Re-inventing the window-box « Canning Town Caravanserai

Re-inventing the window-box

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We have plenty of pallets on site and once broken up they provide a useful source of rustic looking timber, so for the first workshop of the season at Caravanserai we made window boxes.

Eager participants first learnt how to dismantle the resource locked up in the pallet. They can be hard to break up as their fixed together with v.long nails strips fired in at high pressure. 2 claw hammers do the trick nicely as it eases the strip of timber away from the pallet without cracking.

Next we removed all the remaining nails with a mix of breaking with pliers and/or bashing them with a hammer. Because the nails are fired in at high pressure you can break the protruding ends of with pliers and then knock the sharp bit back in creating a flush surface.

Measuring and cutting were next and then sanding. We drilled pilot holes to prevent the wood from splitting and used annular nails where possible to increase the strength. Next we looked at the wood so see if there were any features we particularly liked or a side we thought would look nicer and made sure those were the visible sides. The boxes were then hammered together and sanded to produce some fine boxes fit for a window sill (or bathroom as one lady will be using hers to store her toiletries).

One of many workshops taking place this summer at Caravanserai, check here for the programme

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