I hope that everyone has been safe and well during this pandemic and that you have found ways to stay busy and sane.
This situation of confinement and working from home has given me the opportunity to transform much of the wood waste I have been collecting for ages into something useful and breathtaking that everyone will love and appreciate
Material, equipment & tools needed:
- Pallet Wood
- Face mask
- Glasses
- Gloves
- Sanding Tool
- Hammer
- Measuring Tape
- Nails
- Handsaw or Chop-saw
- Knife
- Pliers
- Pencil
- and Paint of your choice
Dismantling the pallets
First, the pallet is dismantled with two hammers. The goal is to reuse all the nails that were used to build this pallet. You can see several techniques to disassemble a pallet.
Redwood and cedar are generally the best options for building a raised planter in terms of longevity, as they are naturally rot-proof and are known to last up to 20 years and moreover, they are beautiful.
# | Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Vestil SKB-DLX Deluxe Steel Pallet Buster with Handle, 41",blue | 3,679 Reviews | $66.39 | Shop Now | |
2 | Pallet Buster Tool with 41‘’ Handle, Carbon Steel Heavy Duty Deck Wrecker Pry Bar Puller Wood... | 32 Reviews | $43.99 $40.99 | Shop Now |
Sanding the pallet planks
Let’s start by sanding the pallet boards to give them a pleasant and smooth texture.
# | Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SKIL 5” Random Orbital Sander with Cyclonic Dust Box & 3pc Sanding Sheet - SR211601 | 4,272 Reviews | $34.99 $29.00 | Shop Now | |
2 | BLACK+DECKER Detail Sander, 1.2 Amp, 16,000 OPM, Compact Design, 3-Position Grip for Comfort,... | 17,652 Reviews | $43.86 | Shop Now |
Wood Cutting
Once the pallet has been disassembled and sanded, the boards of the 120 cm pallet should be cut into smaller wooden blocks with straight and angled ends (45 degrees).
The dimensions of the wood blocks will be shown in the following slides.
# | Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Skil 5080-01 13-Amp 7-1/4" Circular Saw, Red | 2,946 Reviews | $52.49 $27.79 | Shop Now | |
2 | SKIL 15 Amp 7-1/4 Inch Circular Saw with Single Beam Laser Guide - 5280-01 | 12,110 Reviews | $59.99 $48.78 | Shop Now |
Building The Square Box
To build the square box, you need:
- 4 x 46 cm angular edge blocks,
- 4 x 42 cm angular edge blocks for the 2 opposite people facing sides,
- 4 x 50 cm angular edge blocks for the top cover,
- 6 x 30 cm rectangular blocks for the inner decoration,
- 4 x 50 cm rectangular blocks for the boxes legs,
- 10 x 42 cm rectangular blocks for sides that will be hidden from the public.
The above measurements are based on 120 cm x 9.5 cm x 2.5 cm pallet boards and are also based on the space available in my garden, adapt these measurements to your garden.
Assemble the 2x46cm and 2x42cm blocks with the 50cm legs. Then add the 3x30cm rectangular blocks to fill the inside space.
Once this is done, just put the 10x42cm rectangular blocks to build the other two sides. Finally, add the 4x50cm blocks that you have set aside for the top.
Building The Rectangular Box
To build the rectangular box, you need:
- 4 or 6 x 38 cm blocks for the sides,
- 4 x 42 cm blocks for the boxes legs,
- 6 x 120 cm rectangular blocks for the people facing sides.
Building this rectangular box is much easier than the square box. Simply join the 3×120 cm boards to the 2×50 cm legs and then join the two sides with the 38 cm blocks. That’s it, it’s done.
Painting
Voila, so that’s all there is to it with nails and hammers. In the next section, with the help of my partner, we’re going to paint the outside of the boxes.
Once all the boxes were painted, we started looking for amazing plants in our garden for these boxes. But, as the number of boxes was far too large, we ended up abandoning our plan and chose plan B, which is to get good plants from the nurseries once the lockdown is over.
Nice work