A few months ago I moved into a new place: a house in need of deep renovation. I brought tools, ordered materials, but there was no workbench. I simply needed a reasonably flat surface at a comfortable level for sawing, drilling and sanding.
Fancy workbenches are a common DIY project - moderately complex, practical, with few aesthetic requirements. But I needed something fast. I couldn’t spend a week building a proper bench. Besides, how could I do it without a bench? Classic chicken-and-egg problem.
Enter: wooden pallets.
The plan (if you can call it that)
The idea was simple. I had some building materials delivered on wooden pallets. They were different sizes, but two of them had the same width - 80cm. I used them for sides. I shortened one with a sabre saw, otherwise it wouldn’t fit in a doorway and I needed a movable workbench.
80cm plus the height of the 3rd pallet made it 92cm, which is just the perfect height for me to work standing up. For comparison, a standard office desk (for sitting work) is 75cm, a kitchen worktop is 90cm and I always find kitchen worktops slightly too low for me. Your needs may vary.
I simply joined the pallets with a few wood screws. Then I put two boards on the back and one on the side to make it less wobbly. That was it. There’s enough space underneath for my vacuum cleaner. I attached a small vice and used clamps for larger objects.
Safety note
Don’t bring inside anything stamped MB (methyl bromide treated). Look for HT (heat treated) - that’s the safe one. If you can’t find a stamp, light-coloured wood with no obvious chemical stains should be OK too.
The Good Stuff
- it took me about 15 minutes to build and I could move to what I really needed to do
- it cost 0, which is a good price
- the spaces between the boards can be useful - something to secure a clamp onto, and my saw won’t cut the surface where there isn’t any
The Not-So-Good Stuff
- made from rough wood - splinter hazard (sanding would defeat the purpose of a 15-minute build)
- no cabinets, no drawers, no nothing
- not exactly horizontal and levelling would be hard
- small elements and tools fall between boards
- longevity is unknown - pallet wood is not the highest quality timber
- it won’t win a beauty contest
Verdict
It’s better than having no workbench!