Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Smokerbill]

How about taking one of the log sections, quartering it, splitting off the inner sections of the wedges and reassembling the four pieces, securing with a stout wire? It wouldn't have a bottom but there would be a square hole through the center. Pile wood scraps in the bottom for the Hugelkulture aspect.

 

[gtaus]

How about taking one of the log sections, quartering it, splitting off the inner sections of the wedges and reassembling the four pieces, securing with a stout wire? It wouldn't have a bottom but there would be a square hole through the center. Pile wood scraps in the bottom for the Hugelkulture aspect.

That's an interesting thought. If you cut off a slice of the round before you quartered it, you could use that slice as the bottom when you put it back together. Just drive some screws or nails up into the quartered pieces.

I am wondering if a person would have to quarter the round using a band saw? I was thinking of just running it through a log splitter, but then you can end up with all kinds of uneven cuts which might make it harder to put back together.

As far as wrapping the round with a stout wire, that would work. Even a good brown rope. Also, I salvaged some metal banding straps from a few pallets that might work as well. Kind of like a smaller version of the metal bands around a whiskey barrel planter...

For now, I am just pondering how to make a bunch of 8X8 inch square pallet wood planters. Seems like I should be able to set up stop blocks on the miter saw or use the rip fence with a block on the table saw to quickly cut a bunch of boards all the same size.

 

[chickengr]

what about drilling a lot of holes then carve it with hammer and chisel?

 

[chickengr]

HAPPY EASTER!

 

[gtaus]

what about drilling a lot of holes then carve it with hammer and chisel?

I tried that. It's a lot of work and I did not get too much accomplished. Drilling into a fairly fresh cut stump is not as easy as drilling into dry wood. I used a big hammer and a floor chisel that I sharpened for the project. Even with lots of holes drilled into the stump, tt was just too much work for me to carve out a good-sized bowl for a stump planter.

 

[gtaus]

HAPPY EASTER!

and to you as well!

 

[chickengr]

I tried that. It's a lot of work and I did not get too much accomplished. Drilling into a fairly fresh cut stump is not as easy as drilling into dry wood. I used a big hammer and a floor chisel that I sharpened for the project. Even with lots of holes drilled into the stump, tt was just too much work for me to carve out a good-sized bowl for a stump planter.

what about trying to burn the center? just make sure you have a bucket of water nearby.

 

[gtaus]

what about trying to burn the center? just make sure you have a bucket of water nearby.

Well, I never considered burning the center out. Not quite sure how I would do that on a tree stump. Maybe some BBQ charcoal slowly burning down the middle and gradually outwards? Not quite sure if the wood would burn uniformly and create a nice bowl for use as a planter. But maybe.

 

[gtaus]

Goldilocks's Pallet Wood Planter Project

First of all, I have to say that Dear Wife is the love of my life. She is never wrong. I guess sometimes I don't hear too well, or maybe just have not read her mind correctly. It's entirely my fault that some details need to be refined before I get it right.

The other day, Dear Wife asked me if I could make some pallet wood planters to put on top of the tree rounds that she has out in her wildflower garden. She has been putting a plastic pot on top of each round for a number of years, but now she wants to get rid of the plastic pots and put wooden planters out there. The rounds are in groups of three, and each round is at a different level - low, medium, and high.

She has three groups of three rounds like that out in her flower garden. So, I ask her if she wants to put a planter on each round instead of the plastic pots. Yes, she says. OK. I go outside and measure the rounds and think an 8X8 inch planter would be a good size to put on each round. Maybe a little bigger, or even maybe smaller.

I go back into the house and show her how big an 8X8 inch planter box would be. Fine, that looks good to her. Yesterday, I built a quick 8X8 inch planter out of pallet planks, used brad nails to slap it together, and showed her how it looked on the tree round. I'm thinking I will probably build another 8 of those planters, more or less that size.

