Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[fuzzi]

As with most of my projects of late, my half day project is turning out to stretch over a number of days. But each day I get a bit more done and overall, I am happy with the repairs. Will post the pics when I finish the project. Later...

My one hour estimate to put up a new roost stretched out to two hours... funny how that happens?

 

[gtaus]

I went into town today and bought a 16 oz bottle of Titebond II wood glue. I'll be mixing some sawdust in a small container with some glue to make a paste and then using that to fill the cracks/gaps in the pallet wood I just put on the chicken coop. Had planned on doing that this afternoon, but I somehow mis stepped on my foot while in town and it hurts to walk. So, I was in the house with the feet up and relaxing after I got back home. Maybe tomorrow...

BTW, I looked at some premixed wood filler stuff in small 2 oz cans for about $5.00 per can. That did not look like a great deal to me. I think I'll be better off mixing some sawdust with a bit of glue and making my own filler. Also, I'll have lots of glue left over to use in regular glue ups as needed.

 

[Sally PB]

BTW, I looked at some premixed wood filler stuff in small 2 oz cans for about $5.00 per can. That did not look like a great deal to me. I think I'll be better off mixing some sawdust with a bit of glue and making my own filler. Also, I'll have lots of glue left over to use in regular glue ups as needed.

Score! I love it when I buy something for one thing and realize I have lots of other uses for it.

 

[gtaus]

I mixed up a bunch of sawdust and the Titebond II glue this morning and filled the cracks and gaps in the wood of the chicken coop that I just replaced. Not too difficult. Now I have to wait 24 hours (recommended) before I can sand it and paint it. I will check on it later today to see how well it is drying. But it looks like it might work just fine.

BTW, I mixed the sawdust and glue in an empty plastic cream cheese container. I cut the top lid, keeping only the inside portion, to make a putty spreader. I keep old wooden popsicle sticks for stirring small amounts of stuff. So, I would mix up a small batch of putty in the container, spread it on the cracks and gaps in the wood with the lid top spreader, and then mix up another batch as needed. Worked pretty well and everything is disposable for easy clean up. Having said that, I actually washed up everything so I can use it again. I might use it some more depending on how the sanding process goes tomorrow.

Well, it's nice to get a second use out of something that was just sitting in the plastic recycle bin at home. If I don't need it in a few days, I'll drop it back in the recycle bin thankful for the second life it served.

For anyone interested, I used about $1.50 of glue mixed in with the free sawdust and made maybe what was about the same amount as 2 cans ($10.00) of that wood filler. I'm really glad that I did not buy that premixed wood filler for this project - assuming that my DIY putty is going to work after sanding and painting.

 

[Smokerbill]

I mixed up a bunch of sawdust and the Titebond II glue this morning and filled the cracks and gaps in the wood of the chicken coop that I just replaced. Not too difficult. Now I have to wait 24 hours (recommended) before I can sand it and paint it. I will check on it later today to see how well it is drying. But it looks like it might work just fine.

BTW, I mixed the sawdust and glue in an empty plastic cream cheese container. I cut the top lid, keeping only the inside portion, to make a putty spreader. I keep old wooden popsicle sticks for stirring small amounts of stuff. So, I would mix up a small batch of putty in the container, spread it on the cracks and gaps in the wood with the lid top spreader, and then mix up another batch as needed. Worked pretty well and everything is disposable for easy clean up. Having said that, I actually washed up everything so I can use it again. I might use it some more depending on how the sanding process goes tomorrow.

View attachment 3595000

Well, it's nice to get a second use out of something that was just sitting in the plastic recycle bin at home. If I don't need it in a few days, I'll drop it back in the recycle bin thankful for the second life it served.

For anyone interested, I used about $1.50 of glue mixed in with the free sawdust and made maybe what was about the same amount as 2 cans ($10.00) of that wood filler. I'm really glad that I did not buy that premixed wood filler for this project - assuming that my DIY putty is going to work after sanding and painting.

Not trying to be contrary, but how would buying a tube of painter's caulk compare costwise to the glue/sawdust mix? Wouldn't it pretty much do the same thing?

 

[gtaus]

Not trying to be contrary, but how would buying a tube of painter's caulk compare costwise to the glue/sawdust mix? Wouldn't it pretty much do the same thing?

This is all new to me. However, I did go to the store(s) yesterday and told them what I wanted to do and asked what stuff was available. I looked at the tubes of caulk and none of them mentioned use for filling gaps, sanding, and painting. The salesperson thought the caulk they had would not work. I don't know about painter's caulk specifically, but I do have tubes of window and door caulk that I will use around the trim boards after I get everything painted. They did point to the canned wood filler putty, but that was pretty expensive.

Anyways, it was my impression that the caulk was made to stay somewhat flexible and could not be sanded. Whereas the DIY sawdust and glue putty I mixed up will harden and should sand down nicely, and then paint over it.

I did not compare the price of caulking to the cost of my DIY putty mix because I was lead to believe that the caulking would not work the way I wanted it to. I could be wrong, and I certainly don't think the salespersons I talked to had any real-life experience with any of the products they sell.

Someone here on the forum mentioned about using glue and sawdust as a DIY putty, so that is what I am trying. Also, I watched a number of YouTube videos on using the glue and sawdust mix for my application and I think it will work.

If there is a caulking that would work for my application, I would love to use that as I already have a Ryobi 18v power caulking gun and look for excuses to use it. I'm all for using off the shelf solutions that are cost comparable to my DIY solutions. Using a caulking gun would be faster and easier for me. But my DIY sawdust and glue putty mix was pretty easy as well.

