Making Something Palletable

Ah, but ignorance truly is bliss.  After reading Garbology recently, by Edward Humes, I could not help but feel there is more that I can do.  Especially after my exposure to such great re-use sites as Pheonix Commotion, etc..  What really did me in though was a fairly innocent trip to the waste transfer station down the road.  I took a truck load of leaves (trust me, our compost bin cannot keep up with six plums, various neighborhood maples, and three cedars on a postage-stamp size urban lot) to dump off for industrial composting and they had recently moved the area where they accepted clean green waste to a larger open area.  When I got out of the truck to unload I was surprised that one of the mounds surrounding the central area was a bunch of wooden crates that had obviously contained some large material item at one point.  I actually got pretty upset right there that this would go to waste like that after one use.  Perfectly good wood suited for a variety of uses and instead of becoming part of something long-lasting and useful, it's dumped to be shredded into compost.  Looking back, I should have just loaded it all into my truck after emptying my leaves but next time I'll know better.

Two chairs, one pallet, and one big helper

Back at home, the unsightly pallets sitting across the street at our radiator shop neighbors all of a sudden became a mission.  I asked the manager of the shop if he minded me taking them to use on some projects and he told me he'd be happy if I did as it would save them the cost of dumping them!  The shop had recently taken delivery of a very large industrial radiator and the pallet for it was a single use one because of its unique size and was just going to be tossed in the dump for shredding.  I couldn't let this happen.  I hauled the thing across the street and dismembered it in the back yard.  I had an immediate use in mind for some of the wood as a cover for our new compost bin (thanks Dad and Mom!) and some of the boards I thought would make some good frame material (see my last post) but that still left a lot to do something with.  After some online research I finally settled on making some chairs for the beach house that could withstand the outdoors and would be cozy enough to either have on the front porch or the back patio around the fire.

The original clevis pin design holes with
the compromise wood brace

My first design was based off a picture I found online but without any set plans.  I thought I would modify it to allow for the chair to easily collapse flat for moving or storage.  To do so, I thought I would use a clevis pin setup to lock the chair back position for sitting or for storage.  This turned out to be way too flimsy and I was afraid it wouldn't support any weight put on the pins in the upright position.  To fix it, I used a leftover piece of the 2x4 support wood at a notched angle to brace the back when it's in place and then left it freestanding for removal when you want to fold it up.  I'm still not very happy with this setup as anyone sitting there for the first time won't trust the brace to hold with the amount of creaking and give it allows.  It's also only built for one position when upright and you have to do something with the brace wood when it's folded down.  On top of all that, the chair itself is a little big for your averaged size person.  I fit comfortably well in it but you'd have to 6' or better to agree with me on that one.

Now we're talking.  And now you know which side
is hydrophobic, fragile, and must be kept upright

On my second design, I wanted to include more flexibility in the seat back position and make it a hell of a lot easier to adjust so I used something more akin to a modern chaise lounge.  I attached an extra set of supports to the seat back and cut two notches for a couple of choices of recline angle.  The result was a vast improvement over the original as it's much more stable and has a wider range.  The drawbacks are that it does not fold flat and is heavier because of the added weight of the supports and hardware.  Even with those negative points, I think I will remake the original design to use the adjustable incline support system and work out a way to make it fully collapsible as well.

Two angles are better than one?

All in all, my first foray into working with pallets was a success and I half-heartedly look forward to the radiator shop getting in more pallets.  My fear now is that I can't keep up fast enough building these types of things or coming up with new ideas before they consign them to the trash.  It's ridiculous that a 4' by 6' pallet should have one use and then discarded.  Luckily, I'm not the only one that thinks this way. One of my favorites is these guys, Viridian Hardwoods, which specialize in foreign hardwoods that arrive as pallets from other countries.  That doesn't mean there's nothing we can do with domestic soft-wood pallets either.  Pinterest, DIY, and a 96,798 other sites have ideas for "Reusing Pallets."  Why waste good wood?

Framed

In some of my free time (mostly at night after the kid is asleep and I can't do anything loud with the power tools), I still like to dabble in some amateur art just so I don't completely lose the skills that I paid my alma mater to teach me.  After having some of my work framed years ago for some sold pieces, I was shocked by how much it cost to have a painting framed.  At that time and even today, the cost to frame one piece seemed to be as much as I value the actual painting at.  After that initial surprise I made some attempts at cheaper framing with buying whole mat boards, glass, and metal assembly frames which cut the cost by more than half and then I took a long hiatus from making pretty much anything.

