Pallet bench build

In keeping with the hipster spirit of my bike trailer build and my coffee table build, I decide to fashion/ "re-purpose" two old pallets into a bench.

This bench is 100% recycled material.  The only tools used were a hammer and a saw.

The bench almost never came to be.  I was attempting to throw out the pallets for a company who did some siding work on one of my jobs.  Neither the garbage men nor the scrappers took the pallets.  After a week I decided to make something out of nothing.

Here is what I began with.  Two larger pallets, originally filled with house siding and delivered to a job site.

Being cheap and/ or "green," I removed and straightened every nail from pieces I took off the pallets.  I then reused every single nail.  

A few that I diligently made like new

Here is the beginnings.  One pallet was used for parts.  The other pallet is beginning to take shape as the seat of a bench and the back rest.

Here is a shot of my rough idea coming to shape.  At this point, the back is just balancing and not yet secured to the bench seat.  

Here is a side shot.  The short 2 x 4 on the back is the only piece of material that was not from the original two pallets.  But that piece of wood was heading for the garbage or the fire pit, so I threw it on for a little extra support to the back rest.  

A closer shot of the back of the bench. 

Here we are getting closer to the finished product.  A couple of notes.

1) I literally ran out of material so I did not fashion any arm rests.  Hopefully I come across another pallet and use that material.

2) The base of the bench is supposed to look like pallets.  I tore down, cut and built this base out of the "parts" pallet with the intent on it looking like two original pallets. 

Pre stain, but close to finished product.  

Side shot.  Notice the split piece is in a non load bearing location.  

Pointed eared friend was no help

Similar shot

Good look down the bench.  Notice the alternating yet natural colors of the back rest.  

This is all that remains from the original two pallets in the top picture.  A couple cut offs and splinters that will become fire wood.  Return to earth.  

Update 9/12/12***

Here is the stained up and sealed product.  Still missing armrests - need to dumpster dive some more pallets.  

Went with Cabot Australian Timber Oil "Natural" finish. I thought of painting the bench...possibly doing a white wash or some sort of distressed thing.  In the end I think the pallet wood is cool and this best displays that.  

Do they also make cottage cheese?

Here is the back stained up, but not the bench seat:

Another shot of the back all stained up:

Here the bench seat is half way done and not yet dry.  The color is slightly darker when dry.  

Pretty close to finished here, not quite dry yet.  

Somehow a cool grain appeared in spots when I applied the stain.  Who knew pallet wood was so exotic?

Coffee Table Build

Here is a photo and video log of a coffee table project that I tackled with the help of master craftsman Al and my brother in law Bill. Final walkaround video is at the end if you want to skip all the steps.  

Here is a video showing the parts I started with and some of my initial ideas.  The surface area of the table is some sort of heavy duty pallet compliments of Crate & Barrel.  The steel wheels and bracket were acquired at a flea market.  I initially planned to drill a hold through the metal wheels and fashion a pin (shown in this video).  As you will see in the later videos Al decided we would be better to drill and tap a hole, allowing us to use a set screw.



The steel wheels and brackets came from Sir Richard (yes that is his name) and Monalbano Furniture in Northlake, IL.  I met him at the Randolph Street Flea Market where he was selling some of his wares.

Here are the brackets he had.  Originally i planned to use the screw shown as a pin to hold the stem of the steel wheels in place.  

Sorting through various drill bits. 

These are the nuts and bolts that Sir Richard gave me with the brackets.  Bill and I came up with a better solution, so we did not use Sir Richard's bolts.  

Drilling the bracket and preparing for the tap.

Metal filings, so manly.  

Gratuitous shot of Dewalt drill used to drill holes in table top.  

Marking and drilling holes for the brackets on the surface of the coffee table. 

Digging through Bill's garage we found these bolts, which are usually used in a concrete foundation.  We decided to use a grinder and cut them to our specifications and attached a nut both on the surface and underneath the coffee table to secure the brackets.

Cutting Bill's bolts to use...

Sanding off the metal "tits" left over from the grinder. 

Socket set to attach our newly made brackets and bolts.  

On my way around the greater Chicago area looking for parts I stopped at Zimmer Hardware in Palatine, IL.  It is one of the few family run hardware stores remaining.  I believe it has been open for 127 years.  I bought some bolts that I ended up not using.  

