Pallet Entry Table

This is an entry table I built from an old, free, steel saw horse a neighbor gave me, and some old, pallet wood. It was fairly east to make and all my wife's idea.

The first step was to reduce the depth that would result from using the whole horse. To do this I just found the center point of the horizontal braces and cut them with a skill saw. I had already removed the rotten wooden top. This gave me 2 "A's".

Next I filled the void between the cut ends of the horizontal braces with pallet wood to stabilize them and the keep them at the correct spacing. This required cuts of approx 17 degrees and the length was just gauged off of the ends that were still attached to the legs.

Next I determined the desired width and length of the top and milled the pallet wood. I used a home made jig to joint the edges in my tablesaw so they would glue nicely as they are often warped and bent. My top is made of four 3" planks edge glued and clamped. Due to the irregularities in the pallet wood the top did not turn out totally flat but that just gave it a cool rustic look.

I then milled a small apron that goes around the underside of the top set in about 1\2" from the edge. This was to stiffen the top and to hide where the top connects to the horse.

The next thing to do was to attach the top to the horse and, because there are no back legs, the whole thing to the wall. This was accomplished by attaching a nailing strip to the top of the legs for the top to screw to. I screwed the top in from underneath. Then i screwed a cleat to the wall at the correct height to support the back of the tabletop, and notched for the nailing strip to rest in. From here i just screwed the top down along the back to the cleat. This held the table to the wall. I have found it necessary to pre-drill and countersink my screw holes as the pallet wood is prone to splitting. I use drywall screws. I finished mt table off with a backsplash of sorts that supports another, smaller shelf. They were both just planks right off the pallet and cut to length and the edges jointed at the tablesaw.

Lastly I just cut two more planks to rest on the lower braces for a lower shelf. I had to notch the front plank around the back of the legs a little to fit in the space.