From airplanes to wall covering.

Prior to my long hiatus, I did make one frame from scratch when I had easy access to a wonderful wood workshop and a clear goal in mind.  I wanted a frame for one piece that I was working on that was not pre-cut from a factory.  The same wonderful people (thank you Millers!) that had the workshop were also rebuilding a 1927 Stearman Travelair bi-plane and had just ordered a new engine part for it.  The crate that it came in consisted of some perfect wood pieces that I wanted to use and so I drug it home and disassembled the whole thing.  There was some great industrial character to the wood including the metal join pieces which were still sharp enough to give a reminder nick or two about the caution that should be taken with repurposed material.  But they also add to the character of it and now, when I think about the piece, I can't really think of it in another frame.

Caution, sharp!

If you look closely, you can see notches from the
original milling process.

Since that time, I've gone back to work painting again and I've intentionally steared clear of having to buy frames, especially since I have the materials needed readily available.  The materials themselves have often been cheap to free depending on where they've come from and I feel they add much much more character to the pieces than a near perfect, professional frame does.  As with the frames, we are not perfect and the imperfections in us and our work help define who we are.  With one of my later frames, I wanted a more crisp, clean look than the rugged timeworn look that most of my frames tend towards.  For it, I used some leftover 2x2s from my front deck and with the use of a handy router, miter saw, and some leftover mat board, made a decent wood frame with some flaws that are more noticeable upon closer inspection but I love them for it.  They belie the fact that this is not perfect and that material used in the making is reflective of the actual content of the picture.  I considered a pure black at first but then realized some leftover walnut stain that I had would be perfect.  In a double application it made it appear black from faraway but with good soft lighting, the wood grain glows.

After that I made a pair of frames where I wanted their former lives obvious.  For one, I used leftover scraps from the old hardwood floors from our home that we were unable to use when we restored the rest.  The wood was covered in paint and plaster splotches which I left on.  I loved the wood itself for some of the rich grains and also the stains from it's previous life as a front deck but I'm still not sold on the splotches with the painting itself.  They just seem too darn happy for a cloudy Victoria beach.  For the other, I set out on a mission to find some old rough-cut timber just like the joists in our 100+ year old home.  We took a trip the Rebuilding Center and I found some beautiful 2x4 rough cut that even had a square nail head still anchored.  The rich red color of the wood, the tight grains, and the old sawmill marks from the blade worked perfectly with the painting I wanted to frame and I will definitely be coming back to this type of resource again.  To help stabilize the frame I also used some copper strapping on the corners.  I couldn't get a shot that wasn't blurry but I love the look of it as it complements the deep reds of this antique wood and it does a great job of pulling the industrial aspects of the painting into its surrounding as well as keeping the frame together well!

Nails and saw marks are a wonderful thing.

The frame has to look good so folks won't pay attention
to the painting.

 Lastly, after my tinkering with building a cat tower (see my last post), I wanted to continue the use of driftwood in purposeful applications.  It just so happen to fit right in with the painting I was currently working on anyway, so we all took a family bike ride down to the river.  After poking around for a couple hours, I had enough pieces of wood to work with and we headed back.  My original thought was to carve out nice crisp notches to join the sides of the frame together but as I thought of how I would fasten them, I couldn't think of something that looked natural enough for what I wanted.  So I ended up using some notching to keep the corners somewhat centered and then bound them with sisal twine.  Not only was it easier and more natural looking, it enhanced even further the relation of the frame to the painting.


I'm not sure what's next on the horizon but I think it will involve some repurposed metal and wood.  Either way, I'm finding that I truly enjoy crafting the frames nearly as much as the art and I think that they fit better with what I want than anything over the counter.  Finally, as you know the bottom line is always a consideration, the most expensive any of these frames were would be around $70 in materials.  The driftwood frame was about $5 for eye screws and sisal twine (which I already had laying around for gardening).  Probably the best deal you can find, both economically and sustainably, is an already produced frame that matches the size and style you need.  However, that can be like looking for a needle in a haystack so crafting your own may be a great way to go.

Where's the Tuna Tier?

