Making seed labels from pallet wood to replace plastic labels

Seed tray markers made from pallet wood

I suppose like many gardeners we would love to see the back of plastic in the garden.

Resawing a pallet wood offcut into 2mm strips

With lockdown and most places still shut in Wales, I had forgotten to order new plastic plant and see labels for this year's planting. I have done this automatically at the end of each season, getting everything in order for the following year. It never occured to me before that it might be easy enough to actually make the plant labels myself and do away with yet another plastic product from the veg garden. Then events took over and I found myself with seeds to sow and no plant labels left in the drawer.

The blade is stopped and the guard set high for the purpose of illustrating the cut, as two strips are cut into four.

For the labels I used a pallet rib which measured 25mm wide and using the band saw set at 2mm resawed this wood into thin strips, which I then cut in half. These were then pointed on the saw and sanded to a smooth finish with 120 grit paper.

Plant labels sanded and ready for use

I made 30 of these wooden plant labels and have used them in both the seed trays and the raised beds.
At the end of the season I will clean and store those that have survived the rigours of sun, wind and rain and those that have not will go in the kindling bin.  Next season it will be just an hour's work to make a new set.

I am gradually  phasing out as much plastic as possible in the garden. Once the seed trays and plugs have been used many times over and have cracked and broken they go to recycling. I am gradually replacing them with wooden seed trays, made from pallet wood.

Ash dieback and Larch Disease is bad news for our national forests

The view from the workshop, Larch trees, now marked for clear fell

On two sides of the workshop are forestry plantations of Larch, Ash and Oak trees. These tall elegant trees have stood for many years and whenever I open the workshop door this is what I see. Sadly, all the Larch and Ash trees have been found to be diseased and are now marked for clear fell this year end. The Larch have Ramorum Disease a mould that attacks the bark and the Ash have Ash Dieback, Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, a fungus which originated in Asia that attacks the leaves and eventually blocks the irrigation channels within the trunk, killing the tree.

The foresters were here last week clearing a path for the harvesters and kindly offered some logs from trees that they cleared near to our cottage.
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A good stack of hardwood and softwood logs

These will be stacked in due course and air dried for three years, some will hopefully be used for projects and some will go for firewood.

Making the new mitre saw station out of reclaimed wood

When I set up the workshop I used an old sideboard and a Victorian pine chest of drawers as a simple base for the mitre saw, pillar drill and belt sander.

This has worked okay, but has several drawbacks especially when trying to cut long lengths of timber.

My pencil sketch of the new layout

I decided it was time to rearrange the workshop and build a proper mitre station capable of handling 10 foot lengths of timber. In order to do this, I would need to relocate the pillar drill and sander and incorporate my 10 inch band saw table into the mitre saw in feed table, so I got to work with pencil and paper and came up with the sketch above.

First step was empty all the tools onto the MFT bench

I wanted to keep the chest of drawers, as this provides storage for an assortment of tools and as it is a substantial piece of furniture, build the mitre saw outfeed on top of this. The pillar drill and the belt sander are both very heavy so I only wanted to move these as little as possible. I worked out that in the small space, these machines could sit on a shelf behind the mitre saw track, so the first step was to empty the cupboards of all their contents and move the chest of drawers 12 inches forward.

The chest of drawers moved forward into its new position

As the workshop is in a temporary location, I decided to use reclaimed materials for the build. This consisted of several part sheets of oil and cement stained 18mm exterior plywood which with a bit of work should clean up okay and a Douglas Fir spar from a boat for the track. The old MDF sideboard would be cut down to form a base for the mitre saw itself and I have a number of reclaimed pine drawers gathering dust and some of these looked an ideal fit for the new saw bases.

Opposing benches now level

I wanted this new bench to be the same level as the MFT so when working on larger projects I could use both benches for cutting and glue up.

Cutting down the sideboard with the TS-55

I made the band saw base out of the 18mm ply screwed together. For the feet some off cuts of 3 x 2 glued and screwed to the base.

Band saw base fitted built out of 18mm ply

Wedges were cut to level the saw bases

The workshop floor slopes in two directions! To correct for this I fashioned various wedges fitted to the back feet, which compensates for the uneven floor and both bases now sit level.

