Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Wood Pallet Projects
by Chris Gleason
128 pages, 9 x 7.5 inches, Soft Cover
ISBN: 978-1-56523-544-1
Published February 2013 by Fox Chapel Publishing
Price: $19.99
Pallets offer a great resource – predominately free for the taking – to the wood worker and this lumber and “product” is almost limitless.
Wood Pallet Projects shows how anyone can upcycle salvaged pallet wood to create truly one-of-a-kind projects and this book gives the reader a number of ideas as to how pallets can become furniture and other products.
Asides from the ideas and the general information inside the book the reader will find twelve detailed projects of what can be made from pallet lumber. The author also explains how to take a pallet apart and many other things.
Some of his pieces celebrate the rough, edgy character of the material, while others are crafted as fine furniture. He shows how to construct both indoor and outdoor furniture in a variety of styles, along with other useful items such as a birdhouse, a toolbox, and even a ukulele.
There is also plenty of information in the book on working with pallets, including where to find them, how to process them into usable lumber, fasteners, sanding, and the best finishes (if any) to use.
The author provides important advice on how to make sure that your pallets are safe, and not sprayed with harmful chemicals. A colorful gallery of finished work provides further inspiration for green crafting.
Readers with the right frame of mind and mindset will wish for still more and many more ideas and projects can also be found for the seeking on the Internet.
Wooden pallets (and crates) are an important part of today's shipping operations and often, in fact more often than not, after they have done their duty they end up trashed and go into landfill.
This is a serious waste of a resource, especially also considering that often pallets are used but once and are then discarded and that some are made of quite valuable wood too.
Go and rescue a few pallets and make yourself some great bits of furniture and other things from the wood. Well, and, obviously, go and buy the book to get some ideas and the know-how of doing it safely. I just love pallets and the versatility of them and the lumber they provide.
© 2013
