Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Hedgeland Farms]

Speaking of fingers, I stopped crying the next day from the sliver in my finger, so life is back to normal.... Should have known better than to take off my gloves.

So glad it's feeling better! Those pallet splinters are nothing to mess with!!

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

Basically whatever we had laying around..thats my siding lol

Ditto. Some of it is covered in plywood and some in corrugated plastic. Then painted all the same colour.

 

[Sally PB]

Then painted all the same colour.

Don't you love that a good coat of paint can make a lot of mis-match go away?

 

[Sally PB]

I have gotten a lot of ideas from this thread! Thanks, everybody!

 

[gtaus]

Eta if this was an actual shed type structure that'll be out front on the property...id cover it with siding to match the house as well, but goats don't mind and I am not trying to spend more money bahaha

Oh, I understand not trying to spend more money. I'm all for using the pallet wood and other reclaimed lumber. That's why I started this thread. I absolutely love the pics and projects that people have been sharing.

 

[gtaus]

Don't you love that a good coat of paint can make a lot of mis-match go away?

Exactly. If you want a natural looking pallet project, then go for it. If you want to stain or paint the pallet wood, good for you. A fresh coat of paint will cover up all those mis-matched pallet wood planks and give you a different look.

Having said that, I have been able to take advantage of mis-matched pallet wood to make some planters that I think look good. Alternating light and dark (aged) pallet wood gives a nice look, I think.

My idea is to paint them a few years down the road if they start to look a little rough. For now, Dear Wife is happy with these planters and that is all I need.

 

[gtaus]

So glad it's feeling better! Those pallet splinters are nothing to mess with!!

Thanks. I got a couple new pair of gloves. My old gloves were just worn out, full of rips and tears, and it was time to retire them.

I am a big advocate of using safety equipment, not only because I don't want to get hurt, but also because I know injuries take time to heal and that usually means that I won't be able to do the work I want. Pallet wood is especially harder to handle because you are often dealing with rough lumber full of potential wood splinters, and the nails used in the pallets can give you a nasty metal splinter.

If you are getting all that pallet wood for free, you might as well invest a little money in a good pair of gloves (and other safety equipment) so you can work with the wood safely and enjoy building your pallet projects.

 

[gtaus]

I have gotten a lot of ideas from this thread! Thanks, everybody!

Yes, thanks to everyone for uploading their pics and pallet project builds.

 

[Sally PB]

Having said that, I have been able to take advantage of mis-matched pallet wood to make some planters that I think look good. Alternating light and dark (aged) pallet wood gives a nice look, I think

Oh, yes, these look NICE!

The things I've made out of pallet and scrap wood have been for the chickens. I painted them so that they'd hold up to the weather and chicken dust better. Ok, to be honest, to cover my inexperience too.

I used to design plastic injection molds. When I drew stuff on the computer, it was EXACT, as that's how computers go. A piece measuring 2.375 x 5.125 x 3.312 inches was just that. A tape measure, a weathered piece of wood, and a chop saw don't yield the same results. Well, not in my hands. Maybe someday. I should have made my onion drying tables 3 legged.

 

[igorsMistress]

Yesterday I made a few pallet planters for Dear Wife...
View attachment 3209169

The first one was too big (24X24 inches), so I made a second planter (16X16 inches), and that was too small.

So, I'll be making another planter, maybe this time 12X24 inches rectangular, and hope that passes her inspection.

What I liked about the bigger 24X24 inch planter is that I was able to find some dark pallet wood and alternate that with lighter pallet wood. I did that on all 4 sides and I think it looked good. Just too big, I guess.

I then made the smaller 16X16 planter, but learned a valuable lesson. The pallet 2X4's in the smaller planter were not all the same size. So, my planter got out of square. I had to cut the final wall piece on each side on a taper, and finish it off with a planer to fit. Not a huge problem to overcome, but the top of the planter was a good 1/4" wider than the bottom. Does anybody care? Probably not. But having to cut the wood on a taper and plane it down to fit burned up extra time. Lesson learned - next time make sure the 2X4's are all the same size.

Benefits to this design is that the 2X4's inside the planter are hidden, so I was able to use the parts of the stretcher that had the cut-outs for the forklift. No waste on those 2X4's with this design. Also, on each wall side, I added the wood from the outside, left and right, and worked my way to the middle. The last piece of wall board will probably have to be cut down to size, but that was easy. Even on the smaller planter that got out of square, the last wall piece just had to be cut down on a slight taper, and planed to fit.

I topped off the planter with 45 degree cut 1X4 planks. I simply took the measurement of the side (24 inches, for example) and added 1 inch for hangover to each side = 26 inches on the long cut. Then I used my miter saw to cut 1 board with the 45 degree cuts, and used that board as a template to cut 3 more exact sized boards. That saved some time and energy as no measuring was required on subsequent cuts.

I don't plan on staining or painting these planters. But would ask for some feedback on that issue. If they only last 3-4 years, that will be good enough for me. I might line the inside of the planter with a plastic garbage bag before filling up with soil, that should help preserve the wood a bit longer.

Any feedback appreciated. Thanks.

Those look fantastic!