Building Lessons: Pallet Coffee Table

I have been building furniture for more than a dozen years now, and I have learned a lot over the years, but I have discovered I still have plenty to learn.

And so, while building this special order coffee table I learned: 1.) Screwing a bunch of random pallet 2x4's together does take quite a bit longer than one may think (like 3 or 4 times longer) 2.) Building a large coffee table by joining wood together takes much more time than one may think and 3.) DO NOT quote someone a price for something until you build it, especially if it is the first time you are building the item.

The results were worth the lessons and I loved the finished product.  

I cut pallet pieces to 46" and then hubby (who did a lot of the muscle work for me this time), screwed each board to the other in 4 places.  One outside board shows the screws.

We built the legs  (cut to 13") the same way, but used just two screws in them.

The bottom shelf was added by cutting out a channel for it on the table saw.  Hubby did this while I stood by with a fire extinguisher because of the pallet nails that were hitting the saw blade. I used barn wood for the bottom shelf.

After a few hours of sanding (and one very sore shoulder), I finished the beautiful wood with Minwax polyacrylic.

If I were selling this table at a show or in my booth, I would charge 3 or 4 times more than I did for the special order (I believe in standing by word and charging what I said it would cost before I realized the time it would take to build).  My sweet special orderee paid me more than I charged here, which I appreciated.  

I do love the table and want to make another one...now to convince my heavy laborer (husband) to help again. (Looks pretty happy in my home, huh?)

PS--if you want more pallet ideas, consider buying my book HERE!