Here is a picture of that planter. It's looks all cattywampus in this picture due to the angle of the camera, but I assure you that it is built square.

And if you are wondering, everything is indeed dry and dead in that picture. We had snow on the ground just a week ago, so springtime growth has yet to arrive where I live.

Anyways, I show the planter to Dear Wife and, much to my surprise, she exclaims that it is way too small! Contrary to what I remember hearing or showing her how big an 8X8 planter would be, what she wanted was one large planter to sit on each group of three rounds.

Well, that changes everything, doesn't it? So, I took her outside and made her explain to me what she had in mind. Mind you, a group of three rounds makes more of a triangle than a square. But she wants one big square planter to span all three rounds. Fine by me, but I tell her that we will have to level the rounds to the same height so that the planter box does not slide off.

After taking some measurements, she decided that she wants a 20X24 inch square planter.

I don't know how you can go from an 8X8 inch planter to a 20X24 inch planter on the same project. I suspect she may have changed her mind, but, for now, I guess I failed to understand her instructions.

Today, I put together a 20X24 inch planter and had it ready for her inspection and approval before I make the other two planters. Turns out, that 20X24 inch planter was too big, so now she wants one that is 18X22 inches. It really is a Goldilocks's planter project with the first attempt too small, the second planter was too big, so maybe my third try will be just right.

I'll have to find a good use for the other planters. It's just not worth my time to take them apart. Maybe they will be perfect for something else.

Actually, it's not a big deal for me to make some pallet wood planters and then finding out they are not the correct size. That's one of the things I like about using free pallet wood. No crying over a project that does not turn out exactly the way you wanted. Just build a new one with some modifications until you get it right.

I'll try to put together a 18X22 inch pallet wood planter tomorrow and see how that works for her. I'm not quite certain why she wants such large square planters, but maybe it's a great idea that I cannot yet see. In any case, it's her wildflower garden and if the pallet planters don't work out, we can try something else.

I don't mind. Pictures to follow when I get the correct sized planters built and put into the garden.

 

[gtaus]

Bucket Lid Upgrade for Air Locker AP-700 Setup

About a year ago, I purchased an Air Locker AP-700 nail puncher...

If you really get into disassembling pallets and have lots of boards with nails in them, then the Air Locker AP-700 nail punch will save you lots of labor time in taking out those nails. They have gone up in price since I bought mine, but I guess most everything has....

I bought the complete kit with the extra piston driver. The piston driver is about the only thing that should ever wear out on that nail puncher. With the AP-700, you don't have to replace the entire tool, just the piston driver and you are back to new. Many of the less expensive nail punchers are NOT repairable and you cannot get replacement piston drivers. So, you might save some money up front, but if you are buying the tool for the long term, being able to replace that piston driver is a lot cheaper than replacing an entire nail puncher for $50.00.

For the past year, I have been shooting out the nails into a 5-gallon bucket with a big rag cloth in the bottom, so the nails don't come bouncing back into my face. You need something soft in the bucket to catch the nails and prevent ricocheting.

I had an old, chewed up by squirrels, bucket lid that I cut out a hole for the nails to shoot into the bucket. It worked great for a long time, but it has now cracked all around the hole I cut out...

The result was that the top would give in and buffer the impact of the nail puncher when I was shooting out the nails. More and more nails did not punch all the way out because of that flex in the lid.

Recently, I made some shelving for one of my workbenches, and had some plywood left over. I cut out a square section to put on the top of the lid and screwed it on using some scrap blocks of wood on the bottom of the lid. Here is the upgrade to my bucket lid...

Now, when I punch out the nails of the pallet wood, the top is firm and does not bounce. It's just a free scrap wood upgrade, but worth a mention for anyone interested in the Air Locker AP-700 or similar nail punchers

Also, safety first, shooting the nails into the bucket at 90-100 psi and having only that one hole in the top, eliminates nails from bouncing back into your face. Always wear safety glasses just the same.