There are many possibilities to create furniture by reusing tires. This project requires a little more work, but the result will be worth it. When finished, you will have a comfortable and original armchair to rest in your home.
Materials:
– A truck tire.
– 4 legs: you can use the square blocks of the pallets or cut wooden cubes of 8 cm x 8 cm x 5 cm.
– 5 beams of 8 cm x 5 cm.
– Synthetic leather or another fabric that you like (for the base).
– 1 9mm plywood board.
– 2 sheets of polyurethane foam (foam rubber) 5 cm.
– 1 sheet of polyurethane foam (foam rubber) 1.3 cm.
– Fabric to cover the chair.
– 8 screws.
– 20 bolts of 0.6 cm with their nuts.
Step 1: Assemble the seat
1. The first thing you should do is measure the diameter of the tire and subtract a few centimeters from that figure. Then draw two circles that size on the plywood. Mark the center and, with a pencil, draw a cross (+) to divide the surface into four. Cut both circles.
2. Place one of the circles on the tire. With a drill, drill at the four points you marked when you traced the cross, going from the wood to the tire.
3. Pick up the wood, change the drill bit to a larger one, and re-drill the holes you made on the tire in the previous step. If you don’t do this, because the rubber contracts, the bolt won’t go through the hole well. You may have to change the wicks for thicker ones and re-drill several times. Make sure the bolt fits snugly, but is not loose.
4. Put a dab of glue around one of the drilled holes in the wooden top. Thread the bolt through it and through the hole in the tire. Then secure the nut. Do this with all four holes.
5. On the 5cm foam rubber sheet, place the tire with its cap and mark its outline. When trimming, leave a few centimeters of margin. The foam rubber should be slightly larger than the tire.
6. Cover the entire surface of the wood with glue and stick the foam rubber cut out in the previous step.
7. Cut the fabric. This should be slightly larger than the foam, as seen in the image to the right.
8. Using a stapler, pin the fabric in place. You should start at the four corners, as seen in the image.
Step 2: Assemble the base
1. Measure the height of the tire and add 10 cm to that number. Then measure its outline. Cut the 1.3 cm foam rubber according to these measurements.
2. Place the cut foam on the side of the tire and secure it in place with the stapler.
3. Mark the places where you will place the beams. To do this, divide the tire girth measurement in two. To the measurement of one of the halves, add 25.5 cm and make a mark on the foam. Thus, there will be two delimited areas on the tire contour: one larger and one smaller. Divide the latter into five to delimit five equal sections. On each of them, mark the width of a beam. Next, cut out the foam according to your markings.
4. Now you need to cover the base with the fabric. To the measurements of the height and the diameter of the tire that you used previously to cut the foam rubber, add a few centimeters. Cut the fabric according to these numbers.
5. Surround the entire tire with the fabric, making sure that it is taut. When you have completed the loop, pin the joint together. Carefully slide the fabric sleeve you just created off of the tire and sew it onto the spot you pinned.
6. Place the sewn sleeve back over the tire, seams facing in. Secure it in place with the stapler.
7. Cut the fabric in the five places where you made cutouts in the foam for the studs. Hot glue the edges of the cutout fabric to make it neater.
Step 3: Attach the legs
This step is optional. You can avoid putting legs on the chair.
1. Take the cubes you are going to use and, with a ruler and a pencil, mark an “X” going from corner to corner. In the center of your mark, drill with the drill to make a pilot hole.
2. Stick a piece of synthetic leather on the opposite base of the cube, that is, on the side that will rest on the ground. Then, measure the height of the leg and cut the faux leather long enough to wrap it all the way around. Be careful to leave a few extra centimeters, so that the fabric protrudes a little above the wood. This way you can place it more easily. Secure it in place with the stapler.
3. Cut out a piece of faux leather that is large enough to cover the second circle of wood cut in step 1.
4. Wrap the wooden circle in the leatherette and affix this material in place using the stapler, just as you did with the lid.
5. Flip the circle of wood over so that the bare surface is facing up. Using a pencil and ruler, mark a cross (+) and punch four equally spaced holes, just as you did with the first one.
4. Place the legs on the circle. The uncovered side of the blocks should be resting on the synthetic leather of the lid. Screw them in using the pilot hole you drilled in step one as a guide.
5. Place the wooden circle with the added legs on top of the tire. Drill four holes between the legs, going from the wood to the tire. Secure the wooden top in place with screws.
Step 4: Assemble the Back
1. Take one of the beams and support it on the base of the chair, in the place where you had cut the foam. The bottom edge of the wooden dowel should match the bottom edge of the tire, as seen in the image to the left. Mark on the beam the space that the cutout occupies. There you will have to drill.
2. At the bottom end of each beam, you will need to make four holes in the area outlined by the mark you made in step 1. Through these, you will pass the bolts to attach them to the tire. To make sure all the holes are the same, you’ll want to make a template on a piece of cardboard. Then, place the template on each of the joists and, using a hammer and nail, mark the places where you will need to drill.
3. Drill the holes in the beam. First, use a 0.6 cm wick. to go through the wood from side to side. Then, take a bit that is the same diameter as the bolt head and drill a hole deep enough for the bit to fit through and not stick out of the stud.
4. Make a mark approximately 30 cm from the top of all the beams. There, drill a hole with the 0.6 cm bit.
5. Take one of the beams and place it on top of one of the cutouts you made when assembling the base. Using a 1/4″ drill bit, drill through the wood and tire.
6. Remove the beam and try to find the spot you drilled earlier. You will see a very small mark. Take a thicker wick and drill in the same spot again. You should now be able to get the bolt through the hole. Remember that you will need to place four of them for each beam, so you will need to do this four times per beam.
7. Assemble all the beams.
Step 5: Assemble the Backrest Pad
1. If you want a very soft backing, you can use two 5cm pieces of foam rubber and stick them together.
2. To assemble the cover, cut the fabric to a size that covers the entire foam, front and back. Approximately, it should be 1.4 x 1.3 m. Fold the fabric in the middle, sew up the sides, and slide the foam into it.
3. When you have the foam inside the cover, sew the opening with a seam as invisible as possible.
4. Place the pillow on the wooden poles. Be careful that its center touches the middle beam. Since the structure is circular, you may need to press down on it slightly to achieve this.
5. Mark the holes you made at the top of the beams on the pillow.
6. On the marks you made in the previous step, sew bows long enough to wrap around the beams and tie a bow.
7. Place the pillow on the backrest. Thread the ties through the holes at the top of the beams. Wrap these with them and tie them in a bow.