Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Sally PB]

I learned something today, mechanical vs. magnetic switches.

Me too!

 

[gtaus]

Goldilocks Planter Project - Third One Was Just Right!

I am happy to report that my third attempt at making a box planter for Dear Wife was just right! Here is what the 3 planters look like sitting out in the driveway...

My first attempt, after talking to Dear Wife and getting her specs for the job, was the small 8X8 inch planter box on the left side of the picture. Unfortunately, once built, it was far too small for what she wanted. It was not even close to what she had in mind.

The second attempt, after going outside with her, measuring everything for fit, was the largest 20X24 inch planter box on the right side. But, once again, when built, that planter box was just a bit too large. But I was getting closer.

My third attempt, that 18X22 inch planter in the middle of the picture was just right! Thank goodness!

Now I will be making one more box planter at that 18X22 inch size, one for the left side of her wildflower garden and the other on the right side. She decided that the largest 20X24 inch planter box would work in the backside of the garden, so I don't need to make a third 18X22 inch planter. She also said that she is going to use the smaller 8X8 inch planter in a different place. So, in the end, everything is working out well.

I really don't know what she has in mind. These are like some flat boxes rather than a pot with some height. But that is what she wanted.

Here are some construction details on the planter boxes.

I used 1X6 pallet wood planks for the sides. So, the depth of the boxes are about 5-1/2 inches deep.

I used up various width pallet wood planks for the bottom, as it did not matter. The final bottom board was cut to fit the final gap of the bottom.

I left small gaps in the bottom boards for drainage, so we should not have to drill additional holes.

For a long time, I wanted to work on a pallet project that was 100% reused pallet wood and hardware. This was that project. All the wood was from pallet planks. I also reused the nails I pulled out of the pallet wood. I had a lot of pallet nails that were mostly straight, and I used them first. I did have to straighten out a few additional nails on the bench vise anvil with a hammer before I could use them. Because I was reusing pallet nails, and I was hammering them into the edge of 3/4 inch planks, I predrilled holes for the nails with a small bit. That helped the nails stay true and straight when I hammered the wood together. I only had a few blowouts that needed to be redone. No big deal. In the end, every one of those planters is 100% reused pallet wood and pallet nails.

OK, that 100% reused pallet wood and nails project is over. Let me say that it did take longer reusing those pallet nails. I think the predrilling the holes was needed because the nails had to stay inside the thickness of the 3/4-inch planks. That took a little extra time, but I think it saved me time on the backend because the nails stayed true and straight. I only had a few nails that went sideways on me and had to be redone. I had a few nails that bent when I was driving them into the wood. I suspect those nails themselves had been weaken when they were pulled out of the pallet wood when I took the pallet apart. Only 4 or 5 pallet nails failed in that respect, so I thought that was pretty good. But it did take extra time to pull them out, find some new nails, and redo them.

In the end, I used all free pallet wood and free nails to make these planters. That was nice.

Having said that, when I go back to making some more pallet wood raised beds this spring, I will be using screws and my drill/impact driver. It's just faster for me. Plus, I think the screws will prove to have more holding power on the larger raised beds.

I am curious to see what Dear Wife does with those planter boxes. She is all happy with the project so far, so I hope whatever idea she has in her head turns out well! I'll post some pictures at a later date - assuming she gets them setup and filled with plants.