This was a rather time-consuming project, mostly on the construction of the top. The only items purchased for the project were boards for the top surround, dowels for guides when assembling the top, wood glue, and nails for my nail guns.
To do the top, I ripped planks to 1.5in wide (I got 2-3 pieces depending on the size of the plank). After doing this to the planks from 5 pallets, I measured and drilled holes for the guides. You glue the dowels into the first board then feed a few to get ready for assembly. At this point, guide each board down and apply a layer of glue, when all are on then clamp it at least overnight. The hard part was all the planing and sanding to make sure the surface was even. The surround is 1×6 interior grade lumber.
The base is pretty much straight forward. Simple rectangular box, more pallet planks for the sides, then more for the shelf. I used a couple of planks for trim pieces to hide the structural support pieces. After all the sanding was done (the base was just rough sanded to reveal some features in the wood), a quick polyurethane job. After the poly was cured, brought it in and assembled the top to the base, then put hooks on one side to hang cast iron skillets and hooks on the other side for cutting boards.