 

[Smokerbill]

This is all new to me. However, I did go to the store(s) yesterday and told them what I wanted to do and asked what stuff was available. I looked at the tubes of caulk and none of them mentioned use for filling gaps, sanding, and painting. The salesperson thought the caulk they had would not work. I don't know about painter's caulk specifically, but I do have tubes of window and door caulk that I will use around the trim boards after I get everything painted. They did point to the canned wood filler putty, but that was pretty expensive.

Anyways, it was my impression that the caulk was made to stay somewhat flexible and could not be sanded. Whereas the DIY sawdust and glue putty I mixed up will harden and should sand down nicely, and then paint over it.

I did not compare the price of caulking to the cost of my DIY putty mix because I was lead to believe that the caulking would not work the way I wanted it to. I could be wrong, and I certainly don't think the salespersons I talked to had any real-life experience with any of the products they sell.

Someone here on the forum mentioned about using glue and sawdust as a DIY putty, so that is what I am trying. Also, I watched a number of YouTube videos on using the glue and sawdust mix for my application and I think it will work.

If there is a caulking that would work for my application, I would love to use that as I already have a Ryobi 18v power caulking gun and look for excuses to use it. I'm all for using off the shelf solutions that are cost comparable to my DIY solutions. Using a caulking gun would be faster and easier for me. But my DIY sawdust and glue putty mix was pretty easy as well.

View attachment 3595131

Informative. I think I've seen some caulks that can fill a 1/2 inch wide gap, but not more than 1/4 inch thick. And even if you get it initially nice and level, the stuff usually shrinks and looks bad eventually.

Nice power caulker! At first glance, I laughed because I never saw one before, or knew they existed. But thinking about it, that would be a great tool when apply long beads of caulk. Cool! Ryobi, too!

 

[gtaus]

Informative. I think I've seen some caulks that can fill a 1/2 inch wide gap, but not more than 1/4 inch thick. And even if you get it initially nice and level, the stuff usually shrinks and looks bad eventually.

Yep, that's what I was thinking. In my application, I wanted the wood filler to dry hard so I could sand it down even with the wood. Then paint it.

I just went outside to check my DIY sawdust and glue filler and it is already rock hard. I suppose I could sand it down today, but I'll wait the recommended 24 hours and do it tomorrow.

Nice power caulker! At first glance, I laughed because I never saw one before, or knew they existed. But thinking about it, that would be a great tool when apply long beads of caulk. Cool! Ryobi, too!

I bought that Ryobi 18v caulker years ago when we had a big caulking job to do. My father's hands were getting weaker and started to cramp up on him when he used the manual caulk guns. So, I went out and bought the Ryobi 18v unit mainly for his use.

My dad was better at a lot of those type of jobs than I was. But as he got older, I had to get other powered tools to replace the manual tools we had used. That allowed him to work with me a number of years longer and I don't regret for one second having to buy those powered tools.

Ryobi makes all kinds of specialty tools and that is one reason why I'm such a big fan of the One+ 18v line of tools. Now, 15 years later, I'm approaching my father's age back then, so I am using those same tools myself. And yes, my hands are not nearly as strong as they used to be either. Fortunately, Ryobi promised to stay with their stem style battery in their 18v line of tools so all my old tools work just fine with new batteries I have today. Way to go Ryobi!

Additional Edit: For those of you who might not know, Ryboi now has over 280 tools in their One+ 18v line...

They have used the same stem battery format for over 25 years....

My original Ryobi 18v Ni-Cad batteries from 20 years ago have long since died, but the newer 18v Li-Ion batteries are even better, cheaper, and work with all my old tools I purchased ~20 years ago. There is great value to me as a DIYer/Home user knowing that my old Ryobi tools are still supported today with their newest batteries. Believe it or not, I am still using my original Ryobi tools from that first kit I purchased almost 20 years ago.

 

[chickengr]

I mixed up a bunch of sawdust and the Titebond II glue this morning and filled the cracks and gaps in the wood of the chicken coop that I just replaced. Not too difficult. Now I have to wait 24 hours (recommended) before I can sand it and paint it. I will check on it later today to see how well it is drying. But it looks like it might work just fine.

BTW, I mixed the sawdust and glue in an empty plastic cream cheese container. I cut the top lid, keeping only the inside portion, to make a putty spreader. I keep old wooden popsicle sticks for stirring small amounts of stuff. So, I would mix up a small batch of putty in the container, spread it on the cracks and gaps in the wood with the lid top spreader, and then mix up another batch as needed. Worked pretty well and everything is disposable for easy clean up. Having said that, I actually washed up everything so I can use it again. I might use it some more depending on how the sanding process goes tomorrow.

View attachment 3595000

Well, it's nice to get a second use out of something that was just sitting in the plastic recycle bin at home. If I don't need it in a few days, I'll drop it back in the recycle bin thankful for the second life it served.

For anyone interested, I used about $1.50 of glue mixed in with the free sawdust and made maybe what was about the same amount as 2 cans ($10.00) of that wood filler. I'm really glad that I did not buy that premixed wood filler for this project - assuming that my DIY putty is going to work after sanding and painting.

let it dry well before sanding and it will last more than us.

 

[gtaus]

let it dry well before sanding and it will last more than us.

I put the putty on in the morning, and by supper time it was rock hard. I suspect I could have sanded it down at that point, but I will let it cure for 24 hours as recommended. I'm anxious to see how well it sands down.

Then, I have to get busy painting. I might end up repainting the whole chicken coop in addition to the newly replaced wood. The coop has done well for 4 years, but it could use a facelift. Also, the cheap OSB I put on the coop needs a good coat of paint to protect it from the weather.