It took me a while to come up with an idea for this upcycle project. I looked around my apartment trying to find a lot of unused material that I could use to make a project with. I came to the realization that I have a lot of trash. More specifically, I have a ton of empty beer cans. After deciding to use empty beer cans as the material for the project, I had to figure out what I wanted to make. I originally wanted to make some sort of sculpture or recreation of something with the beer cans, but one of my friends mentioned I could use another chair or table in my apartment. That is when it hit me that I should make a piece of furniture out of the beer cans. I found some images of other beer can furniture online and will use these as a model and inspiration for my beer can furniture.
Image credit: Matenak
I want the final product, either a chair or table, to be usable and safe. If I end up making a chair, I want to be able to sit in it comfortably (will likely add a cushion) and without it breaking or crushing. Likewise, if I make a table, it needs to be strong and sturdy.
Image credit: Tammi Carter
This beer can furniture is more of a couch than a chair, but it still gives me good idea on how to make a sturdy structure with just beer cans. I do not think I could make something this large and still be able to carry it around.
This image depicts a different way to make a beer can table. This table looks as though it is more sturdy, and requires a glass panel to act as the table surface.
I am excited to get started on this project and have already recruited some friends to help me get all the cans I need! Depending on how many cans I end up with will determine if I make a table or chair, or both.
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I think this is a great idea. I especially like how you plan to use the project once you finish it. I think a good way to help stabilize the beer cans would be to fill them with something such as sand or soil. The only downside with that is that it would add a lot of weight to the piece of furniture and make it much harder to move it around.
Hello Tanner, I really enjoyed reading your post about the progress of your up-cycle project. I think this is a great idea, but will require some testing and/or math to ensure you dont destroy it accidentally. If you could find some resources online of people who have made this before and how they guaranteed the structural integrity of their design, I would highly recommend finding that. I have some ideas of how you could do this if you cant find any resources online. You could fill the cans with concrete or some other dense material, or you could use an opaque table top and only have the cans around the outside with a strong core that could support the weight. Overall, you seem to have a good idea of what you are doing and your post was fantastic