Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

After a few starts and stop throughout the day, I finally finished splitting all my rounds in one pile and got everything stacked on to my pallet firewood stand.

Yesterday's progress...

Today's finishing efforts, right before it got dark...

I'm sure glad I left those side support boards at ~4 feet long. As you can see, I ended up piling the wood about 5 feet high in the center. That's a lot of campfire wood!

Modification to Log Splitter for One-Handed Operation...

Those of you that have one of these electric log splitters know that they are designed to have both hands on the splitter during operation. Problem is, in real life, you need a third hand to hold a big round on the splitter or it will come falling down on your legs and feet when the round splits. So, you either need to have a second person to hold the log or you have to find some way to modify the splitter for one-handed operation.

Here is a picture of what I mean. You need your right hand on the green button to start the motor and your left hand has to pull down a lever to advance the hydraulic ram to split the wood. Those two things are far enough apart so that you cannot operate both with just one hand.

Like I said, if you have a big round on the track, it will split the wood and you risk having the half log come crashing down on your legs or feet because you don't have any way to hold the wood.

I watched a number of YouTube video on how to modify the log splitter for one-handed operation. Most of those methods required rewiring the right hand switch and moving it under the lever for the left hand. That's a lot of work, plus you have to open up the machine and rewire the switch - avoiding getting a nasty shock from the capacitor charge for the starter switch.

I finally came across the perfect solution to my problem, with a simple fix that is not permanent and does not pose a risk of electrocution for the modification. Here is the YouTube video short clip I found...

I imagine that one-handed modification would work on similar designed log splitters from other companies. I put the locking vise grips on my log splitter ram lever this evening and was able to start and operate the splitter with my left hand and use my free right hand to hold the rounds on the track. Much safter operation for me and increased my productivity. Very nice solution.

I am not usually one to advocate bypassing "safety" features of a machine, but, truly, I believe that having one hand to operate the log splitter and the other hand on the large rounds gives me much more control over the process and is, in fact, a much safer way to operate the splitter in real life.

 

[fuzzi]

Oh, yeah. The advantage is time with the pressure cooker.

DH can't stand the smell of bone broth cooking. I only make it when he's gone for the day. He would stage a rebellion if I did it in a crock pot.

Mine just smells like soup...

 

[Sally PB]

Mine just smells like soup...

That's what I think mine smells like. He doesn't think so...

 

[Smokerbill]

Another simple but useful project using a board from a pallet and a chunk of old 2x4. I thought my chickens could use another oyster shell dispenser, so here's what I made. Used my table saw, pneumatic narrow crown stapler and corded drill.

 

[gtaus]

Another simple but useful project using a board from a pallet and a chunk of old 2x4.

Thanks for sharing. I love it when people take the time to post a "simple but useful" pallet project. Pictures were great. I made some PVC calcium and grit feeders years ago and keep them in the coop 24/7 as supplemental feeders. I think if I built those feeders today, I'd do something like your build out of pallet wood.

Used my table saw, pneumatic narrow crown stapler...

I have yet to use my pneumatic stapler. But I started cleaning out the garage yesterday and almost got to the point where I can take out and use my stuff. My pneumatic stapler is sitting on a workbench that is currently inaccessible, but I'm almost there in the cleaning. Ditto for my table saw which I moved into the garage but need more free room to set it up and use it. I have lots of good tools ready to use, I just need to clean up the garage to make room to work in there. Anyways, got a good start on it yesterday.

FWIW, my plan to use the pneumatic stapler is to make some pallet wood bins that can be used as drawers in my modular workbenches. My current idea is to make some wood slides on the sides of the bins so I can slide the pallet wood bins in and out like a drawer, but would be easy to take completely out and carry to a worksite full of the stuff I need in the drawer/bin.

 

[Smokerbill]

Thanks for sharing. I love it when people take the time to post a "simple but useful" pallet project. Pictures were great. I made some PVC calcium and grit feeders years ago and keep them in the coop 24/7 as supplemental feeders. I think if I built those feeders today, I'd do something like your build out of pallet wood.



