Pallet Wood Nightstand

This project is one of my favorites.  Anyone who is into marine aquariums knows the amount of power cords, times, plugs, outlets, controllers, switches, etc can be involved.  Wire management and convenient access to a power strip or switches
is key to having control over different aspects of the aquarium.  One way that some in the hobby deal with this issue is to make a control center where all the switches, power cables, etc are organized, hidden, and protected.  This "nightstand" serves as a power center for my aquarium.  Here is a picture of the final product next to my aquarium.

The first thing to do was to harvest all of the pallet wood. These were reclaimed from a construction area where they were all piled up to be disposed of.  Pulling pallets apart is not easy!  The best way is to use a long lever like a shovel handle or something to pry the boards off close to the nails while standing on the pallet.  After the boards were harvested I selected those which were the best (not cracked, split, muddy, or rotten).  Then I used a table saw to mill the boards in to cleanly cut and appropriately shaped boards that were usable for a "furniture" project.  I must say I think my wife was a little skeptical about me building something out of pallets to put in our house!

For this project I wanted to use pocket holes to secure the frame together.  Pocket hole jigs are ridiculously expensive for the simple tool that they are so I made my own.  I used a 4 inch piece of a 2x4 and secured it onto a small piece of plywood for a stable base. Then I used a drill to make several different holes at slightly different angles until I found the one that was appropriate for the thickness of the pallet wood.  I then drilled pocket holes on all the appropriate places in the pallet wood using the jig.  It was definitely crude, but hey, this project is supposed to look rustic.

After the frame was made, the rest of this project was surprisingly simple.  I cut slats and arranged them on the inside of the frame so that was was showing from the outside was a nice inlay.  These were secured with screws.  The top was made the same way.  After all of this was complete, I lightly sanded the top, just so there weren't any sharp splinters hanging out.  To finish the project, I attached the hinges and knob (not pictured).