This project I decided to make a quick housewarming gift for a friend that not only was leaving the area but moving into a new home.

I knew how much she loved rustic design so I quickly went through my stack of pallet wood to find suitable pieces to build with.

When people see the finished product they often think I used new wood with old pallet wood. The actuality is the "new" wood is sanded pallet wood which I have found in many cases removes the old look and reveals fresh wood underneath.

A trick if you will; when dealing with pallet wood is often times don't touch and even refrain from too much cleaning or you risk removing the rustic charm.

A technique I used to clean the wood is use a wire brush to clean the surface but not too much; just enough to remove loose debris. Another feature when I glued the panels together is to round ever so slightly the inside edges of boards being glued. This gives a not so perfect look which I find is required for rustic design. If the edges are perfect with not seams it looks manufactured and destroys the "rustic charm". I call it controlled chaos when dealing with pallet wood. It is the balance of quality workmanship with a piece that doesn't look perfect; or at least thats the goal to give that old wood charm that is desirable to some.

I also have a video of the process; not so much a build video but rather a video to inspire others to do the same..

Youtube: BubbasWorkbench https://youtu.be/WHYJKCjFtEI