Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[gtaus]

I absolutely love how that turned out! I'm definitely going to try making handles that way! I don't have good building skills or knowledge but I think I can.

Lovely and professional finished piece you made there.

Thanks for the compliments. I had great fun building that stackable compost bin and wire cover and, more importantly for me, I learned a lot of new skills in the process that I hope to use in other projects.

Speaking of which, I am about 80% done with another pallet wood project in the garage and maybe I'll have some pictures of that soon. I hope it's a project that others may consider doing themselves.

 

[Molpet]

Pallet Wood Stackable Compost Bin (Final?) Update

OK. My back is feeling better today. I was able to get back out in the garage this morning and do a little more work. I just finished the wire top for the stackable compost bin to use a bin tier as a mini grazing frame in the chicken run....

View attachment 3753803

All I needed to do was to make a frame to fit inside the stackable bins, staple some wire on top of that frame, then I added some 1X4 trim board on top to cover any staples and/or pointy wire ends from the hardware cloth. Here it is fitted inside a bin tier as it will be used for a mini grazing frame...

View attachment 3753806

As a bonus, I made some handles for the wire frame to make it a little bit easier to put on and take off. Here is a closeup of the handle, can you guess how I made them?

View attachment 3753808

Last week I got the idea to cut out some handles from a 2X4 stretcher with the cutouts...

View attachment 3753809

I thought that was a pretty good idea to use that piece as a handle. I was thinking of different handle options for a few days before I thought of just cutting it out of the 2X4 stretcher. Simple, free, and effective. I screwed it into the 1X4 top trim board from the bottom before I attached the trim board frame to the wire frame below. The handles work good.

You might be thinking that it seems like such a waste to cut up a full 2X4 stretcher just to harvest a couple of handles. And you would be right if that is what you thought. However, what I do is that I rip the 2X4 lengthwise into a 1-1/2 inch strip the entire length which yields a 2X2 standard size (which is 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 inches) piece of wood 4 foot long that I can use as standard framing in many projects. Then I cut out the handles from the bottom half of the ripped 2X4 which leaves almost no waste because I can use the remaining bits of wood as legs for the stackable compost bin tiers.

I have pretty much completed everything I wanted to do with the pallet wood stackable compost bin. I will probably make a few more bin tiers just for the fun of it. The hardware cloth cost me $5.00 at the Co-Op. I did not have any used wire laying around to use. So, unless I want to make a number of mini grazing frames in the chicken run, I don't expect to buy more hardware cloth for those wire tops.

I might use a couple bin tiers as a portable raised bed. We love Buttercup squash, but it over takes the entire garden. So, I might set a few of these bin tiers out in the middle of the yard, plant some Buttercup squash in it, and just let it grow.

View attachment 3753819
View attachment 3753820

Google picture of how big the Buttercup squash plant can get, overtaking the entire garden...

View attachment 3753823

My Buttercup squash plants did not get that big, but they did take over a number of tomato, beans, and pepper plant beds, making it difficult to maintain the garden. That is why I am thinking of trying a couple stackable bins out in the middle of nowhere and just letting the squash vines grow wherever they want.

As always, if you have other suggestions for use of the stackable tiers in that build, please let me know.

I put the squash next to the garlic and onions. those were harvested before the squash went nuts and could take over those beds

All your projects look great

 

[Sally PB]

Speaking of which, I am about 80% done with another pallet wood project in the garage and maybe I'll have some pictures of that soon. I hope it's a project that others may consider doing themselves.

Teaser!!!

 

[gtaus]

I have been cutting up lots of pallet wood this past week working on different projects. I had five 5-gallon buckets full of off cuts. I decided to keep some of the larger pieces, for now, but still had three 5-gallon buckets full of off cut bits and pieces that I burned in the fire ring this afternoon. It was good to clear them out of the garage since my space is limited. Every little bit that I can take out is a plus for me.

Speaking of clearing out the garage, I took one of my pallet wood storage boxes, removed the wood, and transferred everything to a shed outside. Someday, if I get my act together, I would like to organize and store all my pallet wood in the shed and take out only what I need for a project.

I did finish the pallet project I have been working on for the last few days, but I need to get some more things cleared out of the garage so I can take a picture of what I built.

