Elegant Pallet Box

The goal of this instructable is to take a regular skid and upcycle it into something useful. This instructable documents that process and shows how great the end result was!

Supplies:

• 1 Pallet
• Stain (Ipswitch Pine)
• Polyurethane
• Wood glue
• 60 grit, 80 grit, 120, grit, & 220 grit sandpaper. (If only two or three of these grits are available, go with 80 and 120)
• Hardware
• Small Hasp (Latch)
• Hinges
• Handle

Tools:

• Hackzall / Sawzall (With wood & metal blade)(If no Hackzall is available, pallets can still be taken apart the old fashioned way)
• Hammer
• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Nail punch
• Miter saw
• Pin Nailer (With 1 3/4 in. pin nails)
• Drill/driver (This is the tool I used. A regular drill or a regular driver will still work)
• 
  

Check out my instructable on pallets:

• A Beginners Guide to Pallets

For more great ideas on how to use pallets, check out these instructables:

• Elegant Pallet Shoebench
• Diy Workbench From Scraps and Pallets
• Elegant Pallet Box
• Easy Pallet Phone Holder
• Easy Storage Carpet Ball Table (coming soon!)

The most important thing to do before beginning any project is to collect materials. This project does not require more than one or two 3 1/2 inch slats and one 5 3/8 in. slat. If you decide to make a bigger box you may need more slats. It all depends on how big you want your box to be.

Don't forget to punch out the nails. It really saves on time later in the process.

The second step we will take to build this box is to cut the pallets slats down to their correct size. For the long pieces, make marks at 11 3/8 inches for each of them. For the short sides, mark them at 8 1/4 inches.

Next, set up your miter saw to make 45-degree angle cuts. Crosscut the boards vertically at a 45-degree angle. Your boards should look like picture PIC #1.

First, sand all the slats as best as you can with 80 grit sandpaper. Repeat this step with 120 grit and 220 grit sandpaper.

After the sanding has been finished, stain the planks. The link to the stain I used is in supplies.

Arrange your four pallet pieces like the picture above. Make sure that they all fit together neatly, without major gaps or uneven angles. Also, use a speed square to make sure all your corners are as close to 90 degrees as possible.

Assuming that your cuts have passed the above criteria, we will begin to fasten them together. Glue two 45-degree angles together and pin nail them (look at PIC #4 for reference). I think that only doing one set of angles at a time is easier than doing them all together. Just make sure that they all line up without gaps. After gluing, proceed to pin nail the angles together.

Repeat this process until all the angles have been fastened together.

Make a mark on the wide slat at 10 inches. Using the miter saw, crosscut the slat. Next, decide what side of the box you want to be the bottom. This will be the side that we fasten the wide piece to.

After cutting the wide slats, repeat step three.

To fasten the wide slats, simply glue up the frame of your box and set the slat on top of it. Once you have the slat flush with all three sides, pin nail it in place (PIC #1).

To build the top, simply glue the sides of the top pieces together and clamp. After glue has dried, shoot a couple of pin nails into the sides of each seam.

Don't forget hinges! Also, I would suggest that you think of how black or stainless hinges will look in comparison with the size and color of your box.

After you have finished gluing all angles, and the glue has dried, check your seams. If you did a good job, all the seams should be tight and even. If you didn't do a good job you have a few options.

• Option one, use more wood glue or wood filler to fill the seems with. Next sand and stain with the rest of the box. It should clean up pretty well.

• Option two, re-cut the entire frame for the box.

• Option three, leave it be and hope no-one will notice.

At this point, you may decide to add second or even third coats of stain if you are not satisfied with the result so far. Additionally, you may decide to do a little bit of gap filling at the miter joints.

A handle on top of the box is very useful and seems to bring the whole thing together.

Finally, put some sort of latch or hasp on the box to prevent the lid from opening while using the handle.

Please leave comments below!)

At this point, you may decide to add second or even third coats of stain if you are not satisfied with the result so far. Additionally, you may decide to do a little bit of gap filling at the miter joints.

Please leave comments below!)