DIY: Pallet Wood Projects

Palletwood Furniture
Palletwood Furniture

 

WOODY world packer and Pallet WOOD

When we re brainstorming about a suitable, funny, easy to remember, original and awesome name for our website, several options crossed our minds, but we wanted something that would combine everything what we love doing and when Woody World Packer came up, just out of the blue, we immediately checked at our web host www.bluehost.com if this name was still available and locked this in!

So long story short for now, WOODY stands for Wood, everything what we create, design, and refurbish from pallet wood, dumped furniture and other secondhand rubbish.

When we lived in Kununurra almost all our beautiful furniture was made out of pallet wood. Our dining table, which was a blood, sweat and tears project from Lion, our tv cabinet, coffee table, wine rack, and our cube dressoir / buffet which was born out of a coincidence of ordering a way to small buffet online at www.target.com.au

Lion shares our story and his advise on how to make your own pallet wood buffet in a few ( easy ) steps.

‘ This project was raised because my lovely lady bought a 8 cube self online at Target. Her idea was to set it on the long side and put industrial wheels under it  (not thinking about measurements, but the idea was brilliant)

When the self came in and I looked at the size of the box, I knew that it was small, very small. I started assemble the cute but steady shelf and it looked a bit awkward. Jo came back into the room and she was like’ WTF this thing is way to small, completely useless like this, can`t you make something around it from pallet wood? ‘

Yes i definitely can! ( not telling her my thoughts of who ordered this 😉 )

Sow I got to my drawing table and started working/thinking about how we fix this thing up with pallet wood

I will give you a small explanation how I assembled this project, first I like to inform you about te thickness  of the wood you might choose. The original cube shelf from the Target the thickness was about 10mm. So I have chosen the same pallet wood thickness for the inner cubes(A,B,C,D and E) and for the top/bottom(F/G) a thicker size pallet wood(1.8 mm) as I find it a better look.

For the legs (H) I went with the thickest/widest pallet wood that I had (12 cm h/2.8cm thick) for the best stability.

You will need to pre-drill all holes and sink them before you start connecting! Pallet wood is easy to crack/split. PD (Pre Drill)

All arrows are the directions of the screws.

(there are no measurements shown cause you might have a different cube size)

A : Start assembling with the inner length of both cubes. For the full length you have to measure the length Inside of the 2 cubes, repeat this process inwards (see picture A+C, green) (PD, Pre-Drill)

B : Top/bottom, make sure you take the full length of an individual cube. That means, you measure the outside length (see picture ) connect  B to (PD!)

C : To get a steady rectangle, you need to use a wider front plank at After you have done the first plank, you will see that the second B will overlap C. Connect both B to C.(PD)

D/E : The shelving are loose pallet planks, I connected a reel on the inside of the rectangle, make sure you don’t put the reel in the centre. The top of the reel should be at the bottom of the shelf, the shelf has to be centred. (PD)

F : For the Top of your cabinet, its important to select your best timber for the best finish, it has to be as straight as possible. I liked to have as many different colours/size/structure timber slabs. Pre drill the timber, try not to PD the cube shelf to get a good grip/connection. You can use glue and longer screws if you drill them in the HART of the upward standing-shelf.

G : The bottom is a bit tricky, we don’t use timber over the full length of the bottom ( see picture below) . Just a front and a side feature. You will need to use the same thickness of timber to install you legs later on!

H1: First have a good look at the image above. Make sure you use a nice thick timber for the legs, cut them at the right size (full dept) of the cube shelve and I recommend to make a small angle at the front  (75/80 degrees, depending on how tall your legs will be) I love them as tall as my wives legs 😉 no just kidding

H2: Now you will need to assemble a piece of timber to the leg. It needs to be te same thickness timber as you used at the bottom front feature G. Measure the length of the cabinet minus the dept of  G and about 3 mil extra! Cut the timber and assemble it at the back of the leg. PD and SINK het screws in the timber! Now you take the leg and connect it to the bottom, you will see that it will overlap G. 

Important things when you work with Pallet Wood

Screw

Make always sure you use a screw that is smaller than the thickness of the 2 planks that you are going to assemble. Measure both planks separate to get an accurate reading and keep in mind that they will sink in to the timber.

The pallet

If you re going to work with pallet wood, you will notice there is a big chance that size/lengths are different. I recommend to check your wood and pick te best ones for front/insight. Another thing to remember is do not leave your dismantled pallets out to long, certain timber will bent over night.

For this project we choose a raw finish but you can also use different sorts of polish, vanish or wax. ( Make sure you sand your pallet wood project before you finish it of with any of this )

Anyway Good Luck!! Watch for the nails and splinters !!

Leave a comment below if you have any tips or made pallet wood yourself ( with a link so we can check it out )

Or tag / share your work or tips at www.facebook.com/woodyworldpacker and www.instagram.com/woodyworldpacker

 

Photography as always © by Woody World Packer

 

 

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