DIY pallet projects penguin light up planter and bird planters

[Allen levine]

Not my favorite type of woodworking but family member came across this pallet site 

doesn't look like pallets to me but I agreed to make her the penguin planter then was asked about bird planters

this is all rough cut pressure treated I didn't joint or plane anything just screws and glue 

it is what it is

im not making anything like this again

if someone wants a planter I'll make them a beautiful box out of cedar small big double triple don't matter no more pallet wood projects

i saw 2 pallet sites so I painted it like I saw other site tried to use whatever pastel looking colors I had on my shelf 

the penguin there is a solar light so it lights up at night

take a look

ill post the site pics so you see what pic I followed no plans just winged it as I always do

 

oh my bird planters are the striped ones

sorry can't find original pic of penguin but if you search diy pallet stuff you'll find it

[Allen levine]

None of these are fine woodworking 

I'm better then this as far as furniture 

[rjweb]

Allen, they are neat, RJ

[kmmcrafts]

They look great!! 

I have been seeing these on my Face Book recently.. Wife has hinted around for me to make a few of them.. We have some old pallets and I made the mistake of telling her I was going to be cutting them up and using the wood in our summertime camp fires.. She claims no we're going to make something out of those.. 

I used some pallets years ago to supposedly save on having to buy scroll sawing lumber.. didn't take me long to figure out they cost more in planer knives and sawblades.. not to mention the time it took to bust them apart and pull any nails.. I'm not sure what she has in mine to make with them but the only saw I'll use on them is the chainsaw.. LOL.. and I don't even like to use that to be honest. 

Building this type of stuff the cedar picket fence boards are actually pretty cheap and it's cedar so a little more weather resistant type lumber too..

[BadBob]

I have made many things from pallets. When I first began scrolling, that was the only thing I had access to.

These are all made from pallets:

The body of this toy airplane is made from an oak pallet.

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, BadBob said:

I have made many things from pallets. When I first began scrolling, that was the only thing I had access to.

These are all made from pallets:

The body of this toy airplane is made from an oak pallet.

Beautiful work Bob!!

Nothing wrong with using pallets for lumber if that's all you can source. For me I have a lumber mill right next door and also my brother owns a mill and is only 5 miles away.. I found that the pallets are full of dirt and grit ( at least all the ones I've tried to use ) and even when they're clean looking that grit is hard to get out of the rough cut boards.. so for me they dulled my planer knives almost instantly, or it sure seemed that way.. certainly faster than running clean lumber through to get a desired thickness.. Now maybe if one had a belt sander and was able to clean / smooth the rough cut lumber and use the thickness of the pallet board as is might work well. Certainly a lot of good project lumber to be had in old pallets for certain uses..

Once I started selling my crafts it arose another issue of.. who knows what toxins were stacked on those used pallets that could have soaked into untreated wood and then passing that toxin onto my customer.. so I feel it's not worth the few dollars saved with the potential risk that could be involved. I suppose if you sealed up the finished project in some way maybe it'd be safer but also what risk is there to the crafters with sawdust from said boards. To me it just doesn't seem like that great of an idea to save a couple dollars.. I'm sure others have a different opinion. I've personally used my share of used pallet lumber over the years without incident but it is something to think about, especially for those selling crafts. 

[Allen levine]

I have ripped apart enough pallets in my life to know at this point I'm not making any furniture with them

peoplenl on those diy pallet sites aren't picking pallets up in the back of Walmart or target

they are most likely purchasing new pallets or pallet wood from a pallet manufacturer 

for small projects yeah if you want to deal with it

me I'm not putting any lumber in my racks not knowing what they might be infested with

i have 100 bf of sapele 50 bf of hard maple 50 bf of Spanish cedar some walnut 75 bf of cherry some oak and other small amounts of various species

no borers for me 

I remember I went to Michigan once and visited a friend who milled a lot of his own walnut and oak and cherry

i loaded up my pickup and drove from Michigan to Long Island and got pulled over off of rt 69 merging onto rt 80

Indiana state trooper told me I was speeding 

clocked me at 63 but I asked speed limit was 70 but he said construction zone which I had no way of knowing as I just came off entrance ramp

he agreed eventually no ticket but he was looking over the back and I thought for sure I was about to get in more trouble for transporting lumber between states as I only knew of ash borer laws back then

he said you a woodworker and I told him yes I build my own furniture he smiled and sent me on my way 

consistency of thickness nail holes bugs hidden nails nope I'll skip crappy pallet wood

today I needed 3/8 inch thick sapele and all I have left is 5/4 and if it was 6 inches or less I'd try to slice on bandsaw but I needed close to 9 inch width so I just planed it down and ate the cost

incant get less then 4/4 sapele anyway so at 9.50 a bf and I used a bit less it wasn't overwhelming 

