Pallet Coffee Table

After the finishing the Pallet Planter and Wall there were a few more pallets left over and a couple ideas we had in mind.  First was a much needed coffee table to accompany the sofas in the conservatory. We measured the dimensions we needed and cut the Pallet to shape. It was 4 planks wide on the pallets we had which worked out to keep the block supports at each corner.  We then carefully pried the inside 2 planks off and 2 more from another pallet. so that we could fill any gaps left in our coffee table top.  As long as you select your pallet carefully with no splits in the wood and then pry it apart slowly the planks will remain in good enough shape to reuse.  Before the final structure was assembled we sanded.  We sanded all the exposed surfaces until they were smooth to the touch and without splinters(120 grit). The less exposed surfaces under the table were sanded much less and left a bit more raw but still without splinters.

We wanted to hide the screws attaching the leg to the table so we first drilled a small indent using a countersink bit and then a pilot hole for the screw.  The head of the screw then sat neatly within the countersink hole.  We put 4 screws into each leg; 2 on both of the sides hidden under the table. Make sure your screws are long enough to reach when attached on an angle though. We tried a couple before finding the right length.

It took us some time to find the right legs.  Ideally we wanted untreated timber that matched the width of a single plank.  Being an up-cycle project we a had a hard time finding that lying around so we decided to buy a cheap fence post to suit our needs. 

With the legs in place and all pieces sanded to the desired smoothness we attached the last planks to complete our tabletop. Each plank was left about 2 mm apart for even spacing and a slightly more rustic look.  Instead of using the preexisting nail holes in the boards we drilled our own and set in gold 1 1/2 inch screws until the head is flush or slightly below the top. pre-drilling is very important so as not to split the planks.

The only thing left was to protect our new project.  We tried several different beeswax stains on the bottom surface which were left over from other projects and eventually decided on the Georgian Medium Oak pictured below. For this project we spent under 20£ on sandpaper, gold finish screws, and the fencepost for the legs.