How to make a coffee table with an old ammo box… One of the easiest furniture makeovers you’ll ever try!
This project actually started over five years ago when I found my first wooden ammo box at The Antique Trove in Roseville, California. I used it for years to display my jewelry at flea markets. It was a useful display, as I stored a lot of my supplies and other things I took to the markets INSIDE the box. That made it easy to get things from my house to the car, to the flea market, and back home.
See how I used the ammo box as a jewelry display.
The wooden box made the move from California to Texas last year but after a few flea markets here we decided that the Texas weather wasn’t as cooperative for jewelry displays. So the box retired.
All along I was thinking that this ammo box would make a great coffee table. And now that I didn’t need it as a display and Bikeman has a functioning wood workshop, it was the perfect time to make an ammo box coffee table!
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Supplies for Ammo Box Table
- old wooden ammo box
- scrap wood
- screws
- hairpin legs
- drill
{{{See a complete list of what’s in my toolbox and supply cabinet.}}}
How to Make a Table Out of an Ammo Box
Clean the Ammo Box
The two ammo boxes in this article were both fairly clean when we found them. We wiped them down with spray cleaner and a rag.
If your box is very dirty, it can be washed with soap and water. Just don’t let the wood sit in water and let it dry out completely before starting to work on it.
Use a cleaning brush to knock off any stubborn dirt.
Read more about cleaning old furniture HERE.
Add Support Pieces
This may not be necessary for every ammo box table, but to add stability, Glenn added an extra piece of wood inside the box. That gave the screws more to hold on to and kept them from sticking out inside the box. (See what I mean in the video below.)
Add Hairpin Legs
Adding legs to furniture always scared me… until I found hairpin legs. Now we’re adding them to everything! I’m sure you’ll see them in another DIY project soon!
These hairpin legs just screw into the bottom of the ammo box. They even come with their own screws!
Place one in each corner and screw it in.
Finish the Coffee Table
This part is optional, depending on what the box looked like when you found it and what you want it to look like when you finish.
We haven’t painted, stained, or varnished any of the ammo box tables we’ve made. So far the boxes we’ve found have been in pretty good shape and we’re going for a rustic look anyway.
But feel free to finish your coffee table any way that fits the decor of your home.
Ammo Box Table Video Tutorial
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For those of you who are visual learners, here’s a video that my husband made. He explains everything much better than I do. This was his very first DIY video! I was pretty impressed. What do you think?
BTW, the box that he used in the video was found at First Monday Trade Days in Canton, Texas… our favorite flea market!!!
More DIY Furniture Makeover Projects
If you enjoyed this post, you might also like these furniture makeovers:
- Gray Vintage End Table
- My $5.00 Corner Table
- Chalkboard Coffee Table
- 15 DIY Coffee Tables
- $50 DIY Hairpin Coffee Table
Thanks for reading our blog post article. We’d love to hear from you if you try any of the DIY projects on our blog. Please leave a comment if you do!
‘Til the next project,
Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim
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