Reclaimed Pallet Wood Table

I made this table to reuse wood that would have otherwise been thrown away. I also wanted to make a table that used old and damaged wood but that looked good because of the quality of the joints and the build. Also i wanted to build something that cost me as little as money as possible.

This table is made from reclaimed pallet wood and 3 beams. The beams and pallets I got from a dumpster that stood next to a building that was being renovated. The pallets where heat treated euro pallets in total I had 66 boards in 3 sizes but not all boards where usable. All the screws I used where from my leftover box (screws and nuts and bolts I have left over from other projects I throw in 2 boxes).

Size of the table is easily adapted to your own needs or the wood that you have. You could even make it square or size it down to a coffee table.

The table is meant to be placed on a terrace at the end of our garden, I also want to build 2 benches to place by this table but I have not found the correct wood that i have in mind for this build

If you like the design and the Instructable, I would appreciate your
vote in the competition (click the 'vote' option at the top of the page).

Tools and materials used:

Cordless drill and a normal drill
Circular saw
Orbital disc sander
Square
Measuring Tape
Pencil or Sharpie
Jigs for the circular saw
Wood glue
Screws
45 Pallet boards. (Came from 6 euro pallets)
3 beams

Made plans for the table in solidworks. Before i determent my table size i laid out the boards for the tabletop. I wanted a symmetric pattern and a table size of approximately 2,2 by 1 meter size tabletop.

Downloads

Table plan.pdf

Frame

Something went wrong with the pictures of the frame making so i replaced those with a few rendered pictures.

The rendering of the frame are of the finished parts i did not do some of the machining until later so i could do measurements of the finished parts. The T-halving joint i made after I made the apron and the holes I drilled with the legs clamped in place so i could drill them in one machining operation so they where exactly in place. In the rendering they are already there.

Started with the frame and cut the beams to length and made the cuts with a circular saw for the cross halving joint. You can also make the cuts with a saw and chisel or with a router, that is up to the tools you have.

Glued the girder and the cross-beam together and secured them with a screw through the girder.

Frame was very sturdy I could stand on it without any flex. There was a little bit of twisting in the frame but that was eliminated when I put the tabletop on the frame.

Legs

Next where the legs made out of 16 boards these where 4 per leg.

Cut them whit my circular saw that I converted to a table saw.

Made the legs with a lap joint, after I cut them to length and width I set the height on my table saw and cut the notch for the lap joint by running the board over the table saw. Glued and screwed them all together and fastened the legs on the frame with a couple of bolts. Now I can disassemble the legs and transport or store the table.

Tabletop

Cut all the boards for the table top. I also cut lap joints on the boards. I glued and clamped them all together and made holes in the table top to attach the boards together with a mortise-and-tenon joint. Made the all the board a little bit oversized in the length or width depending on there place in the tabletop. Now i can make i final cut on the outside of the table and cut it to size. Now i have a clean tabletop that is uniform in size.

Mounting Tabletop

Before I attached the tabletop i cut the pieces for the apron and test fitted them. I cut out the notches for the beam that holds the apron to the girder this can't be done anymore after the tabletop is installed.

The mounting blocks are not on the drawing i made these from scrap pieces of wood i notched a corner out with a saw and predrilled a hole for a screw. I then predrilled holes in the girder and chiseled a slot for the mounting blocks. Now i can place 10 mounting blocks to hold the tabletop to the frame. The slot is a little bit higher than the notch so the table is clamped to the frame.

Apron

Finally I made the boards for the apron I could have made these from 1 board but I did not have a board in the correct length and I did not want to buy some boards. The wood would have looked differently and I wanted to make the table without spending money.

Cut the boards on the table saw and made lap joints with a jig i made for crosscutting, glued and screwed them to the frame.

Finishing and Conculsion

Of course before assembling all the boards I sanded them, the board for the legs I only sanded on the outside. When the table was finished I treated it with boiled linseed oil for a little protection and to bring out the natural color of the wood.

The boards I used where typical pallet boards and did not look very nice, but after machining and sanding them the table does look very nice and I am very pleased with the end result.

The worse a board looks the better it gets after sanding.

And in the end the table did not cost me anything :)

Now i only need to find more wood for the benches. I the mean time I will put my BBQ next to it and enjoy our self sitting at our "new" table!!

Instead of only pictures i also used renderings i made could you let me know in the comments if you like them. I like them myself because they are very clear.