I have yet to use my pneumatic stapler. But I started cleaning out the garage yesterday and almost got to the point where I can take out and use my stuff. My pneumatic stapler is sitting on a workbench that is currently inaccessible, but I'm almost there in the cleaning. Ditto for my table saw which I moved into the garage but need more free room to set it up and use it. I have lots of good tools ready to use, I just need to clean up the garage to make room to work in there. Anyways, got a good start on it yesterday.

FWIW, my plan to use the pneumatic stapler is to make some pallet wood bins that can be used as drawers in my modular workbenches. My current idea is to make some wood slides on the sides of the bins so I can slide the pallet wood bins in and out like a drawer, but would be easy to take completely out and carry to a worksite full of the stuff I need in the drawer/bin.

It'll be nice when your tools aren't buried anymore and you can use them again. LOL

I'd suggest using wood glue along with the narrow gauge stapes. I've found that even using 1-1/4" leg staples, some of them pull out pretty easily if the wood they go into isn't solid.

 

[Sally PB]

I like that OS box. I need to make something to hold OS and also crushed egg shells. My girls like both. Right now, the chicks are dumping the containers over. The containers are just plastic margarine cups, so, very light. The chicks are standing and perching on everything, pecking stuff, learning about their world.

 

[Smokerbill]

I like that OS box. I need to make something to hold OS and also crushed egg shells. My girls like both. Right now, the chicks are dumping the containers over. The containers are just plastic margarine cups, so, very light. The chicks are standing and perching on everything, pecking stuff, learning about their world.

I know what you mean. At one time I was using ceramic ramekins, 6 inch diameter. Relatively heavy, but they were still tipped over. And crapped in. And they got full of woodchips and feathers.

 

[Sally PB]

I know what you mean. At one time I was using ceramic ramekins, 6 inch diameter. Relatively heavy, but they were still tipped over. And crapped in. And they got full of woodchips and feathers.

I had mine (along with the food bowl) inside a Rubbermaid container. Yup, still dumped over. The Rubbermaid container helps keep the feed contained when it gets dumped, and keeps most of the scratched up dirt/poo/feathers out. I put a brick in it, under the bowl, to keep the container itself from being flipped.

I want to make something I can attach to the side of the food shelter, up high enough to keep out the stuff, screwed in so it can't be dumped.

I have ideas... just need time. And pallets!

 

[gtaus]

It'll be nice when your tools aren't buried anymore and you can use them again. LOL

Yep. I got some more stuff cleared out today and opened up my workbench with a heavy metal vise. I needed to use that to work on my DIY pallet buster that I busted.

Here is a picture of my DIY pallet buster when it was not broken...

I have broken this pallet buster many times before, but always due to my bad welding. Well, I guess my welding skills have improved because this time the welds held, but the 4-foot-long black pipe that screws into the bottom forks broke off on the threads.

Unfortunately, the pipe broke off leaving a threaded ring of the long pipe inside the fork with no way of holding on to it to unthread it. I ended up using a metal file, then a reciprocating saw with a metal blade to cut the remaining threaded ring. Then I chiseled it out. With all that cutting and hammering, I needed my good heavy metal vise to bang on. So, cleared out some more of the garage and opened up the bench with my vise to get this job done.

It was a lot of work for a tool I really don't use that much. I rarely use my DIY pallet buster to break down pallets, because most of the time, it just cracks and breaks the pallet planks. My pallet buster does not work nearly as well as you see them on YouTube. Having said that, I occasionally come across a pallet that is perfect for my pallet buster and then it's really great to use. So, it's just another specialty tool in my toolbox and I have come to know when to use it and when I should use another method of pallet breakdown.

I'd suggest using wood glue along with the narrow gauge stapes. I've found that even using 1-1/4" leg staples, some of them pull out pretty easily if the wood they go into isn't solid.

Thanks. I just bought a nice bottle of Titebond II glue and still have 3/4 of it left. I'm starting to get into using glue for stronger bonding.

Also, a month or so ago I bought some pipe clamp kits on sale at Menards for glue ups. I am thinking about gluing some pallet wood planks, side by side, probably with wooden dowels for alignment, into wide panels and then ripping them down to uniform size for utility shelves.

I have other boards that I could use for utility shelving, but I want to mess around with dowels and pipe clamps to see if I can actually do a panel glue up. I like learning new skills and it's fun, for me, to try out stuff on free pallet wood. If I mess up, it's no sweat that way.