Little Red Wagon Bench

I came across an old little red wagon (almost identical to a radio flyer wagon) outside a friend's house and knew I could make something cool out of it. After weighing my options I decided to make a small bench out of it using reclaimed pallet wood for a top. This project is relatively easy and requires only a few tools and supplies.

Materials:

Scrap Pallet Wood (because the pieces needed are relatively small, its easy to find enough lengths from salvaged pallets)

Scrap Furring Strips (I had some left over furring strips that worked well to hold the bench top inside the wagon)

Table Legs and Fixtures (I bought these from a big box store but they could easily be found from a scrapped table)

Red Spray Paint / Primer

Dark Stain (I used Ebony Minwax)

Quick drying Polyurethane

Small Screws, Bolts and Lag Bolts (I used 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch self driving screws and lag bolts)

Wood Glue

Tools:

Saw (I used a miter saw and a jigsaw)

Power Drill

Abrasive Pads

Paint Brushes

Shot Blaster (Optional but very helpful)

The wagon had a lot of old and chipped paint on it and quite a few rust spots. I used abrasive pads attached to a power drill to remove some of the paint but decided that it would be a better use of time to take it to a local shot blasting facility and strip the paint there.

I attached the furring strips to the inside of the wagon using small 1/2 inch lag bolts making sure that the strips were low enough to accommodate the bench top (making it close to flush with the top of the bench) . The screws that came with the leg plates would not work with the thin metal so I drilled holes the same diameter of the plates and bolted them to the wagon.

Using a miter saw I cut the pallet wood into short planks and attached them to three sections of furring strips using 3/4 inch screws and wood glue, clamping each plank until the wood glue was dry (the furring strips should be placed far enough away from the edges to allow the bench top to rest on the strips attached to the wagon). The two planks at either end of the bench top needed round corners to fit into the wagon so I used a jigsaw to cut them.

I primed the wagon and then spray painted it red. I used two cans to coat the inside and outside of the wagon a few times, giving it a nice glossy finish. The wooden legs I stained dark using Ebony Minwax and the bench top I coated in a quick drying polyurethane. I used three coats of the polyurethane to bring out the wood's natural beauty and leave it with a shine comparable to the spray painted wagon.

After screwing in the legs and setting the bench top into the wagon its all done (the top is removable to allow for storage underneath). I hope you enjoyed this Instructable and I hope you build a little red wagon bench of your very own! Feel free to vote for me in the wood contest!