Diy Elegant Pallet Shoebench

The goal of this project is to reuse a pallet and turn it into some kind of house furniture. I decided to make a shoebench as a gift. The following is how it turned out and how you could possibly do the same yourself!

• 1-2 Pallets
• Hackzall / Sawzall (With wood & metal blade)(If no Hackzall is available, pallets can still be taken apart the old fashioned way)
• Hammer
• Nail punch
• Miter saw
• Jig saw / Table saw
• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• 60 grit, 80 grit, 120, grit, & 220 grit sandpaper. (If only two or three of these grits are available, go with 80 and 120)
• Wood glue
• Corner Clamps
• 1 1/4 in. Screws
• Pin Nailer (With 1 3/4 in. pin nails) (Optional)
• Stain (Optional)

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. While it is possible to complete this project using only one pallet, it's better to have at least two available skids before starting this project.

Secondly, the amount of slats needed can vary, depending on how many tiers are built and how much larger (or smaller) the shoebench is built.

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

The first item on the list to get knocked out is the building of the legs. To start, decide how tall you want the shoebench to be. Remember to add in the thickness of your slats (about 3/4 of an inch). I decided to build my bench 20 1/4 inches high. I grabbed four 2x4s from my skid and cut them down to 20 1/4 inches apiece (Pic 1). This is where the math comes in. I took a slat from the pallet and ripped it down to 1 1/2 inches wide (Pic 2). I marked a line on the 2x4 6 inches up (Pic 3). If the top of the support (1 1/2 inch wide pallet slat) is put just below the marked line on the 2x4, the maximum height of that shelf (or tier) will be 4 and 1/2 (math, remember;) pay attention or the shelf clearance (distance between top and bottom of the shelf) will end up shorter than expected (Pic 4). Once the support has been aligned with the original mark, draw a line at the bottom of the support. When you take the support away, two lines should be clearly visible. If a router is available, it would be the perfect tool for the next step.

Repeat this process (ripcut slat down to 1 1/4 inch wide, mark 2x4, align support, mark bottom) for every shelf that is wanted for the shoebench.

Take care to make sure that all twelve markings (in my case anyway) are exactly equal and level with each other.

Once all markings have been made, begin to recess the supports into the 2x4s.

There are several ways that this can be done. If you have access to a router, be very thankful. If not, you'll just have to do it the hard way. Beyond using a router, there are a few options to recess the board: Dremel, Hackzall, or multi-purpose/oscillating tool. I'm sure there are more ways, but these are the ways I tried. In my opinion, using the Hackzall is fastest. Unfortunately, it is not as precise as a router or Dremel. The Dremel does the work slower than the Hackzall, but is much more precise and accurate. The multi-purpose/oscillating tool is both slow, inefficient, and not very precise.

If using the Hackzall (Pic 1), find the bottom set of marks on the 2x4. Using the Hackzall cut directly on the marks to the depth of the blade. This should be about 3/4 of an inch. Next, place the blade perfectly in between the two cuts previously made. Now, move your blade a little to the left (1/8 to 3/8 in.) and begin cutting at an angle. Your goal is to cut at an angle until you reach the first cut made. Once this point has been reached, a small block of wood should pop out. Repeat this process for the other side. By now, you should have a triangle shape of the remaining wood. Also, you should now be able to fit your entire blade sideways in the recess. Now that your entire blade can fit in the recess, try to keep cutting of the top of the triangle until a level, 3/4 inch deep surface has been made (4-5). Repeat this process for all eleven other marks (for my project)

If using a Dremel, you will want the routing attachment. Assuming you have this piece, use the wood bit. Set the attachment to 3/4 of an inch. Start by locating the bottom set of marks. After locating marks begin by making your first pass on the marks themselves. The idea of doing this is to make as straight and smooth a line as possible. Doing this, you will have a sort of border. You can now go faster, while working in towards the center of the marks. Once you have reached the center you should have a very even and smooth recess. Repeat this process for all other sets of marks.

After finishing the previous step, you are ready to recess the rungs (supports). If you decided to make a three shelf shoebench, (like I did) you should already have six rungs cut out. Select one 2x4 to start with. Squeeze wood glue into a recess (thickly, we want it to ooze out of cracks) and place one end of a rung into the cavity. Make sure that the end of the rung and the side of the 2x4 are flush. Also, if you have to have a gap, make sure that the extra space is on the top, not the bottom. Pre-drill two holes for the 1 1/4 in. screws. Carefully countersink the screws. Next, fasten the other end of the rung to another recessed 2x4 using the process above. Repeat this step for the other two cavities. Congrats! You have one side of your frame for the bench (Pic 1-2). Repeat this entire step a second time for the other side.

First, if you notice the opening picture for this step, I placed a block on top of the end of the rung. This was done by using wood glue and four pin nails. I covered the area with glue placed the block and pin nailed it. Do this on top of all the recesses for the lower two shelves. It is not necessary for the top shelf. Next, grab a couple of slats from a pallet and cut them down to the depth you want for your shoebench (my shoebench is 12 inches deep, thus, I cut the slats down to 12 inches). Once slats have been cut down, sand them. I used a drill with a sanding attachment (40 grit) to give a rough sanding. I used the drill to sand all of the boards for the bottom shelf. Once everything had been sanded using the drill, I grabbed the multi-purpose tool (with a sanding attachment) and sanded the boards a second and third time at 80 and 120 grit. I used the multi-purpose tool because the drill leaves marks on the wood, even after thorough sanding. After sanding has been done, place the 12 in. slats on the rungs (supports) opposite to the way the rungs run. Dry fit. Make sure that everything lines up and there are enough slats to cover the entire top of the two bottom rungs. Begin by putting wood glue along the entire rung and laying the slats on top of it. Start with one side and work your way to the end. Don't hop around. Pin nail both sides of each slat to the rung. If no pin nailer is available, the glue should be enough. Give the slats one more sanding. The point now, is to get the transition between each slat to the next as smooth as possible.

Repeat this process for all shelves. Remember to start from the bottom and work up.

Now that you have your shelves, using your drill sanding attachment, give all the joints a thorough sanding. Sand the corners, smooth the ends of the slats so that they are even with the rungs, and make sure the recessed joints are flush. Basically, make sure everything is smooth. If you notice that there are gaps where joints were made (slat-to-slat, extra space in the recess, etc.) use wood filler to fill it up. After drying you can sand and stain over the filler just like normal wood.

This step is really up to you. Often, depending on the grade of the wood, it can look quite good even without stain. However, if you do decide to stain remember that stain affects different kinds of woods differently. Make sure that your pallet is made of the same wood (same pallet), or else be very careful and thoughtful of how you stain.

As you can see in the cover picture, I decided to stain. Not only that, you may have noticed that only half the rungs for the top shelf are present. This was intentional. I built this shoebench as a gift for someone and midway through the process I decided to make part of the top shelf a seat. The only issue with that was that there still needed to be an area for boots, etc. This was solved by not adding a top to half of the second shelf. Really, there are a lot of different things you can do with something like this. It all depends on you.