Introduction: Pallet Wood Chalkboard

Hey

my name is AIex and this is my first instructable. English is not my native language so please forgive if i made some mistakes ;)

I found an old pallet at home and i didn´t want to throw it away so I thought: Hey I could turn it into a nice looking frame for a chalkboard to manage things!
The idea of recycling some stuff (literally trash) which doesn´t look perfect anymore because it´s broken and make something great out of it is what I just love and you don´t need many materials for it.

This is also my entry for the Green Design Contest so if you like my instructable please vote for it :)

In the end my chalkboard looked like in the picture above!

Step 1: Get Together the Things You Need

You can use any pallet or wood you can find, it´s really up to how you design it. With this instructable I just want to show you how you can reuse some wood other people would just throw away or burn it. I really like the rustic look of wood so i used some wood stain to give it an old, dark look.

Here is the list with the things i used for this project:

- old pallet
- expanded plastic slab (you can use any board you want, make sure you can write with chalk on it)
- sandpaper (120 or 150 grit)
- wood stain (i used some rustic wood stain)
- wood glaze
- piece of cloth
- screwdriver (or any other tool to take apart the pallet)
- hammer
- nails
- saw

Step 2: Think of a Design

Depending on how big your pallet is, you have to cut your pieces so they fit together in the end.
Take a look at the pic below, its a quick sketch of my final version.
My expanded plastic slab was 50cm x 50 cm so i had to cut the pieces that go horizontal.

As you can see i also added a little rack at the bottom.

Step 3: Take It Apart and Prepare It for Applying Wood Stain

Use any tool you want to take apart the pallet. I used a screwdriver but you have to be really careful not to make any dents with it.
Then remove the old nails with a hammer.

Now cut the pieces just how you want them. Don´t be afraid to use some pieces that have holes in it or are broken. Those little details give it a more rustic / used look ;)

To give it a smooth surface use the sandpaper. The smoother it gets the easier it is to apply the wood stain and glaze in the next step.
I experimented with my pieces of wood: Some pieces had grooves and when I applied the wood stain those grooves turned out darker than the rest.

Step 4: It´s Time to Give It a Rustic Look

Now take the wood stain and use either a brush or the cloth to apply it to the wood. Then use another piece of cloth to rub it in and wipe off the excessive wood stain. Let it dry for at least 2 hours. If you want to apply some more wood stain you can do that after 12 hours.

If you want to apply some glaze use a brush again, it´s the easiest way. It should look like on the picture above. Let it dry over night and you are ready for the next step.

Step 5: Assemble It

Use some nails, screws or even a tacker gun to assemble the pieces. I also added a little rack at the bottom of the chalkboard.
The last step is to add the plastic slab. I used some screws to fix it at the back of the frame. In the first picture you can see how I used the tacker gun and the screws (red lines ar tackers and red dots are screws).

I was really surprised how nice it looked when I finished it.
Now it´s time to put it up on my wall and decorate it a little ;)

If you have some tips for it please make some comments and don´t forget to vote!

Instructables Green Design Contest

Participated in the
Instructables Green Design Contest