After that, I will be making some 16X16 inch pallet wood planters for Dear Wife that she asked me to build. I have been watching lots of YouTube videos for new ideas. Frankly, I still like the planters I built for her last year so maybe I'll just keep that design which I know works.

Here is a picture of the pallet wood planters I built last year for Dear Wife, trying all kinds of sizes and shapes looking for the Goldilocks planter for her needs....

I think the planter on the far left is close to her requested 16X16 inch request. All three of those planters got used for her flowers last year and are out in our front yard. I think they look nice. And they look even better when full of flowers.

You can see a couple of half whiskey barrels that she has been using for her flowers in the first picture above. Those half barrels are like 20 years old and have been falling apart. From our original 6 half barrels, those are the only 2 left and they have been rebuilt from the wood of the others. But they are not in the best condition now and Dear Wife wants to replace them as well.

Those pallet wood planters in the pictures above are very easy to make. The 2X4 framing is inside the planter, and the pallet planks just nailed into the front. I don't know how long they will hold up, but they should be easy to repair, or replace if needed. For my raised garden beds, I have the 2X4 framing on the outside and the pallet planks on the inside, so the sidewalls don't get blown out from the weight of the soil. But these planters are a lot smaller so I am hoping that just nailing them to the frame on the inside is good enough.

For comparison, here is a picture of my pallet wood raised bed v2.0 design with the 2X4 framing on the outside. I hope you can see how much better built - stronger - that design is with the framing on the outside. It really is rock solid and should last many years.

 

[gtaus]

Kreg Crosscut Station on Clearance at Menards

I have mentioned before that I purchased the Kreg Crosscut Station at Menards this past year for about $10 on Clearance. They are now on sale for $5.78 (after rebate)! If you don't have an expensive miter saw, you can get a lot of good square cuts with this little jig using your circular saw.

Believe it or not, these Kreg Crosscut stations are still being sold for about $50.00 or more at our other local stores and on Amazon...

Video promo...

 

[Molpet]

Kreg Crosscut Station on Clearance at Menards

I have mentioned before that I purchased the Kreg Crosscut Station at Menards this past year for about $10 on Clearance. They are now on sale for $5.78 (after rebate)! If you don't have an expensive miter saw, you can get a lot of good square cuts with this little jig using your circular saw.

View attachment 3754974
View attachment 3754975

Believe it or not, these Kreg Crosscut stations are still being sold for about $50.00 or more at our other local stores and on Amazon...

View attachment 3754976 View attachment 3754977

Video promo...

I was looking for something like this a few years ago. Not at store near me but they will ship, so I ordered.
Thanks

 

[wrathsfarm]

Pallet Wood Stackable Compost Bin (Final?) Update

OK. My back is feeling better today. I was able to get back out in the garage this morning and do a little more work. I just finished the wire top for the stackable compost bin to use a bin tier as a mini grazing frame in the chicken run....

View attachment 3753803

All I needed to do was to make a frame to fit inside the stackable bins, staple some wire on top of that frame, then I added some 1X4 trim board on top to cover any staples and/or pointy wire ends from the hardware cloth. Here it is fitted inside a bin tier as it will be used for a mini grazing frame...

View attachment 3753806

As a bonus, I made some handles for the wire frame to make it a little bit easier to put on and take off. Here is a closeup of the handle, can you guess how I made them?

View attachment 3753808

Last week I got the idea to cut out some handles from a 2X4 stretcher with the cutouts...

View attachment 3753809

I thought that was a pretty good idea to use that piece as a handle. I was thinking of different handle options for a few days before I thought of just cutting it out of the 2X4 stretcher. Simple, free, and effective. I screwed it into the 1X4 top trim board from the bottom before I attached the trim board frame to the wire frame below. The handles work good.

You might be thinking that it seems like such a waste to cut up a full 2X4 stretcher just to harvest a couple of handles. And you would be right if that is what you thought. However, what I do is that I rip the 2X4 lengthwise into a 1-1/2 inch strip the entire length which yields a 2X2 standard size (which is 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 inches) piece of wood 4 foot long that I can use as standard framing in many projects. Then I cut out the handles from the bottom half of the ripped 2X4 which leaves almost no waste because I can use the remaining bits of wood as legs for the stackable compost bin tiers.

