Another upcycle project, but i'm gutted I got rained off.

in #blog6 years ago

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Upcycling

I have really got into the upcycling projects, it is something I think I should have done years ago, there are many reasons why I enjoy what I have been doing, I like the fact that I start with some broken pallets and it turns into something else that I would and many other people would have in their houses.
I am reducing landfill waste, every pallet that doesn't get saved goes to landfill, some get repaired some get up cycled but if they make it into a skip then the end is going to be the landfill and that's not good for us our children and our children's children.

Fish tank stand project

My daughter's have some pet fish, there only gold fish but they won them at the fair and since then they have been living in a smaller tank under my big tank that I did keep in the living room.
My oldest loves when I build something for her and she asked if the tank that was her could have a stand for it and I was happy that she wanted one too.

stripping pallets
The hardest thing about building things from pallets is stripping them down without breaking or splitting the wood, people think they are held together with nails, well this is correct but the type of nails used are a bugger to get out.

photo from tool station thank you.

these are the nails used to put pallets together, they are called annular ring nail, they are pretty cheap but they are made to go in and not come back out.
the twist they have in the nail is like a screw and when you start to use the crowbar or hammer to get them out your wood sometimes splits.
I have found that the best way to get them out is to pop a chisel down the wood between both wood boards to make a gap, then either the hammer or crowbar easily goes behind the nails and doesn't damage the wood.

measuring up

So I measured the tank and decided to make the cabinet a small one, the tank is 20" so under two foot, (don't worry fish lovers I have a pond for them that is going in my garden:) )
I then have to make sure that all the wood is cut minus the nail holes as they don't look nice, now if your going to paint it then you can always fill the hole with some filler and sand, paint over then your good.
But I am wanting to stain and varnish this unit to make it look really tidy.

So I have cut the wood and was just about to sand them down so they have a nice smooth feel to them before putting it together and the sodding rain came down.

So my fish tank project has been held back a little until probably tomorrow. I think I need to invest in a large shed then I can just build whatever the weather.

Until next time my friends


thanks @papa-pepper for the gif. :D

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Looking good!
(as are those comet goldfish!)
I used a lot of pallet wood for projects as well. The best pallets are the hardwood ones, obviously. Very strong wood and often very attractive.
I also had the problem of getting those ring-shank nails out: what I ended up doing was using a sawzall with a metal cutting blade and slipping it between the boards and foundation to cut off the planks. Due to them being ring shank you don't really have to worry about them falling out later on, and to me it just added more visual interest to the finished work.

I was going to use a sawzall but I didn't know if it left the nail heads in the wood or not, I could do with an easier way to take them apart.
I did however use a circular saw for the smaller planters I made and just cut straight through the wood this then made it easier to put them together as it was just a case of lining them up and hammering together

cheers for dropping by @corpsvalues :D