Desk Shelf from Reclaimed Lumber

    In side the front door of our house is a what was supposed to be a breakfast nook.  We turned it into mini office and storage area. I have a small standing desk with a bulletin board above and storage boxes below. I wanted a bit more space for stuff so thought I would make a small shelf to do below the bulletin board, but I didn't want to drill more holes in the wall.

so this the problem area.

  I follow many blogs and websites relating to wood working and lately a number have been promoting using pallets,(skids in Canada) and other reclaimed lumber.  So this is some rejected wood from a company that rebuilds and reuses wooden pallets. These pieces of wood came out of a bin offering free fire wood in the front of their factory. 

5 pieces more or less the same thickness and not too badly split.

     This is the five pieces of wood after the nails were carefully removed, there were a bunch, and the wood has been jointed and planned.  I often use my belt sander rather than the planner on reclaimed lumber if I am not sure I've cleaned up all the fasteners and bits of metal.

  I don't know what kind of wood I have, it is softwood and looks pretty good once sanded.

  Instead of a shelf to attach to the wall, I made a shelf unit, basically two long boards and two short ones.

   The unit has a bit more thought in it than just four boards. I cut holes into the back of the top board and the back of the legs for room for wires to run.  I also attached rails across the back of the shelves to keep stuff from rolling off the back.

  The end result looks pretty good and makes tonnes more space for my work space.

  

  This wasn't a very involved project and it certainly could have been done with a few hand tools.  I have a full workshop and so I used tonnes of tools, and I loved it.

  Tools list:

hammer, wrecking bar, nail set, table saw, belt sander, random orbital sander, jointer, and a cordless drill.

 Projects like this only needs a drill, a saw and a few hand tools. 

  

  Hey,when I first started woodworking I was using lumber from skids and packing crates in a shop in my parents back yard. Now I get to pick and choose my lumber, use the best tools I can find, and working with wood still makes me happy.

cheers, ianw