Build a Display Table

What You’ll Need:

• Two pallets in good shape
• Work gloves and safety goggles
• Flat pry bar and claw hammer
• Crowbar for stubborn nails
• Crosscut saw
• Pocketknife
• Coarse sandpaper
• Sanding block or electric sander
• Drill and drill bits to predrill
  screw and nail holes
• Countersink bit for screws
• 100  11⁄4″ wood screws
• 36  6d finishing nails
• Nail punch
• Wood filler
• Putty knife
• Wood sealer, stain or paint
• 1⁄4″ plate glass for top

What You’ll Do:

1. Put on your gloves and goggles.

With the hammer, flat pry bar and crowbar, carefully take apart the pallets. Make sure you remove all the nails and shave off any splinters with your pocketknife. Cut the ends off each board. Cut them as close as you can to the nail holes. Lay out the boards as shown and measure the width of your boards. Cut each board to the same length as your width measurement, so you end up with
a square for the top of your table. The size of the square is determined by the width of the pallet boards.
Sand each piece of wood on the top, bottom, ends and edges. Every board for this project should be sanded in the same manner. Because pallet wood splits easily, all screws and nails should be predrilled and countersunk just below the surface of the wood. They will be covered with wood filler later.

2. Fasten the square together with three boards screwed to the bottom. Practice countersinking the screws.

3. Measure, cut and screw the walls around the square. Some of these screws will be covered by the legs.

4. Cut the eight pieces of wood for the legs to 27″.
The legs need to extend 1⁄4″ above the tabletop walls to hold the glass top in place. Screw the legs together. Screw the assembled legs to the top.

5. Measure and cut a frame to fit inside of the legs. It should be the same size as the wall attached to the top. The frame should be 12″ from the floor to the top of the inside leg frame. Screw the frame in place from the inside. Cut the same number of boards as you did for the top. They should be the same length as the top boards. Place them on top of the inside leg frame. There will be a gap when you put the boards in place. Take them out and predrill the nail holes so the boards can be nailed on top of the leg frame.

6. Spread the boards across the leg frame so there is an equal space between them. Nail them in place. Countersink the nails using the nail punch. Use the putty knife to fill in all the screws, nail holes and cracks with wood filler. When the wood filler is dry, sand smooth. Seal, stain or paint the table. Find a professional to cut a piece of 1⁄4″ plate glass to fit onto the top. When you measure for the glass top, have the glass cut so it is slightly smaller than your measurement, so it fits in place easily. Your project is now complete.