Scraps pallets to treasures

Mike Broughton calls this ten-foot table a "garden table". If it were a little smaller, it would make a great "farmhouse table" indoors. Mike built this using roof joists for legs and pallet wood for the top.

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Ian Gooch used pallet wood for an unusual project. This is an enclosure for his wifes tortoises. This is the first tortoise cage anyone has sent me!

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Doug Price sent me over an original pallet bench design someone made on his ship. (And the view from the deck!) Such a clever, utilitarian design. It looks like its being painted, but I think it looks great just like that: half-painted. Cool.

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How about a porch swing bird feeder? Dwayne Rieks, an American living in The Netherlands, tells me that it is not easy to find free pallets there. He managed to find a broken one at a job site who gave it to him without a fight,  though Dwayne says he was prepared to duke it out  because his wife wanted this bird feeder!

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Heres Marcelo Freitass pallet wood project. He made this table in his living room using only hand tools. 

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I love the muted colors on this potting bench Philip Hodge made out of old fence pickets. I like how potting benches are both functional and make great garden decorations.

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Berry Conway made his potting bench using pressure treated lumber and wood from an old fence that blew down.

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Three pallet projects from Alex Farrell, proving that pallet wood projects need not be rustic looking. These are beautiful. Bookcase, radiator cover, and mirror.

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Finally, Allan Voisin made this lamp using scrap 2x4s. Stained, then distressed with a bandsaw and Dremel tool. I love projects that find uses for cut-off that we all tend to save.

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Coffin SketchUp plans pallets and Halloween

Posted by chun | 0 comments | 3:46 PM

A lot of you have been confused by the angles on Fridays coffin project. I admit that they are a little tricky. If I was making something "critical" I would certainly have stressed over them a lot more. As it turned out, my pallet boards fit together close enough for my slacker tolerances.
However, big thanks to "Wood Chuck" Bruce, who took the time to make a SketchUp file of the coffin, complete with actual angles! These plans are really good. I need to spend some more time learning SketchUp stuff beyond straight lines and square pieces!

• Download Bruces Coffin SketchUp file.

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For those of you who love using pallet wood, heres a fabulous infographic from Amol that illustrates everything you ever wanted to know about pallets. (Click though to see the whole graphic.)

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Since Halloween is soon upon us, I thought I would share Neils version of my Skull and Crossbones candy dispenser from last year. He made a stand for his and added a little cup to collect candy.

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I really like this pair of pallet wood cabinets from Chris. The dark color and hardware complete them. Something so warm and inviting about tables made from pallets.

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And dont forget: as soon as Halloween is done, Christmas gift-making season is upon us. Yup. Heres a simple idea from Brad Costa, who made this jewelry tree for his girlfriend.

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Finally, heres a cool project from Lesli that looks simple to make and with the cable supporting it, should be quite sturdy. Plans available on The Woodworking Trip.