I have pretty much completed everything I wanted to do with the pallet wood stackable compost bin. I will probably make a few more bin tiers just for the fun of it. The hardware cloth cost me $5.00 at the Co-Op. I did not have any used wire laying around to use. So, unless I want to make a number of mini grazing frames in the chicken run, I don't expect to buy more hardware cloth for those wire tops.

I might use a couple bin tiers as a portable raised bed. We love Buttercup squash, but it over takes the entire garden. So, I might set a few of these bin tiers out in the middle of the yard, plant some Buttercup squash in it, and just let it grow.

View attachment 3753819
View attachment 3753820

Google picture of how big the Buttercup squash plant can get, overtaking the entire garden...

View attachment 3753823

My Buttercup squash plants did not get that big, but they did take over a number of tomato, beans, and pepper plant beds, making it difficult to maintain the garden. That is why I am thinking of trying a couple stackable bins out in the middle of nowhere and just letting the squash vines grow wherever they want.

As always, if you have other suggestions for use of the stackable tiers in that build, please let me know.

I like the top.
And neat idea for quick handles... I'll be using that.
I rip a lot of 2x2's for small project framing and usually just pitch the fork notch.

 

[gtaus]

I was looking for something like this a few years ago. Not at store near me but they will ship, so I ordered.
Thanks

I like my Kreg Crosscut Station, and for the current clearance price, you cannot come close to making your own jig with those features at that price. It's really handy just to take out that Kreg Crosscut Station and my cordless circular saw to make some simple cuts. I really like how easy it is. If you don't have a more expensive miter saw, or room for a miter saw, then this Kreg Crosscut Station might get you by for some time. If you need to make square cuts out in the field where you don't have electricity, this is a great option.

I do have a 12-inch electric sliding miter saw and I recently purchased a Ryobi 18v Brushless 10-inch sliding miter saw. Of course, both those miter saws offer more options. Having said that, I think about 99% of my cuts could be done on the Kreg Crosscut Station because I have seldom used the miter saw for the beveled cuts like for trim molding.

At any rate, for that clearance price, I think it's great to have that jig available in your workshop.

 

[gtaus]

I like the [hardware cloth wire for the stackable bins] top.

Thanks. I'll probably be using that as I said for a mini grazing frame in the chicken run. If I use some of those bins as a small, raised bed, something like that top would also be good to protect young plants from rabbits, squirrels, and birds giving the plant time to grow.

And neat idea for quick handles... I'll be using that.
I rip a lot of 2x2's for small project framing and usually just pitch the fork notch.

I wanted some kind of handle for that hardware cloth top and was thinking about buying some metal handles for the job. But then it occurred to me that those fork notches are already halfway done to a solid wooden handle - for free.

My first attempt at making those handles was to rip a pallet wood stretcher, which is 3-1/2 inches wide, exactly in half at 1-3/4". But then the top strip above the fork notch got too thin for my liking. So, I adjusted my circular saw rip guide to 1-1/2 inches and tried again. That was about perfect. It gave me a 4 foot long standard 2X2 (actual measurements of 1-1/2 X 1-1/2 inches) on one half, plus on the other half the fork notch handles were thicker and set up for a simple crosscut to size.

Before, I just considered that fork notch side of the ripped 2X4 to be waste.

Now, I am saving those "fork notch handles" and hope to use them in some other projects.

BTW, my table saw is in winter storage in another garage, so I am using this simple way to rip a 2X4 with a circular saw (and rip guide) as shown in this short YouTuve video I found....

 

[Molpet]

I like my Kreg Crosscut Station, and for the current clearance price, you cannot come close to making your own jig with those features at that price. It's really handy just to take out that Kreg Crosscut Station and my cordless circular saw to make some simple cuts. I really like how easy it is. If you don't have a more expensive miter saw, or room for a miter saw, then this Kreg Crosscut Station might get you by for some time. If you need to make square cuts out in the field where you don't have electricity, this is a great option.

I do have a 12-inch electric sliding miter saw and I recently purchased a Ryobi 18v Brushless 10-inch sliding miter saw. Of course, both those miter saws offer more options. Having said that, I think about 99% of my cuts could be done on the Kreg Crosscut Station because I have seldom used the miter saw for the beveled cuts like for trim molding.

At any rate, for that clearance price, I think it's great to have that jig available in your workshop.

Yes I usually am not near electric and carry the cordless saw and a straight edge to the project and wing it. This will save wood from the oops, or at least most of the mistakes