Building a Bench from Pallets: A DIY Project Guide

Not exactly in half it doesn't really matter after I got all the pieces on the table I laid them out tallest to shortest and this gave me a chance to rearrange the colors and get rid of any ones that had problems. Just help me lay out what I wanted the top of the bench to look like.

I ended up with a whole lot more than I needed so I didn't have to use them all. I decided to make the bench about 17 inches tall in the center section of those rails on the side of the pallet was a just over 17 inches so it worked out perfectly. I could cut out the center section to use for the legs.

I couldn't pass up using the one that said made in the USA on as one of the legs. Now if you're cutting these especially on a chop saw be careful because there are a lot of nails the nails are often hidden in these things and there's just tons of it so make sure you get all the nails out of the way before you go to make any big cuts or you could have some problems.

After I got all the pieces in the order that I wanted I went through and started gluing them together. Realizing that I should have put it upside down part of the way through and it looks like I'm using a lot of glue but I really probably could have used more. I should have probably spread the glue to get an even cover over each piece as I glued them together.

The final product was fine but the more glue the stronger it's going to be in the long run then you bring out the clamps use as many clamps as you have and you might want to go buy some more. Anytime you're clamping a bunch of pieces together like this you want to get the pressure as even as you can throughout and often that means tightening one tightening the other end and then going back and tightening the first one.

Now this is dried for several hours and then when I took the clamps off I had a nice solid piece. Next it was time to add the legs. Each one of these pieces of wood that I'm using for the legs is a little bit different in size so I decided to letter each one in the letter the spot where it was going to go then I could set it in place and Mark out the area that I needed to cut.

I also marked the actual height where it was going to sit because they were a little bit different than I pre-drilled four holes in each leg to attach them. Then I used a jig saw to cut away the wood for the legs now if you start trying to pry it before it's fully cut you're going to end up breaking some of the glue and you're going to mess your top up so just make sure you get both pieces that you're knocking out of the way cut before you start prying them.

I attach the legs with some three-inch decking screws these drive really well and they're good for outdoor use and I'm not really sure where this bench is going to go so outdoor is good. Then I used some of the wider boards from the bottom side of the pallet to make a band that went around the outside of the bench.

This makes the top look a lot thicker than it is. I also turn the pressure on my compressor down a little bit so that the nails wouldn't be shot all the way in then I used a hammer to knock them in and some of them like crooked some of them bent and that just made it look like it was a little more rustic and a handmade pallet wood is pretty rough so anywhere that someone's going to be touching it sitting on it holding it make sure you sand down a lot get rid of as much of that stuff as you can.

So I thought that turned out pretty well and the best part was totally free and you can't beat that there's pallets everywhere and there's just tons of them people are trying to throw them away so go find yourself some pallets and build yourself some stuff. Thanks so much for watching the video I hope you enjoyed it let me know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook all of the projects I work on the videos and the blog posts and everything ends up at I like to make stuff calm so be sure to go to the site check it out see what all is there. Don't forget to subscribe for more videos on the way if you want to support the projects that I make in all these videos be sure to check out my patreon page there's a video there that explains what it is and how it helps me and any kind of support you can give me is great.