                            

Final Walkaround...

                                 

Hipster Bike Trailer Build

So I decided I needed/wanted a "cargo" trailer to tow behind my bike.  After a quick perusal of retail prices I decided I would need to build my own.  With the help of a good friend, Al, I was able to modify an older child carrying bike trailer into a cargo trailer for my needs.

All of this was done for $50 and used 100% recycled/ re-used parts and pieces.

The pictures are in order or progress from start to finish. Make sure to scroll to the bottom for a walk around video of the finished product.  In addition there is a great video half way down of Al cutting the closet shelving material to size. 




Here is the chariot that will pull the trailer:

The bike setup with the Craig's List Child trailer.  This is before the breakdown. 

Some of the spare parts as we stripped it down.  The child carrier canvas and the wheels are off.  Also my Ortlieb Panniers are nearby.  Ignore those.  

Here is the original trailer sans wheels.  Some canvas still remains: 

The old trailer standing on end as we continue to dismantle it:

Another look at the old trailer on end during the break down process.

Canvass is gone, down to some aluminum tubing.  

 Out of this square will emerge an indestructible cargo trailer.

The old wheels were in great condition, thank you Craig's List seller.  We put the old wheels back on the original tubing after stripping it all down. 

A rear shot of the naked trailer for the ass men out there.

And yet another view of our unmolded piece of clay.

Here we began to brainstorm about using old wire closet shelving.  We have dry fit a piece just to see what we have to work with.  

Throwing some more shelving in, on and around the trailer to get ideas. 

We were able to manufacture our own brackets with some left over garage door opener material.  Don't throw that stuff away folks.  

Here we have cut one side of our box to length and we have just placed it in the trailer for fitting purposes.  

Some of the extra shelving material we had to work with. 

A close up shot of our homemade brackets and rivets.  The rivets went through our brackets and into the original trailer's aluminum tubing.  

Here is a close in shot of the original hitch.  We were able to reuse this in its original condition.  Thank you again Craig's List.  Also notice Al used a zip tie to secure the hitch arm to a saw horse while the body of the trailer sat on a work bench.  This allowed us to work on the trailer as it sat on its wheels and did not allow the trailer to roll around. 

We can start to see the box of the cargo trailer taking shape.  

Another shot as the sides of the box are affixed to the frame. 

A close in shot of the corners of the internal frame being marked for drill holes.  These will eventually be sandwiched on top and bottom with the homemade brackets and secured with rivets.  

Here is a shot looking the length of the trailer.  You can see a homemade bracket and rivet in the foreground of the picture.  

3 sides are in.  You can see the closet shelving creates a natural shelf around the perimeter to hold our floor.  Floor is coming ....

A front shot with 3 sides in.  

A shot in the distance.  At this point we still had the sides of our internal frame in and we were beginning to work on the bottom.  

The closet shelving did not come made for a bike trailer.  Check out the video below to see Al using his Dewalt grinder to cut the shelving to size.  

COOL VIDEO BELOW:

Here is a shot with all four sides in place.  You can see a piece laying under the trailer that will serve as a cross beam to support the floor.  

A close up shot of the home made brackets in place in the corner.

Here is a shot of the aforementioned cross piece to support our floor. 

Here you can see the floor beginning to take shape.  We did not have one piece of shelving wide enough.  You can see a gap to the left of the picture.  We were able to nicley overlap/ overlay two pieces for a smooth floor.  

Here is a shot of the two pieces of flooring overlapping.  

Another shot of a corner bracket.  Man I really love these home made brackets. Also you can see a zip tie hanging down.  Since the floor itself was not structural we held it in place with zip ties.  The sides and the original frame will hold and distribute the weight of the cargo.  These zip ties are snipped off for the finished product.  

 Here is a side shot of the finished product.  Note we made an optional floor of Masonite.  This can be put in in the event I am carrying something that will fall through the cracks of the shelving material. 

Another side shot of the finished product.  

A rear shot of the finished product.  The reflectors were off the original trailer.  

Here are some of the tools of the trade.  We have various wrenches and some red handled snips. 

Another shot of some of the tools we used.  Sawzall, Dewalt drill, hammer, ruler, rivet tool and box of rivets.  

Finally we have a complete "walkaround" video of the finished trailer attached to the bike.