Once you've made your beautiful table top you'll need to measure it. It will be mounted on a hidden square of OSB which should be cut in a square with a length 2 inches or so shorter than the tabletop. This gives it sturdy support but without the scruffy edges of the OSB being seen.



I mounted the OSB on the four legs by simply screwing through directly into the legs with four substantial screws on each. This felt pretty solid but will be strengthened slightly later with some side bits (next step).



Now you have something remotely resembling a table, draw a pencil line across each diagonal to find the centre. From here you can work outwards starting with the central couple of pieces. This means the top will be directly in the middle of the OSB and prevent any lopsidedness. To mount them I used a combination of wood glue and screws through the underside of the table. The outer pieces in particular need to be secure so they don't come off if someone tries to pick it up.



I did not glue or screw on the pieces I'd marked out to be a lighter shade and this will be explained more in later step, but you'll need them to build the jigsaw and mount everything else in place. (See last photo for clarification).



Just as an additional note I roughly sanded each piece of the tabletop before mounting with medium grade sandpaper (including the sides). My experience thus far with pallet wood has lead me to not worry too much about the finish until the first coat of varnish is on. More on this later....



