DIY woodwork with found objects

We have a beautiful old timber bench in our kitchen. Which I scored FREE because it was being thrown out and about to be sent to landfill. The bench was perfect in every way, but was missing a drawer. This is the story of How the bench got its drawer.

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to find an old timber drawer being thrown out on Little Eveleigh St in Redfern. However it was 15cm too long for our bench, so I cut it down.

This what it looked like after cut down and sanded. But it still wasn't fitting, so...

I went to The Bower in Marrickville and bought a little hand plane for $4 to shave the sides down a touch.

One of my favourite details is the dovetail joint:

The drawer now fits!

I also made a timber knife and fork divider for the drawer. I used $2 worth of timber from The Bower and some wood I found dumped in a laneway a couple of streets away.

I wanted to retain the original quality and style of the timber bench. I'm amazed at how well it all came together. 

I find imagining a found object's potential is extremely rewarding, and wish more people would repair and fix things. Each time I find something and fix it up, I feel I've saved it and I enjoy the process.

Building with pallets

An island bench I built from two wooden goods pallets.
 Salvaged from work before they were sent to landfill.

How to build an island bench using pallets
From two matching pallets cut 800mm x 625mm out of
each one. These will form the two sides of the bench. From
the remaining timber slats cut 21 pieces of timber, each
540mm in length. These will be used for the shelves and bench top.
Nail and glue the slats in place. Sand with rough sand paper. Oil timber
(we used plain old olive oil) and finally seal with beeswax.

Here's one we prepared earlier...

I had two more pallets,
so I made a light weight work bench for our backyard shed.
Take that landfill!!!! We win again. :)