What do you get when cross driftwood with a god-awful faux-hair ocean blue shag blanket?  Leisure luxury viewing for the felines of the house.  I wish I could say this was an original idea but I've been lacking in the originality department lately and this was actually borrowed from the some of the coolest cat towers we had a chance to see at Canine Utopia.  We had been talking sometime about getting our two not-at-all spoiled cats a perch of their own rather than make them mercilessly use the window sills when they wanted to enjoy a taste of the great outdoors but we were never a fan of the carpet on cardboard variety out there.  When we saw the pieces of art in the store window we both thought, "Awesome.  How much?"  Turns out that it must take quite a bit of labor and materials to make the beautiful towers in the window because they were definitely out of our price range.  So, being lucky enough to know some good sources of driftwood, a plan was hatched.

Doesn't this just exude 'ocean'?  That
would explain the sand in your shorts.

Despite our original intention of going down to the river and selecting some prime driftwood ourselves, we happened to stroll by our neighbor's of two blocks away and noticed a large selection of driftwood lying up against their shed.  It turned out nicely that they had done all the hard work for us intending them for another project but in the end only used one massive piece and had a bunch of timbers left over.  We picked out four nice pieces and hauled 'em home.  I left the wife in charge of finding the appropriate textile material to cover the platforms and, after her and the kiddo had  a fruitful day at Goodwill, I came home to something unexpected.  Apparently the cats were to get their very own ocean-at-home experience since they were unlikely to ever visit the actual beach house.  What the heck, I ran with it.

Three legged stool anyone?

To build, I pulled some excess particle board out of the basement that I had intended to use for watercolor backing for years but never needed; utilized some excess 3" screws to anchor the driftwood columns to the base; borrowed another small piece of OSB from a neighbor leftover from his chicken coop build; and ended up having to the hardware store for some 1/4" x 3" lag screws and accompanying washers.  Sadly, the faux-hair ocean blanket was the most expensive item at $6.99 making a grand total of $8.68 if you don't count the beer that will be making an appearance on my neighbor's porch in the very near future.  Compared to the approx. $500 retail price range we were looking at, I think we did fairly well.  Sadly, I actually ended up with a larger chunk of excess OSB than the particle board I used for the base but now that all the excess lumber I had under the deck has gone to the beach, it can stay there for a few years.

You'll notice only two tiers. 
Two tiers = no tuna tier = unhappy cats.

My original plans did include a third tier which my wife nixed as we do live in a small house and this was already looking like it might be a bit large.  The cats, on the other hand, are demanding a third tier, replete with an unending supply of tuna.  Dream big, cats, dream big.

On the Fence

During the start of the front porch project, I had to temporarily move the side fence that separated our front yard from the rear.  Of course, "temporary" is a nice relative word and when I say "temporary" I mean it's been there for about two years now.  Since my larger summer construction projects have been put on hold for lack of funds (another house issue is going to take some major capital so we're in saving mode), I decided to at least wrap up this loose end since it would be fairly quick and inexpensive.  Another reason I really wanted to see this completed is because our only access to the backyard is through the house or the rear gate which requires using stairs and can be pain to get stuff in and out of the backyard easily.  I also wanted to make this as sustainable as I could and so we set off for the Rebuilding Center in Portland to see what we could use.

I recall seeing a fence on one of our travels that had used old house or barn siding as the fencing which I really liked so I thought I would look for the same.  I found enough lap siding that looked as if it had come off of a pre-WWII house which cost me about $60 for the usable board lengths.  We also found a solid wood door that was smaller than a standard size but would work perfectly for our gate for $20.  On hand I had a couple of decent 4x4 posts I was able to salvage from the temporary fence.  On the days it didn't rain, I stripped the paint off the old siding and door and then sealed them with stain/sealer that I had leftover from both the shed and front porch.  I also picked up a used latch from Habitat for Humanity's ReStore for $8.  New materials included cables, turnbuckles, thimbles, and eyebolts since I wanted to make sure the weight of the door didn't pull the post down.  I also had to purchase two new treated posts, concrete, and another box of stainless steel screws.  The double-sided lock was the most expensive single item but we kind of needed it to make sure the dog didn't get out...yet again.  Another tangential cost was the new circular saw I had to pickup at the hardware store after my old free hand-me-down quit working completely. 

The finished product.  Actually finished!
100%, really!

