Reclaimed pallet breakfast bench

[LePallet]

[LePallet]

Here I have made a beakfast table bench for a mate that has a small balcony. I have just ran the top of table off the fixed wall/fence and installed 2 legs.

This was a fun project as there were a few things I have done different here that I haven't done before and worked out nice. One of them is the legs, Instead of doing plain square ones, I wanted to make them go fat to thin, then I some how thought of putting a 30degree shamfer on the edges with a circular saw. 

Another was the actual stain itself, I originally stained the whole this dark brown but I'm glad my mate wanted to change it to a more rustic light look so I got the belt sander out and went to town. As my stain was my Vinager & Steel Wool method, after I sanded parts back, the clear coat varnish had reacted nicely to give this final product the look.

[Jason]

This is fantastic @LePallet, many thanks for sharing. I'm sure community members will be inspired by what you have created. Your mate is very lucky!

Jason

[LePallet]

the first sand, I wish I had a Thickner or a table saw 

[LePallet]

as you can see here, after I realised the stain was just to dark , my aim was to sand back as best I can, once I for the whole top looking like the border i applied a clear Coat of Cabothane Clear Varnish, it gave me the finish that it did. I had no idea what it was going to turn out like 

[LePallet]

[Yorky88]

Hey @LePallet love the table mate but I especially love the top it looks mint man well done.

[Bundaboy]

That was great serendipity with the finish mate, I am going to give that a go, I love using a vinegar/tea/steel wool stain, now I know to sand it back and clear varnish it.

Be careful what you wish for, I use both a thicknesser and a table saw in my pallet wood projects (I am currently lining my "rustic garden shed" with it - but you have to be really careful of nails and grit otherwise your blades don't last long.

I have developed a process of skimming the surface off the face of the pallet with a nail resistance saw blade in the table saw before putting it through the thicknesser - that has minimised the risk but not entirely eliminated it - those blasted bits of steel wire off the nails get lodged just below the surface sometimes and are quite hard to see - I use a magnet as a final check.

You can do a heck of a lot with just a belt sander, it's just a bit more work.

[Bundaboy]

PS: Did you use a plywood substrate to attach the pallet wood on the table top?

PPS: Your mate is lucky!

[Jason]

Thanks for joining in the discussion @Bundaboy. I'm sure @LePallet will get back to you soon.

Let me also extend a very warm welcome to the Workshop community. It's fantastic to have you join us. It sounds like you have some great skills and experience to share. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your projects and trust you will receive lots of inspiration and great advice from other Workshop members. 

Please let me know if you ever need anything to get the most from the site, or have any feedback about how we can make Workshop more useful for you.

Jason