# pallet wood table



## dbish3189 (Mar 4, 2014)

i recently built a side table out of pallet wood. the assembly was easy but i wish i had a pocket hole jig. i broke 2 bits trying to make the pilot hole at roughly 60 degree angles but they are cheap bits so i consider it a lesson. any way, for the legs i ripped a 2x4 in 2 and used some scrap wood as my apron. i wasnt precise with my ripping because i planned on gluing pallet wood to the front of the legs to give the aesthetic that pallet wood was structural. after i joined my legs and aprons, traced the top on some 1/2 inch plywood and screwed and glued it to frame. i then glued and tacked down the pallet wood i had left over from my pallet wall project in my theater room. the peice had some stain on them. when i made thew pallet wall i stained the pieces in mass just in case i needed extra. i glued the false pallet wood legs to the front and start thing of my finish. i really like satin finishes and had some left over from refinishing an old wardrobe to put our blankets in the theater room downstairs. i decided to sand the entire table with 80 grit paper using my orbital sander then to 120 grit and finally with 220 grit. i sprayed water on the table and wiped away the dust which helped in raising the grain between sandings. i put 2 coats of the satin polyurethane with a light sanding of 220 grit between coats. i love this finish on the table. its silky smooth and shows the character of the wood. i plan on making a 2nd smaller one for the other side of my couch and then a 3rd for our deck using spar poly.


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## clintuk (Dec 28, 2013)

Love it! There's a real satisfaction to recycling wood to make something practical and usable. That sheen on the top is very nice.


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## w1pers (Nov 27, 2013)

I like that you used the (what I call sleds) or the main support pieces without cutting off the tell tail cutouts that distinguish it as pallet wood. Definitely gives it character. Nice build. Gives me some confidence that I can get some descent results too. Someone posted about the ana-white.com site that gave me some ideas as well. Thanks for posting your build.


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## Camden (Oct 22, 2013)

Nice table! Some folks don't have a lot of respect for pallet wood, which is fine, as it leaves more for the rest of us, but I love seeing something like this. Like rob said, it's definitely pallet, but it's well made and looks good, too. I'm on a little hiatus from pallet wood for now because I have too much other lumber to use, but I'm still collecting pallets, and I'll always enjoy working with them(even the disassembly). Thanks for sharing.

WCT


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## MagGeorge (Jul 5, 2012)

Your table came out really beautiful and well finished. Like the look of old and distressed pallets, lots of rustic charm and it's a perfect match to your cool wall. Great job!


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## johnnie52 (Feb 16, 2009)

I've built lots of things from old pallets. Its always refreshing to see another person reusing them instead of just burning them or worse yet, filling a garbage dump with them. 

That is a very nice table. Job well done. :thumbsup:


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## Jeff Shafer (Nov 16, 2010)

Very nice!


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## Mooney4 (Mar 19, 2014)

Fantastic looking table!! I just found this site and am new to woodworking. I have a few ideas to use reclaimed pallet wood. Do you have a post on here about your wall that you did with pallet wood?? Is there a lot of other members on here that like to use reclaimed wood?


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Good idea for a table. Heating with wood pellets, I get a pallet under each ton (50x40lb bags.) So 4 or 5 new ones each winter. My biggest puzzle is knocking them apart without splitting the ends of the boards.

Nobody here burns them = too much trouble, even in an outdoor furnace. We have what's called a "transfer station" with places for everything from tires, batteries, oil and propane tanks to garbage, cardboard, appliances and pallets.


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## dbish3189 (Mar 4, 2014)

Mooney4 said:


> Fantastic looking table!! I just found this site and am new to woodworking. I have a few ideas to use reclaimed pallet wood. Do you have a post on here about your wall that you did with pallet wood?? Is there a lot of other members on here that like to use reclaimed wood?


thank you @mooney4. i am new as well and i have found few post about pallet wood. im still learning how to navigate this site. the mobile app is alot better in my opinion. i dont have any post about my wall but i may do one soon when i have time. basically our house has the old crappy wood paneling in the basement and i hate it. i collected pallets and after i tried to savage the entire runner peices, i just took my circular saw and cut them off, then use my reciporcating saw to cut the nails. most pieces i removed the nails. i sanded to 120 grit and stained all pieces with Minwax Special Walnut. its a nice dark color without hiding the unique grain in the pallet wood. i used liquid nails and wire brads to connect to the wood panelling. removing the panelling was going to take to long and be tooooo ugly for my wife to handle. i worked of an on for a few weeks putting the wall up. i am overall very happy with it but if you are looking to make a pallet wood wall, definitely use the straightest board with no bowing. i used a few peice that i nailed and glue straight to the wall and from heating my home during this crazy cold winter here in TN, these board bowed more. good luck to you!


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## Mooney4 (Mar 19, 2014)

Thanks Dbish. I have been toying with idea of doing a small wall in the cabin. I wasn't sure if I was going to stud out the wall or just put a layer of plywood over the wall so that I have something to nail into. I have seen a number of ways to dismantle the pallets. Everything from pry bars, sawzaws and circular saws. You might want to do a google search on Izzy Swan. www.thinkwoodworking.com and his pallet pal.


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