I've seen these around at stores, internet, yards and am making one as a gift. I know the recipient is going to want to put it outside in the awful, wet, cold Michigan weather (I will make a strong case for indoor use, or hanging from an outside wall under an eave). I don't have any experience with building a project like this that's going to face the elements. I've completed the messiest step, which is processing the pallet stock:
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Boards are about 1.5" wide, 0.5+" thick. I used a jig to get a straight edge on each board, then ripped them to width (two strips per board) Most of the wood has seen some outdoor time, and I'm obviously mixing species. I have three 1" x 3" boards I'll use for the back that I will screw in from behind. I'm not doing any surface planing, though might sand a bit before painting depending on how my paint tests turn out.