Playing with pallets (again)

Everyone knows pallets are great,you can do so much with them,yes they may take a little extra work,but the end results can be brilliant and they are cheap (as in free) however more often than not they are made from pretty boring wood,which is okay for making chicken coops,tables and what ever else takes your fancy.

A little while ago one of our neighbours had some slate chips delivered on pallets (unsurprisingly) but rather than just strips of pine the wood on these pallets had a little character,so I asked if I could have them.

The reason I wanted them is because they were made from parawood (or rubberwood) and yes that is the same stuff you can buy as flooring,can't say I've ever seen pallets made from parawood before.

But it is quite nice to make things out of,like this -

A memory box I made for my wife,can you guess what it says ?

It can be a little tricky to work with on account of the wood being very roughly cut,it's not like stuff you can buy that’s been planed smooth,but it does have some interesting patterns and faults,which gives it a bit of character.

After I'd made the little box,I started to wonder what it would be like to turn some of it,which isn't quite as easy as it sounds,the blocks that pallets have are the best place to start,so after making sure I'd got all the nails out I made a few sets of tea light holders.

Here's the first set I made,which now sit on the sideboard in our front room,I quite like them,which is unusual for me as I'm my own worst critic.

 Tea light holders before -

Just blocks of wood,nothing to see here.

Tea light holders after -

They turned out quite nice,even if I do say so myself.

Now the blocks are pretty much ready made for turning,you don't have to do much,just stick them on the lathe and of you go,but what about something a little more creative?

As I like to experiment I decided I'd try gluing bits of wood together and see what happened,now this takes a little time as you have to wait for the glue to dry,so each block I made took 24 hours to make,I could have tried turning them sooner,but I didn't really fancy them flying apart on the lathe.

So from this (wood slices selected) - 

The tape is just to keep the wood in order.

To this (the wood glued and clamped together) -

I just used wood glue to stick the bits together.

And 24 and a bit hours later - 

Another set of tea light holders.

I'm quite pleased with them,they may not be everyone’s cup of tea,but as an experiment I think it worked out well,of course sticking bits of wood together and turning them isn't a new thing,but you can get some interesting results and it's always fun to experiment,I've seen some great things made from turned plywood,and just about everything in between.

Although it doesn't always work out,as this little vase / pen pot shows,I didn't want to waste the wood so I turned it anyway,but when I glued the bits together it wasn't all quite in line,so the slices were a bit skewed,but it's still quite nice,and it's given me another idea,that being what if I glue the bits together skewed on purpose and then turn it? 

The little vase / pen pot - 

Can you see where it's wonky?

It's fun to experiment,but be careful,especially when it comes to lumps of wood spinning at high speeds,I've been hit in the face before and whilst I only got a bruise for my troubles it still hurt,so take care,and if you happen to be in the market for some tea light holders,or anything else then check out my shop.

The Shed And Beyond Shop (Opens in new window)

Thanks for reading.