You know you can buy a shirt you can just pass these videos and my site on to your friends people that want to build stuff and that's awesome too thanks for watching I'll see you next time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey I'm Bob and I like to make stuff today I'm going to show you how to make a rustic bench out of two free pallets since I'd never built anything with a pallet before I didn't realize how difficult they were to take apart but I'm working on tool that should make that easier next time after I got all the slats off and all the nails pulled out I ran each one of them over the table saw and cut them roughly in half they're not exactly in half it doesn't really matter after I got all the pieces on the table I laid them out tallest to shortest and this gave me a chance to rearrange the colors and get rid of any ones that had problems just help me lay out what I wanted the top of the bench to look like I ended up with a whole lot more than I needed so I didn't have to use them all I decided to make the bench about 17 inches tall in the center section of those rails on the side of the pallet was a just over 17 inches so it worked out perfectly I could cut out the center section to use for the legs I couldn't pass up using the one that said made in the USA on as one of the legs now if you're cutting these especially on a chop saw be careful because there are a lot of nails the nails are often hidden in these things and there's just tons of it so make sure you get all the nails out of the way before you go to make any big cuts or you could have some problems after I got all the pieces in the order that I wanted I went through and started gluing them together realizing that I should have put it upside down part of the way through and it looks like I'm using a lot of glue but I really probably could have used more I should have probably spread the glue to get an even cover over each piece as I glued them together the final product was fine but the more glue the stronger it's going to be in the long run then you bring out the clamps use as many clamps as you have and you might want to go buy some more anytime you're clamping a bunch of pieces together like this you want to get the pressure as even as you can throughout and often that means tightening one tightening the other end and then going back and tightening the first one and I just added as many clamps as I could get my hands on now this is dried for several hours and then when I took the clamps off I had a nice solid piece next it was time to add the legs each one of these pieces of wood that I'm using for the legs is a little bit different in size so I decided to letter each one in the letter the spot where it was going to go then I could set it in place and Mark out the area that I needed to cut I also marked the actual height where it was going to sit because they were a little bit different then I pre-drilled four holes in each leg to attach them then I used a jig saw to cut away the wood for the legs now if you start trying to pry it before it's fully cut you're going to end up breaking some of the glue and you're going to mess your top up so just make sure you get both pieces that you're knocking out of the way cut before you start prying them I attach the legs with some three-inch decking screws these drive really well and they're good for outdoor use and I'm not really sure where this bench is going to go so outdoor is good then I use some of the wider boards from the bottom side of the pallet to make a band that went around the outside of the bench this makes the top look a lot thicker than it is I also turn the pressure on my compressor down a little bit so that the nails wouldn't be shot all the way in then I used a hammer to knock them in and some of them like crooked some of them bent and that just made it look like it was a little more rustic and a handmade pallet wood is pretty rough so anywhere that someone's going to be touching it sitting on it holding it make sure you sand down a lot get rid of as much of that stuff as you can so I thought that turned out pretty well and the best part was totally free and you can't beat that there's pallets everywhere and there's just tons of them people are trying to throw them away so go find yourself some pallets and build yourself some stuff thanks so much for watching the video I hope you enjoyed it let me know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook all of the projects I work on the videos and the blog posts and everything ends up at I like to make stuff calm so be sure to go to the site check it out see what all is there don't forget to subscribe for more videos on the way if you want to support the projects that I make in all these videos be sure to check out my patreon page there's a video there that explains what it is and how it helps me and any kind of support you can give me is great you know you can buy a shirt you can just pass these videos and my site on to your friends people that want to build stuff and that's awesome too thanks for watching I'll see you next timehey I'm Bob and I like to make stuff today I'm going to show you how to make a rustic bench out of two free pallets since I'd never built anything with a pallet before I didn't realize how difficult they were to take apart but I'm working on tool that should make that easier next time after I got all the slats off and all the nails pulled out I ran each one of them over the table saw and cut them roughly in half they're not exactly in half it doesn't really matter after I got all the pieces on the table I laid them out tallest to shortest and this gave me a chance to rearrange the colors and get rid of any ones that had problems just help me lay out what I wanted the top of the bench to look like I ended up with a whole lot more than I needed so I didn't have to use them all I decided to make the bench about 17 inches tall in the center section of those rails on the side of the pallet was a just over 17 inches so it worked out perfectly I could cut out the center section to use for the legs I couldn't pass up using the one that said made in the USA on as one of the legs now if you're cutting these especially on a chop saw be careful because there are a lot of nails the nails are often hidden in these things and there's just tons of it so make sure you get all the nails out of the way before you go to make any big cuts or you could have some problems after I got all the pieces in the order that I wanted I went through and started gluing them together realizing that I should have put it upside down part of the way through and it looks like I'm using a lot of glue but I really probably could have used more I should have probably spread the glue to get an even cover over each piece as I glued them together the final product was fine but the more glue the stronger it's going to be in the long run then you bring out the clamps use as many clamps as you have and you might want to go buy some more anytime you're clamping a bunch of pieces together like this you want to get the pressure as even as you can throughout and often that means tightening one tightening the other end and then going back and tightening the first one and I just added as many clamps as I could get my hands on now this is dried for several hours and then when I took the clamps off I had a nice solid piece next it was time to add the legs each one of these pieces of wood that I'm using for the legs is a little bit different in size so I decided to letter each one in the letter the spot where it was going to go then I could set it in place and Mark out the area that I needed to cut I also marked the actual height where it was going to sit because they were a little bit different then I pre-drilled four holes in each leg to attach them then I used a jig saw to cut away the wood for the legs now if you start trying to pry it before it's fully cut you're going to end up breaking some of the glue and you're going to mess your top up so just make sure you get both pieces that you're knocking out of the way cut before you start prying them I attach the legs with some three-inch decking screws these drive really well and they're good for outdoor use and I'm not really sure where this bench is going to go so outdoor is good then I use some of the wider boards from the bottom side of the pallet to make a band that went around the outside of the bench this makes the top look a lot thicker than it is I also turn the pressure on my compressor down a little bit so that the nails wouldn't be shot all the way in then I used a hammer to knock them in and some of them like crooked some of them bent and that just made it look like it was a little more rustic and a handmade pallet wood is pretty rough so anywhere that someone's going to be touching it sitting on it holding it make sure you sand down a lot get rid of as much of that stuff as you can so I thought that turned out pretty well and the best part was totally free and you can't beat that there's pallets everywhere and there's just tons of them people are trying to throw them away so go find yourself some pallets and build yourself some stuff thanks so much for watching the video I hope you enjoyed it let me know what you think in the comments below or on Facebook all of the projects I work on the videos and the blog posts and everything ends up at I like to make stuff calm so be sure to go to the site check it out see what all is there don't forget to subscribe for more videos on the way if you want to support the projects that I make in all these videos be sure to check out my patreon page there's a video there that explains what it is and how it helps me and any kind of support you can give me is great you know you can buy a shirt you can just pass these videos and my site on to your friends people that want to build stuff and that's awesome too thanks for watching I'll see you next time\n"