Joel Hester turns junk cars into furniture

Joel Hester makes gorgeous steel furniture from the rusted sheet metal of old American cars and trucks. This table from a truck hood costs $850.

Modern steel furniture product page [JoelHester.com via Design-Milk via Freshome]

[#1 posted by SamF , September 30, 2008 1:57 PM]

I guess that's one use for them.

In high school, my friend hit a truck in his Chevy Nova. So, we took off the front quarter-panel that was damaged. Then we jumped on it until it was as flattened as we could get it (i.e. not very). And then we wrote a bunch of unflattering remarks all over it, and left it on his ex-girlfriend's front porch.

[#2 posted by pork musket , September 30, 2008 2:11 PM]

That's pretty awesome, although I'm not such a fan of the feet... that's picking nits though. I'm curious how he fills the spaces to make a uniform plane, and what sort of treatment he applies to the rusted parts.

[#3 posted by dculberson , September 30, 2008 2:24 PM]

Totally awesome. I'm guessing they have one hell of a hydraulic press to flatten those things out.

[#4 posted by dculberson , September 30, 2008 2:30 PM]

I just looked at the tables in detail; that's a lot of work and materials for only $850. The frame is really stout. The feet have individual heim joints to allow them to meet unlevel surfaces. Looks like stainless hex head bolts, too. Pretty sweet.

[#5 posted by jacke , September 30, 2008 10:10 PM]

Green furniture, great. Something to put new green Dell Studio Hybrid on ;)

Jack http://shop.it.ee

[#6 posted by Anonymous , October 1, 2008 3:36 AM]

Wow, that looks really great. A little cheaper and I really would consider buying one :)

Cheers Chan from TheJunction

[#7 posted by zikman , October 1, 2008 6:15 AM]

man, I wish I could take junk and sell it for $850

[#8 posted by dculberson , October 1, 2008 7:18 AM]

Zikman, after you pour a couple hundred dollars in materials and dozens of hours worth of good work into "junk," I'm sure you could get $850 for it.

Calling these tables "junk" is like calling any manufactured good "junk." It's not the hood itself but the massive amount of additional materials and labor they put into it that make the value.

Making this table yourself would be an exercise in frustration. By the end, you'd be begging someone to make it for you at $850.

[#9 posted by toxonix , October 1, 2008 12:46 PM]

#8
I've made lots of furniture out of square section tubing. But I have a MIG welder.
I've built stuff like this for less than $30, in an hour or two. Most of the metal was scrap though, so that makes it a lot cheaper.
4x5' A36 rect. tube: $100
4"x4"x5/8" (x8) plates: $16
Misc hardware, finish, consumables: $40
At the most I'd say their material cost per table is $150. If they're spending more than that, they're getting ripped off by their suppliers.
Also, I don't like their construction. It takes a little more time to grind welds down so they don't look like shit, but I'd expect that for $850-2500.
That said, I'd probably charge that much myself. I'd want to make money.

[#10 posted by jimmyPop , October 1, 2008 3:31 PM]

$57 - 2x2 14 ga. P/O square tubing
$65 - raw truck hood
$10 - 5) 4" cut off wheels to remove sheetmetal skin from structure @ $2 each. or buy $900 plasma cutter, taking donations.
$75 outside vendor to notch corners and place in hyd. press to form corners. not done with brake press.
$30 - auto body shop to shoot 4 coats of clear, 4 table minimum. but thats after welding and grinding corners down and buffing oxidation off hood.
$16 - 8 bronze spacers in feet
$40 - 4 heim joints in feet
$8 - stainless steel socket cap hardware in feet. must buy in bulk to get this price.
$36 laser cut feet .25" material.must buy in bulk to get this price.
$24 laser cut 3/16" bracket material to make legs removeable so table will ship via UPS. gotta buy these in bulk too.

not getting rich but it sure is fun.

jh

[#11 posted by pork musket , October 1, 2008 7:14 PM]

@10 - Cheers and keep up the cool work.