Pallet Wood Bookends

If you ask a bunch of people to make the same project you’re probably going to get different results. Which is a good thing. It’s because everyone sees things differently. Some people prefer more organic or flowing curves and some prefer straight lines and angles. Some are inspired by complexity and others are inspired by simplicity. And the thing we all have in common is that nobody absolutely NEEDS formal training to have fun woodworking and creating something. So get out there, use your hands, create something, and become someone’s inspiration. It’s a lot easier than you think.

Well, that pretty much sums up the above video. I was asked to participate in a collaboration of sorts with fellow YouTuber’s and create a set of homemade bookends. A simple set of bookends. An easy concept; Form a 90 degree corner. Sounds easy anyway. But after nearly three weeks of thinking about it I had nothing. It’s such a small project but it had me stumped.

That’s where the wonderful world wide web comes into play. I have a folder on my bookmarks bar titled inspiration. Because my computer has a lot more memory than I do its a great place to store any page I stumble upon for inspirational reference later. You can do the same thing with Pinterest but for me this is more convenient.

Right next to a few Sam Maloof articles is the link to a Facebook page I stumbled upon a year or so ago. It belongs to Modern Textures. Modern Textures is a business in Tulsa, Oklahoma that creates absolutely stunning, simple geometric wall art. I italicized simple for a reason. While their shapes and straight lines are quite simple the overall impression I get from their pieces is far from it. They have a way of making straight lines say so much. If you haven’t already, stop by their Facebook page or Etsy store and have a look!

Instantly after visiting their page again I had a concept for my bookends. The build is pretty straight forward. Clean up some pallets, rip random widths, and miter the edges. Because it’s an incredibly simple project I wanted to take the video down a slightly different path. Hopefully the video is able to inspire someone else to create something in the same way Modern Textures has inspired me. I love the visual depth that Modern Textures achieves with their pieces so I was trying to go for a little of that by randomly assembling different widths. In the end what I came up with is either a love it or hate it final result. At the moment I’m not sure what side of that coin I’m leaning towards. But that’s OK. Experimenting and trying different designs are often the most fun and educational parts of woodworking.

pallet wood bookends 1

pallet wood bookends 2



    • Mineral oil only. Wipe it on, let it soak in, wipe it off. I have a baking pan that I keep away from dust in a cabinet that has about a quarter inch of mineral oil in it with a piece of an old shirt. It won’t evaporate so no need in covering it up, just keep the dust out. Then whenever you need to oil a cutting board or a project such as this you have a good setup to dip your work in.

  1. You sure have a great style in presenting all your work and make woodworking easy. I know there is a lot of tacit skill involved but certainly nothing that can’t be learned with a sense of motivation to learn something new. BTW what type of wood are those from the pallet? Appears like oak but difficult to id from a picture.


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