DIY Kitchen Table - free wood?
Discussion
After watching the episode of Grand Designs this evening & the gentleman managing to get some flooring from an old Rolls Royce factory as well as some grating from a Lister factory & reclaimed basketball wood, it got me wondering how easy it is to find good enough wood to build my very own kitchen table.
I have a quick look online & found some old pallets for sale but I'd want an Oak top at least but then again if I'm getting reclaimed stuff can I afford to be picky?
I have a quick look online & found some old pallets for sale but I'd want an Oak top at least but then again if I'm getting reclaimed stuff can I afford to be picky?
Look on Gumtree, you might get lucky but the reality is people are asking £30-50 a square metre for oak floors that have been ripped up and are full of nail holes and chips!
Best one I saw recently, though not directly related to your question, was someone who'd had a chestnut tree felled and sawed up into rounds about 20cm thick, 2ft diameter and wanted £50 a round as material for people to make furniture from! Someone must have told them that they'd turned all the good wood into firewood cutting it that way as the changed a few days later.
Your best bet is to get the top either from a solid wood kitchen worktop, or from an old piece of furniture that someone is giving away or selling cheap on Gumtree.
Bear in mind that the pallet wood/ distressed look will go out of fashion in a year or two and it's only fashion-blindness that's stopping people seeing that it mostly looks hideous. If you're going to spend a lot of time making something, it's better to use that time on decent material to begin with.
Best one I saw recently, though not directly related to your question, was someone who'd had a chestnut tree felled and sawed up into rounds about 20cm thick, 2ft diameter and wanted £50 a round as material for people to make furniture from! Someone must have told them that they'd turned all the good wood into firewood cutting it that way as the changed a few days later.
Your best bet is to get the top either from a solid wood kitchen worktop, or from an old piece of furniture that someone is giving away or selling cheap on Gumtree.
Bear in mind that the pallet wood/ distressed look will go out of fashion in a year or two and it's only fashion-blindness that's stopping people seeing that it mostly looks hideous. If you're going to spend a lot of time making something, it's better to use that time on decent material to begin with.
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