The project turned out pretty good and I'm especially happy with the rustic look of the old siding and how the warm color of the stain gives it a new life.  Of course like any project I seem to do, it's fully functioning but still only about 99% done.  Over the gate I'll be putting a pergola with the leftover scraps I had from the old fence that will match our gate on the other side of the house.  You wouldn't believe how nice it is to not have have carry the lawnmower from the front to the backyard every time I need to mow the lawn.

Used materials: $88 not including scrap or leftover material I already had on hand.
New materials: $160 + $60 incidental for a new circular saw.
Time:  The most time-consuming part was the stripping of the old paint and the staining because the weeks I was working were off-an-on showers most days and the sealer/stain recommended at least 48 hours of dry conditions.  Over the course of a few hours here and there after work and a few half-days on the weekends, it took me about a month from start to finish.

UPDATE:  A few weeks later I was able to finish putting the pergola on top.  Fin.

A Place to Hang Your Hat

So, it has been quite awhile since I've posted. That doesn't mean I haven't been busy with projects. Life just does that to you sometimes. I just completed my latest project, a fairly quick one as they go, and it reminded me of this blog so I thought I'd post it up and hopefully follow up with more entries on all the other things that have been occupying my spare time. First though, some background.

I applied for and received a promotion at work over a year ago, coincidentally right around the time I stopped blogging. With the new job I also got to move into my own office and for that amount of time, the office has been barren except for the practical necessities to do my job. I've been using a spare office chair as a place to hang the extra raincoat, sweatshirt, company hat, and backpack when I'm in and it looks rather sloppy. A couple weeks ago we had an intern with us on a detail and she commented how my office was pretty boring. This kind of put me in motion to actually make this coat rack which I'd been contemplating for a long time. I also brought in some artwork that had been sitting down in our basement collecting dust for lack of wall space in the rest of the house.

After building our front porch, I've had some scrap material left over that I've been trying to find some good use for besides firewood. I especially had way too many 2"x 2" railing slats left over that I had pre-cut but somehow grossly overestimated how many were necessary. So I thought I'd try to make my own humble glue-lam post out of these slats and join them up vertically with lap joins and make this interlocking hat tree for my office. I also wanted to get creative with a bunch of accumulated scraps of random things in the office and combine the craftsmen element of the wood work with an industrial metal element. One piece that I especially wish I had been able to incorporate was on old rock drill bit that I hauled over from Montana on the infamous move (see past posts) but alas, I just couldn't find a good way to mount the post and create a wide enough base to make it stable. That and the bit itself was very heavy, probably as much as the whole hat tree. The end product doesn't have nearly the industrial touch that I originally intended but I still kept some of it in and the rest would have been hidden by the coats anyway. During the process of building it, I discovered that my glue-lam technique needs a little bit of work but overall I was happy with my rookie attempt. At the top part of the post I had an alignment issue with one of the pieces of wood and I took the opportunity to get my new carving knives out and practice a bit. Part of the main post has a polished steel bar that was leftover from a light fixture we put in the house and it was too nice to just recycle. So, at the top end of the bar I carved the wood to faintly resemble a whale and the bottom end a whaling ship in homage to the recently released Moby Dick in Pictures. Finally for the base, I used some beat up old 2"x 4"s I had around the basement. I sanded off the bulk of the paint but left enough to show it's prior use and abuse. I finished it all off with a coat of natural stain and left it at that.

One thing that I noticed after the completion of the tree was the accidental progression of age in the wood from the bottom to the top. At the very bottom are some chunks of old growth Douglas Fir that I had bought from a salvage store and used to make a painting frame. It amazes me how tight the grains are compared to the younger wood. The upper part of the base is some newer Doug Fir but still probably from a piece that has been our house for at least 20-30 years. Even comparing those grains to Pine that I used for main post you see a noticeable difference. What I love about this project the most (aside from finally getting those coats, hats, and bags off the chair in the office) is that nothing I used was something I had to purchase new. Everything, down to the bolts and washers was something I already had lying around at home. I've cleared a bit more room from underneath my front porch, I cleaned out some the excess nuts, bolts, and washers that were filling up my miscellaneous drawers, and I put some otherwise wasted material to good use. If you're interested in some other amazing reuse projects, I would recommend Phoenix Commotion, a group that has not only done amazing work in their use of recycled/reused/re-purposed materials but also with an incredible socially-conscience purpose in mind. Now, the only thing left to really finish this project off is a good topper. If you see something, let me know.