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Issue 16
The Green Issue
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Lumber Lounge

Transform Shipping Flats into Weekend Furniture

Jed Lasser

3.Lumber Lounge

I’ve always wanted a weathered wooden lawn chair in my backyard, but a fine woodworker I’m not, so reshaping a shipping pallet sounded like just my speed. There are few things more satisfying than starting out with a simple, ubiquitous cast-off that’s outlived its use, and, using little more than $10 in hardware, transforming it into something I relax on almost every weekend.

$10

ingredients

  • 48” x 47” pallet
  • 4 hinges
  • 4 corner brackets
  • Wood screws
  • 2 casters
  • 3/16” steel rod
  • Long cushion (optional)

tools

  • Crowbar
  • Hacksaw
  • Handsaw (or reciprocating saw)
  • Drill
  • Screwdriver
  • Sandpaper

MAKE IT

  1. Remove the skids from the bottom of the pallet.

  2. Setting your saw flush against the third deck from the end, cut the pallet through the struts into two sections. Each section will have three decks supported by four struts. Then trim away the struts on the side where they protrude. This should give you four 2” square blocks, two of which you’ll need later, and two identical pallet sections, one of which will be the seat. (See vertical cuts in Fig. 1.)

  3. On one of the sections, cut through the decks along the far edge of the third strut, creating a three-strut, three-deck section (see horizontal cuts in Fig. 1). This is the backrest.

  4. Set aside the other piece you just cut away (three decks attached to one strut).

  5. Use two hinges to join the seat to the back support along adjoining struts.

  6. Using two of the skids you removed in Step 1 and one short deck from Step 4, make a long U-shaped piece and attach it with screws and corner brackets (Fig. 2) to the bottom of the first two struts of the seat (Fig. 3).

  7. Use two hinges to attach the remaining two short, wide decks from Step 4 to the center strut of the back support. These become the backrest height adjusters. Cut three pairs of wedge-shaped notches into the top of the U-shaped piece overhang at the intervals where you’d like the backrest to sit (Fig. 4).

  8. Attach two of the 2” square blocks with screws to the inside corners of the U-shaped piece, making sure they’re even with the bottom edge. Drill a hole in the center of each block and screw in casters.

  9. Cut a skid from Step 1 into four 11 3/4” sections. These are the legs. Attach two legs to the sides of the U-shaped piece with screws.

  10. Cut the strut from Step 4 in half and use the two pieces as supports to attach the other two legs to the foot of the seat: Screw a strut into the seat support, then screw a leg into the strut (Fig. 5).

  11. Drill a hole 1” or so into the edge of each backrest height adjuster and connect them with a 3/16” diameter steel rod.

  12. Sand the seating surface and slap a long cushion on top.

  13. Kick up your feet and sip a cold beverage.