Sunday, November 11, 2012

Shipping Pallet Projects

Used wooden shipping pallets can be reused with some simple modifications or be disassembled and reused in place of buying new wood. The YouTube video Pallet Garden shows how easy it is to create a planter from a shipping pallet, How To Dismantle A Wooden Pallet - Savvas Papasavva demonstrates how to take a pallet apart, Long Bench! shows how to make a bench from pallets and a little supplemental wood, and How to Build a Coffee Table out of Pallet Wood: Project 5 Paint/Distress/Antique Furniture shows how to build a beautiful coffee table from wood reclaimed from shipping pallets.

Remember to be careful and use the appropriate safety gear! Wood working is dangerous. Always take proper safety precautions when undertaking projects. Do NOT rely on the videos for determining whether you need safety gear or what precautions you need to take. I don't want anyone to lose an eye, finger, or suffer any other harm. Use common sense and read tool/product instructions before starting a project.


Planter


Is gardening your thing? Pallet Garden by groworganic is a 2:30 tutorial that shows how to modify a shipping pallet to work as a standing garden. If you know how to work a stapler and know a bit about gardening, this tutorial is for you. 


Taking A Pallet Apart


Want to use pallet wood for a project but not sure where to start? The How To Dismantle A Wooden Pallet - Savvas Papasavva video uploaded by miscpro is a 7 minute step-by-step walk through showing how to take apart wooden shipping pallets.


Bench


Need functional seating? In the 12 minute video Long Bench!, GregoryBuilds shows viewers how to modify shipping pallets to create a bench perfect for outdoor seating. You will need tools for this one.


Coffee Table


Looking to finish off your living room with a beautiful coffee table? How to Build a Coffee Table out of Pallet Wood: Project 5 Paint/Distress/Antique Furniture is a 13:30 video by BeachBumLivin that tells just how to make one. Additionally, this video demonstrates how to disassemble pallets and how to find pallets to use. You will need tools and probably a bit of wood working experience to complete this project.


About

groworganic

groworganic is the poster for the Grow Organic... For Life! YouTube channel that "provides weekly, seasonally relevant, how-to style videos for the organic home gardener."


miscpro

miscpro is an uploader of a "miscellany of artist documentaries, projects, collaborations, educational & instructional videos."


GregoryBuilds and BeachBumLivin

GregoryBuilds and BeachBumLivin are average YouTube users.


Critique

The planter video is simple and neat. I know very little about gardening and I feel I could make a successful planter based on the instructions in Pallet Garden. Projects in the other videos require more technical know-how, a bit of dexterity, and some physical strength. How To Dismantle A Wooden Pallet - Savvas Papasavva is the best well done of the remaining tutorials. The bench and coffee table tutorials require a bit of know-how. While both tutorials are guilty of telling without showing, the coffee table tutorial is the worst of the two. Producing a final product similar to the coffee table BeachBumLivin made is going to require some guess work.

The unprofessionalism in the pallet disassembly, bench, and coffee table videos give them a real world feel. They show real people doing realistic things with tools that you may actually have or can easily buy, rent, or borrow. Their unprofessionalism has one big failing, however. The men in the videos do not use or discuss safety gear.

2 comments:

  1. Lots of businesses throw out old pallets with the trash....especially if they are even slightly broken...so they are free for the taking. We've put them to good use for shed flooring. Easy take one end off to resize to fit....then put the end piece back on to keep it strong. Overlay with plywood and you have a good solid floor for low cost and mostly made from materials that would have gone in the trash.

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    1. What a great idea! I will be adding this to the Project Ideas page to make sure everyone sees it. Thank you for sharing.

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