions about the spelling of the word tyre. Tire is the preferred spelling in the U.S. and Canada. Tyre is preferred in most varieties of English outside North America and being from Ireland that's the way I spell it.

Step 1: Have a Look at the Video Below.

Look at the video above to see how I made the stool from start to finish.

Step 2: Materials and Tools Needed.

Materials:

Car tyre(s)

Plywood 3 Pieces

Fabric of your choice

Heavy duty faux Leather fabric.

4oz polyester padding

2 inch (50mm) thick foam

Spray adhesive

Furniture legs

Staples

Felt

Screws

Tools:

Stapler

Jigsaw

Screwdriver

Measuring tape

Pencil

Utility knife

Step 3: Measure the Tyre.

To start I measured the inside diameter of the tyre and then added 1 inch (25mm) I did this so when the plywood was cut it would sit on the lip in the tyre.

Step 4: Frame (Marking and Cutting the Plywood. )

I didn't have a compass big enough to mark the circle onto the plywood so I made my own with a piece of wood. I drilled a hole for a pencil to fit through and hammered a nail into the wood for a swivel point. The distance between the pencil and the nail (Radius) is half the diameter of the circle. Using a jig saw I cut out two pieces the same size.

Step 5: Frame Continued.

Next I cut some pieces of scrap wood (in my case it happened to be 2 x 3 (50mm x 75mm)) to fit between the two pieces of plywood. I did this so I would have something more substantial to screw the legs to later on and strengthen the whole stool. I probably over did it with the strengthening but better safe than sorry. Using some 1 1/2 (40 mm) screws I fitted the four pieces of 2 x 3 to one piece of the plywood and put it into the tyre.

Step 6: Wadding.

To get rid of any imperfections I stuck on some 4oz polyester wadding with some spray adhesive. At this stage I only stuck it to the sides and the top of the tyre.

Step 7: the Seat.

While the adhesive was curing I cut out another circle of plywood ; the same as the previous two. This piece would be used to make up the seat. Using the spray adhesive again I stuck some 2 inch (50mm) fairly rigid foam and trimmed it to the plywood circle with a hack saw blade. Thanks to Mick from foam and fibre solutions for the foam.Foam & Fibre solutions

Step 8: Covering the Seat.

To cover the seat I used jet black textured heavy duty faux Leather fabric. I stapled the leather fabric to the plywood. This took a little time, trying to stretch and take out any creases before stapling. When I had finished attaching it I cut away any excess.

Step 9: Upholstery.

To wrap the tyre you can use any material you desire. In my case I used some cheap material I had from IKEA. I wrapped the material around the tyre and pinned it in place. I did not want a seam to be visible so I carefully aligned the patterns in the fabric. Using an iron hem I stuck the fabric together and then stitched the fabric with thread (not shown in the video). After all the stitching was done I slid the material back over the tyre and stapled it to the top taking care to try and keep it as neat as possible.

Step 10: Attaching the Seat & Finishing the Upholstery.

I carefully placed the stool onto the seat (upside down) and screwed through the plywood to hold the seat in place. Doing it this way ensures there will be no fixings visible when the stool is finished. While it was still upside down I screwed the final piece of plywood to the base and tacked the wadding before pulling and stretching the fabric and stapling that into place and removing any excess.

Step 11: Felt Base.

To tidy up the bottom of the stool and give it a more professional look I stapled on some black felt.

Step 12: Fitting the Legs/feet.

As it would have been too low with just the tyre I decided to use some chrome legs/feet to raise it up and give it a sleeker look. The legs/feet used were from some old sofas. I had initially intended to use four feet on each stool but some were broken and actually using just three feet means it will not rock on uneven ground so it worked out for the better that some were broken. The feet were just screwed into the base with 30mm screws.

Step 13: The Finished Stools.

The finished old car tyre stools! I think these stools are a great way of re using materials that would normally be dumped. They are quite an easy project to try and you can use any fabric you like to suit the look you want. You could even make them with no material on so the tyre is actually visible and with a few adjustments you could create a storage area inside the stool. Let me know what you think of it and if there is anything you would do differently. Thank you for viewing.

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