The Palette Desk Project ~ Part 3, prep and design

~ The Palette Desk Project ~

(all parts to date here)

Part 1 - defining the need 

Part 2 - gathering materials 

Part 3 - preparing the materials and design

Part 4 - sink that monitor!

Part 5 - finishing details

Part 6 - the big reveal! 

Today

Part 3 - preparing the materials and design

Nails need to come out

All those nails had to come out of all those boards. I even seeked advice elsewhere. Can't I just CUT them off so I can see the cool nailheads left behind? I was told no, I had to pound them out... (grumble)

Palette nails are mean. They're twisty things that don't want to come out. And they're soft so they bend on you. But once I got angry enough at them, they started to listen up and cooperate! :) Which really means, after you've done 4527, 4528 and beyond becomes abit easier because you finally got the hang of it.

I simply flipped the boards upside down, straightened them as best as I could, then pounded on them backwards. Once I could grip them from the other side, I either wiggled them out with my hand or yanked them out with the peen.

Do you know what a peen is? It's the hook thing on the back of the hammer. I googled it so I could sound somewhat educated. And now YOU can brag to all your friends about yanking out nails with peens. I KNOW!! And real woodworkers, if I'm wrong, let's just blame this one on google.

Next, I hired my son to measure up the boards. And I even gave him a lesson with the miter saw. But yes, he had to put on shoes, wear ear and eye protection. And I stood over him like a worried mom to the point of him informing me that he would LIVE. Hey, good to know.

All done! But they sure needed alot of sanding at this point.

And this is where things went abit haywire.

- I had issues with my palm sander and was ready to buy a REAL tool. But then I decided to try proper sand paper meant for my unit first. Problem solved! Spend some money and buy the right stuff!

- I procrastinated because I didn't know how to build sawhorses. So I spent some time on google and found a really nice plan.

I even had all the 2x4's ready for action!

But my how things can quickly change in a day!

I found these just today, at the palette shopping mall!

Laugh if you must. I'm quite accustomed to it. I sure got an earful of manly type giggles and taunting as I threw them in my truck. Bear in mind these guys are REAL builders and they toss out the old and build new. Yeah well, check out the weathered wood on these two! Can't have that with new! (just ignore the burn, it's minor..)

Ok then. Aren't you dying to see what I have in mind?!?

But wait! I'm leaving lots out. I went through other ideas before the final. This is the part I never show you. I don't always come to the perfect conclusion right away. I have to work at it.

Proof #1.

I was trying to figure out the right height and at this point was scratching my head with different options for the legs/base.

Proof #2.

I brought my idea inside to ensure it sat well with real life. I could have made this work, but I wasn't falling in love with the base being so matchy matchy with the wall unit.

And then everything changed with the ladder and sawhorses. :)

... and it turned cool. My kinda cool.
(Except for the horse ball that's suppose to come... brother.)

AND was the PERFECT height for keyboarding! Arms are perfectly parallel to the ground. I was floored. I was fully prepared to endlessly tinker on this one. But I don't have to.

Now tell me. Aren't sawhorses generally taller? These were the PERFECT desk height! Who put in this order for me?!? I don't believe I even asked! Just, fretted alot. :)

Palette wood before being cut.
(photo by my son! he's pretty darn good with a camera)

 And cut to size.

Just check out the beautiful patina on those palette boards! No two are alike. And they are awesome, nail holes and all. The palm sander took it down just enough without stripping away the weathered appearance. This is gonna be one long cool desk.
 
But hey.. if you can't see my vision quite yet, I understand. This is why I generally don't show my stuff before it's time. :)

Finding those sawhorses and figuring out the sandpaper issue shaved DAYS off this project. I'm nearly done!

I even shot some video today but I must have taped them on a very high res because the video upload place spat them back at me. Oh well. The pics say the same thing. Sorda.

Is the final reveal up next? It will be if things don't go wrong. Alot can change in a day around these parts.

Be a day ahead of the rest over here.