I won't let my wife do her nails this week and make up the difference 

she doesn't read this so I'm safe 

Edited May 2 by Allen levine

[Allen levine]

I have and will take old furniture made of oak or walnut if it's solid wood if someone want to dispose of a old bedroom set or table that's all scratched up

i cut it up and use it for plenty of projects

[Allen levine]

ive had several friends , well my wifes friends, ask me if Id make and sell them the bird planters. I also had 2 people yesterday who walk their dogs in front ask me if I sell those things, (theres alot of things in front of my house), but they specifically mentioned the colorful bird planters. 

I didnt even offer, because they will never pay me what I should be paid, and Im not working for minimum wage. 

I taught my wifes good friend of 40 years husband how to make pvc pipe birds, and he makes them alot fancier then me now, so when she asked me yesterday, I told her I will make a template for her husband and he can knock out as many as he wants, becasue all he really needs is a jigsaw and I know he owns one, as well as a mitre and portable table saw. so if he rambles over this weekend, I think monster boy will enjoy watching me show him how easy it is.

[Allen levine]

bad bob, Im stealing your little airplane project for something my monster boy would like....he can watch me cut it on the bandsaw. and Ill let him attach wings and wheels.

[Allen levine]

18 hours ago, kmmcrafts said:

They look great!! 

I have been seeing these on my Face Book recently.. Wife has hinted around for me to make a few of them.. We have some old pallets and I made the mistake of telling her I was going to be cutting them up and using the wood in our summertime camp fires.. She claims no we're going to make something out of those.. 

I used some pallets years ago to supposedly save on having to buy scroll sawing lumber.. didn't take me long to figure out they cost more in planer knives and sawblades.. not to mention the time it took to bust them apart and pull any nails.. I'm not sure what she has in mine to make with them but the only saw I'll use on them is the chainsaw.. LOL.. and I don't even like to use that to be honest. 

Building this type of stuff the cedar picket fence boards are actually pretty cheap and it's cedar so a little more weather resistant type lumber too..

yeah, thats the problem, when a friend or relative see them on facebook they immediately think hey, he can make one for us. now I use the bad back excuse and Im doing a big project right now, call me in a few months.

[rjweb]

Allen, I like those excuses you mentioned will have to keep them in my notebook (head), RJ

[BadBob]

This guy makes nice stuff from pallets. I learned a lot from watching him work.

https://www.youtube.com/@EpicUpCycling

[barb.j.enders]

They are cute.

If someone asks if you sell them, absolutely say "yes".  Then tell them the price you would actually price them at.  Your labour to break down the pallet, time to cut, paint etc.  I am sure at $300 each, they might just say "thanks but no thanks".  Or, you will make a killing

[kmmcrafts]

4 hours ago, barb.j.enders said:

They are cute.

If someone asks if you sell them, absolutely say "yes".  Then tell them the price you would actually price them at.  Your labour to break down the pallet, time to cut, paint etc.  I am sure at $300 each, they might just say "thanks but no thanks".  Or, you will make a killing

That's the way to do it.. put a high price on things you don't care to make for others.. 

I do this many times with family and friends.. even online sales sometimes.. Then I'll say, "if you can wait until my slow months I'll do it cheaper but right now I'm busy making money and I can't do this for you at a discount / free until spring or summer when things are slow" .. Because I'm not going to lose money making you something "now" while I have full price paying customers.. Most times they totally understand and even pay up if they want it bad enough.. and I've also done things basically free for them in my slow / off times so they get it / understand for the most part. Many times also they forget all about wanting something when things slow down for me and I don't ever have to make it. 

Edited May 3 by kmmcrafts

[BadBob]

On 5/3/2025 at 12:32 PM, kmmcrafts said:

That's the way to do it.. put a high price on things you don't care to make for others.. 

 

I did this once with a custom order on my Etsy shop. I really didn't want to make it, but the customer didn't hesitate and paid what I asked. I thought maybe this wasn't a fluke, so I made a made-to-order listing on Etsy and got more orders. Every time I got an order, I raised the price and got another order. I finally stopped renewing the listing because I hated making that toy.