$6

ingredients

tools

MAKE IT

Before you begin, remove all the nails and disassemble the pallet. (Editor’s note: In building this, the author used only nails he removed from the pallet, if you can believe that. You’re allowed to buy new nails.)

Building the Chair

1. You should have a pile of usable lumber consisting of three struts, three skids, and 10 to 12 decks, some of which may have split.

2. The struts are going to be used to form the structural members of the chair. Cut the parts for the legs and side rails of the chair as shown (Fig. 1).

3. Using your table saw with a dado cutter installed, cut four half-lap joints for joining the side rails to the front and back legs (Fig. 2). Glue and staple the four joints (Fig. 3).

4. Take two of your skids and rip them into one 2” strip and two 1 5/8” strips.

5. Use your miter saw to chop the strips into 17” lengths. Use these 17” lengths to form the cross members of the chair.

6. Glue and staple these six cross members in place (Fig. 4).

7. Use the table saw to cut five of the decks into 1 3/4” strips.

8. Chop three slats (one at 19” and two at 22”) to form a decorative support frame around the border of the seat

9. Chop the remaining 1 3/4” deck strips with your miter saw into sixteen 16 1/2” lengths.

10. Use these 16 1/2” lengths to form the seat and backrest: Glue and staple eight evenly spaced slats for the seat, then do the same for the backrest (Fig. 5).

Building the Table

1. Start by building a “kindling” or “smoker-chip” box with the widest of the skids you have left. The dimensions of the box shown here are 10 1/2” x 10 1/2” x 6”. (Note: When the table is completed, you can fill this box with all the leftover wood scraps, which serve as fire-starting material or BBQ smoking chips.)

2. Form the legs using eight 2” x 20” deck slats—two per leg.

3. The tabletop is a “mini pallet.” Build it using the two or three boards that remain. Mine measures 13” x 16” x 4”.