Salvaged Timber Projects.

I'm always inspired when I see items of useful furniture that are constructed using reclaimed or salvaged materials. Many of the pieces are made using discarded pallets or scaffolding boards, stuff that most people would dump in the skip.
The following pieces would look great anywhere from a chic city pad to rustic country farmhouse and all of them have cost virtually nothing to make. With a little thought, a few tools and some reclaimed wood, you too could make some fantastic tables, shelves and benches for your home.

This coffee table is made from nothing more than a pallet and some supermarket trolley wheels. The maker has left in all the scratches and dents that pallet has gained through it's life. A lick of stain and this is ready for a tray of coffee any lounge. www.coolthings.com-pallet-coffee-table/

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You don't need to have pallets to make furniture around your home, scaffolding planks will do very nicely aswell.
Tom Robinson custom built furniture makes and supplies a range of salvaged items including this bed. Just ask yourself, what price did you pay for your last bed £200 - £300 - more likely more than that. And was it unique? Did it have a story to tell?

I have bought old boards recently and paid £10 for 5. Granted, they need a bit of work doing on them but when they are complete they look superb. Keep looking out for my scaff board coffee table in a later post.

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This kitchen table and benches is also made intirely from salvaged scaff boards. These planks are usually American Redwood or European Spruce. In this example, the timber has been given a lime wash after preparation to give it a clean farmhouse look.

Available from Folksy.com a UK company, they cost around £450. Not cheap but look and feel great and again, a great talking point as well as doing your bit to renew salvaged materials.

New Garden Gate Urgently Required

Follow me to see how I go on remaking the garden gate. Wet rot has set in and it really is beyond repair.

We have had it for about 12yrs now but its starting to look way past its best.

I'm going to be making a new one and upload the photos and the video on YouTube.

 

Thanks for looking in.

Black & Decker Workmate refit

First made in the early seventies, the Black & Decker workmate now has worldwide sales topping 35 million.
 Invented by Ron Hickman, the workmate was rejected by many companies as being not commercial enough. It was famously rejected by Stanley tools as 'Sales possibly being in the dozens'. Ron had that rejection letter framed and mounted in his office.

The workmate is superb, well, I say the workmate, I mean the original aluminium framed WM625 workmates, that were manufactured in Ireland in the 70's. They are robust, adjustable, great looking benches, something I feel the later models lack.
Originally in powder blue these workbenches sold in their millions all over the world and made Ron a multi millionaire. I own two 625's an early alluminium model and a more recent steel framed one. I use them all the time, they really are a versatile tool and I would reccommend every DIYer to get one (or two)

An early WM625 (right) and the latter all steel version.

I bought the latter at a car boot sale for a fiver. The wooden bench tops were shot so i replaced them with solid oak jaws.

One of the damaged jaws.

The solid american light oak jaw replacement.

Oak WM625 bench top

Having a pair of workmates allows you to work really long pieces of timber and also they're great as a portable working platform. Clamp a couple of planks across them and you can do indoor decorating, easily make repairs to garage gutters, tall fences and hedges etc.