Palletblock to Treasurechest

ok, what to do with all those leftover palletblocks. most use the planks/boards from the pallet, but the blocks are non functional for most. so, here is an option for you.

so, first start with turning it into a nice clan beam as good as possible.

when you have a nice block(without nails!), cut it like on the first pic. its about 2/3 of the width to provide a lid for your box.

when you have the two pieces, leave the lid on a safe place and play with the bottom.

we want feet, so i put the tablesawblad out on +/-1cm(height of your feet you want).

since i don't have a "dadoblade" and my blade is only 5mm thick i keep going over it so the middle is cut away and i only keep four little feet (video explains it better).

ones you have that, go to the next step.

it wouldn't be a box if the inside was still solid. so we need to find a way to carve is out. you can do it with a chisel, or a strong dremel, but i do it with a small milling machine and a big drill on the drillpress. it works, but there should be a better way than that...

you can also care a space into the lid so there is more room like i did.

when the rough work is done and you have a simple box, you can detail it.

i start with drawing lines to know what i'm up to. lines are easier to delete than a cut with a dremel ;-).

ones the pattern is drawn, i start with my dremel to make some deep carvinglines.

after that i take my anglegrinder with Graff speedcutter disc and cut/detail the shape of waves i want.

only soft touch is needed to carve away the parts.

i finish the rough edges with the dremel with sandingwheel.

for a darker look i burned the outside of the box.

well, first i was going to make some simple hinges on it. but then i was thinking about my precious magnets( i'm the magnetguy ;-))

so i drilled in all fout corners of the lid and the box and put magnets in it.

the hold the blox closed. and with some force you can pull the lid off.

it's... different...

i have inserted some nice black antislipmat just for esthetics. it looks more finished that way. just glues them in with ca glue. next it got a coat of finisher.

and thats it.

here are some pics of the finished chest.

there is some cheap multimediathingy in it.

you can see the rough block vs its brother that was finished.

this was made purely for fun.

by making stuff like that i become better at some detailing techniques i will use for bigger art in the future.

"life is all about making stuff and having fun while doing it"