# First build thread -- shipping crate & pallet end table



## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Figured I'd jump in with a build thread of my current project. It (eventually) will be an end table built from reclaimed pallet wood, with the lid from an old typewriter shipping crate for the top. It's both a work in progress and a learning experience.










Here's the bottom of the crate lid, as it was when I bought it. I shortened the boards holding the two pieces of the lid together, so that from the edge of the lid to the board is the same all the way around: about 3 1/2". I'll use those to drop the lid into the apron without any glue or fasteners (so I can possibly build a bottom into the apron and create a small storage space).


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

This is the first box joint for the apron, still rough. 










And this is the same joint, after some work smoothing the cuts. I started with a wood chisel, but found I got much better results with a small jackknife. I also found that I'd already made my first mistake at this point: I cut the joint into the two long sides of the apron. I'm going to wind up with some asymmetry, which is non-optimal, but I can live with it.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Second box joint on the apron, rough. 










Third box joint. The boards are 3 1/2" across and 5/8" thick. I'm not skilled enough to do evenly divisible cuts, so some fingers in the joints are wider than others. It really shows here.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Apron with joints for three sides rough cut in. This is the asymmetry I was talking about. I would have liked to have had the same numbers of fingers on each side of every board.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Joints rough cut on all four sides.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Crate lid/table top sitting on the apron for the first time. On the one hand, it's godawful raggety-looking, but on the other, it fits!










Another view of the lid/top sitting in the apron. This gives a little bit better view of lid itself, which is really cool-looking. I'm going to have to smooth it a bit, but that's a whole 'nother piece of this project.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Here's the apron sitting on the table top, upside-down. I should mention that all of the apron's joints are strictly rough at this point.










A second upside-down view, showing how the apron fits around the boards that were already nailed to the crate lid, and the depth that leads me to think I could include a storage space.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Rough cut of a leg. I don't know whether this will just be a template or not. I have some really nice hardwood (oak, I think) pieces that might make good legs, but they might make good other things, too. I guess it depends on how pretty I can make this one look, and what I find in the way of pallets in the next week or so.


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## RDufner (Jun 23, 2011)

love how you left the nail holes. I also enjoy making things from shipping pallets and crates.


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## Paul W Gillespie (Jul 7, 2011)

Cool. A place around the corner from my work has pallets out all the time for people to take. There has to be at least 50 out there right now. I will have to pick up some to make a project.


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## DST (Jan 10, 2011)

I like it a lot so far. That is a lot of work for a jack knife and chisel. I like the rustic look of the top. I would try and keep the aged patina and color. It adds a lot and if you sand or smooth it you will lose that.
By the way where are you located? Around here pallets are easy to find.


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## DST (Jan 10, 2011)

O I see now you are in CT. I was going to offer some wood for the legs


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## desertforest (Aug 6, 2011)

wow, cut those by hand. lots of work, i can imagine. by the way, that top would look great if you were able to leave it as is and perhaps just coat it with poly(not sure if that is the proper finish) so it will still be there and protected. thanks for posting. how will you join the top to the apron.


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## Double (Feb 17, 2010)

Where do you score an old pallet like that?


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Thanks everyone, for the responses. I was planning on smoothing out the edges of the top with a knife, and then using maybe some kind of a wax to finish it. I definitely don't want to lose the aged look of it, but I don't want it giving anyone who touches it splinters, either. The frame and legs I plan to sand to sand as smooth as I can get them, then stain in a color that complements the top. That's way down the road.

There's some small manufacturing company between work and home (not sure what they make) that gives away pallets periodically, and we occasionally have some at work as well. I'm trying to be very selective about what I take, and use up what I have before I get more. I keep a saw, hammer, and wrecking bar in the trunk of my cart so if I spy a good one someplace I can always break it down and bring it home.

Two more pictures of progress coming.

-HD


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

The first leg after an evening's shaping and smoothing. Progress is definitely being made, but I ended up deciding to go with a different, simpler, design. I'll hang onto this piece, though, and maybe find a use for it down the road.










Four legs in the new style, all roughed out. It's a little bit of a cop-out, going with straight legs instead of curved ones, but I think these will also look nice, and there's more than enough work to do without overcomplicating it. In the days ahead I'm going to turn my attention to sanding the apron so I can get it glued together.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

desertforest said:


> how will you join the top to the apron.


I missed this question in my first run through the responses. Hopefully, the top will not be permanently attached to the apron. The pics in post #7 show how the reinforcing straps on the bottom of the crate lid fit into the apron. I plan to build a bottom for the apron that both reinforces the legs and allows for a small storage space in the completed table. How I'm going to accomplish that without resorting to metal fasteners is still a puzzlement, except to say that this thing is going to be a real celebration of kludges by the time it's complete.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Nothing breathtaking accomplished over the weekend, but I did a bunch of sanding. There's more yet to be done, but the pieces are starting to look like real things, and not just hacked-up scrapwood.

(Full disclosure: I used a power sander for this).


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## Texas Sawduster (Apr 27, 2009)

*Cool Project*

I like it.
A recessed tile top would be awsome in the top of that table with the right tile. Maybe say, a slate style of tile.


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Texas Sawduster said:


> A recessed tile top would be awsome in the top of that table with the right tile. Maybe say, a slate style of tile.


Thanks! I'm not sure what you mean by recessed tile top -- do you mean tile recessed within the crate lid, or the lid recessed within tile?


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## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

what became of this


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## Hester's Dad (Dec 23, 2011)

Sadly, it's had to take a back seat to other things going on in my life at the moment -- work, school, house, & so on. I still have everything waiting for me to continue with it, when I have more time, maybe this summer.


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