7th September 2021, Bench seat beginning to take shape
The construction work continues unabated. In order to provide a back rest, it was decided that we could use a panel created from rather nice pallet wood as shown here.
When dissecting pallets, you get to realise that a pallet is not just a pallet. There are literally hundreds of different styles and types, made from all sorts of different widths and thicknesses of wood. Prizing these pallets apart is a bit of an art itself, and one that we have become experienced in, having probably “processed” 100 pallets or so.
None of this pallet wood is finished, as in sanded, so taking care is essential to avoid splinters, we have lost count of the splinter situations. We have found that 2 or more coats of a good wood preservative helps to prepare the wood for use however.
For the bench seat we were fortunate enough to have reserved 4 pallets (probably more than that actually) that were harder wood with a nice reddish tint to them. This pallet wood is more difficult to screw into, but more hardy for situations where it might be preferable.
In the second picture you can see two such pallets in the big pile behind the emerging bench seat. This wood is a little more brittle, but in situations such as this, ideal. We are very pleased to have a good supply of a variety of these pallets.
This wood we have used to create the back of the bench seat and in the second picture you can see we have also used to fill in (finish off) the sides of the bench seat. It is starting to look more like a real bench now. Quite a bit more work-to-do to finish off and then wood preservation all over before we can say “job done”.
