Got a lovely garden? Then this cute DIY furniture might just be the perfect set that would complement your yard!
It’s project that falls on the easy DIY ideas category. You don’t need a fully functioning workshop, just some simple tools that can help make clean cuts and surfaces.
We all know that repurposing materials is a simple way though which every person can contribute to making a better world. What we really like about this is that it’s made from recycled and cheap materials – pallets, a metal storage shelving unit that’s no longer needed and pebbles.
But surely there must be more benefits to it than just reducing the amount of trash we throw out.
We like that the table is very sturdy and visually pleasing since it uses a gabion. (If you’re new to the concept of gabion construction, you can learn about its numerous benefits here.)
This outdoor wood bench with gabion table is definitely a big thumbs up for all of it’s great qualities. Inexpensive, recycled, decorative and most of all easy to DIY!
Is this going to be your next project for the garden?
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Materials:
- Pallets
- Pebble Stones
- Gabion Cage / Hardware Cloth
- Wood Glue
- Waterproof Paint
- Tung Oil and Citrus Solvent Finish, Furniture Wax
Tools:
- Measuring Tape
- Wood Clamps
- Circular Saw
- Kreg Jig
- Sander
- Pallet Breaker
Steps:
Design: When designing these pieces, there are 2 main limitations to consider:
The beauty as well as the challenge of pallet wood lies in it’s variations. They are quite different from finished wood sold in hardware stores. Although most boards on pallets are either 3.5″ or 5.5″ wide, the thickness can vary from 0.5″ to 0.8″.
The other limitation is tools. I am spoiled in my woodworking class with amazing shop tools. But I want to make these with simple tools that most people with limited space can have, which means no surfacer, jointer, router, band saw, or table saw (sob!).
These diagrams show the basic structures and assembly of the benches and table. There are certainly other ways to build these and feel free to adjust them according to the wood sizes you have.
The hollow post that the table fit into will be secured inside the gabion. Because the gabion cage in this case is 15″x15″x15″, the post needs to be a size that fits inside and still leave room for the pebbles / rocks, which are not just decorative, but more importantly – they contribute to a strong base.
Build a simple cross cut jig: As you can see we need a lot of pieces of the same length. Even though pallet wood is quite irregular, we still want the cuts to be as clean and square as possible. This jig worked great.
This jig is made for our Makita circular saw, and cuts pieces under 1.5″ thick. It’s very simple to make, but there are lot of considerations from blade cutting depth, to clearances on several parts of the saw when it slide along the guide. We had to trim and plane our jig a few times!
We used 1/4″ and 1/2″ plywood, and finished wood 1Xs to make the jig, after cutting the pieces using a straight edge guide which came with the circular saw, we glued the pieces together.
Please refer to the diagram which explains the design considerations for a jig that will work for your saw.
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