Building the out feed table with 48 inch (122 cm) cut

The outfeed table built out of the 18mm ply, comprises a bottom shelf, three support ribs and top. The saw has a 10 inch capacity, so I made the top 15 inches wide, to allow for the guide rail and the full swing of the 49 degree mitre cut. The top was glued with PVA and secured with 18 guage brads.

Titan 240v 18 guage brad nailer stapler

I had been meaning to order the DeWalt air nailer stapler to use with the old compressor I bought locally, but only having used a nailer once before I was unsure just how useful it would be and  the £140 air tool, kept slipping down my list of priorities. Then a project came along where I needed a 22mm stapler and after reading lots of reviews, I ordered a Titan nailer stapler from Screwfix for £35.
I did not expect much, but for the money it is okay and I will publish a review in due course.

The band saw table forms part of the imitre saw infeed table

In order to fit all the tools in the seven foot length, it was necessary to use the band saw table as part of the infeed. This took a fair amount of juggling to get right, but long pieces of timber are now supported on the band saw and on the Titan superjaws, which would allow for long planks to be processed. The band saw has an extending table which means that the blade is several inches behind the timber being cut and is protected at all times. The weight of long planks is taken by the superjaws and the mitre saw station and the band saw table, simply provides added support. There is sufficient length of cut behind the mitre saw, to use the band saw as I intend, so this way both tools can be used as required.

This doughlas fir sail track and spar came from a junk rig sailing boat

For the mitre saw track I used a sail track and spar that came from a junk rig sailing boat. I had bought a job lot of douglas fir battens, some with alloy sail tracks, from a boat yard years ago with the idea of converting a boat I owned, from Bermudian rig to Junk, but like so many ideas this one never got off the ground! I did not glue the track to the outfeed so that I could always adjust it if required. The alloy track, complete with sail slide, will offer potential for some sort of custom stop at a later date.

First marking the track with chisel cuts

Using the measurements on the saw, I made cuts with a chisel to represent set distances from the blade,

then came across a dress makers tape whilst sorting out a box of stuff and applied this to the saw with  the last of the double sided tape and with no more left, tacked the fabric tape to the rail with 4mm staples. A crude method of fixing for now, but one that works adequately well. In due course I will replace the fabric tape with an adhesive backed tape.

The final thing to do was build a shelf behind the new outfeed to carry the weight of the pillar drill and belt sander. This was made out of two sheets of 18mm ply laminated together and supported on 4 x 3 bearers and held in place with 75mm screws. This shelf also offers space for the 1250 mm Bessey clamps, fire extinguisher, etc. The space below the outfeed is just the right fit for my two large screw boxes.

The completed mitre saw station

I had been meaning to post this article for a couple of weeks, but I have been building a new run for our chickens and what I thought would be a fairly simple sprint, turned out to be an exhausting marathon. Consequently at the end of the day I was so tired, that I could hardly summon the energy to order my thoughts here. Thankfully, that build is now complete and so too is this post.

I was able to make full use of the new mitre saw station for the chicken run build, cutting down 14 foot lengths (4.27 m) of 2x2 (50 mm x 50 mm) and some lengths of 4 x 2 CLS (100 mm x 50 mm), which I then ripped down on the table saw and ran through the thicknesser to match.

Being able to make repeated cuts is a fantastic time saver. I set up a stop fashioned out of a douglas fir off cut, to the required length and clamped to the rail, then making repeated 110 cm cuts was a doddle. Very pleased with this build.

Making a cold frame out of pallets and old windows

Last week I made my first of three cold frames for the kitchen garden, using pallet wood, reclaimed 2 x 2's, a couple of old hedge laying stakes and some old aluminium double glazed windows that I had been keeping at the back of the wood store for this very project.

Each window measures approx 500W x 900L so I decided to fit two to each cold frame. Each lid measuring 1150W x 1000 D and due to the weight of the glass will be fitted with stout tee hinges.

Making the lid from 50 x 50 reclaimed wood

I had a look though my stack of pallet slats which I had denailed and chose 25 which were of a similar length and thickness and which after planing and thicknessing I ended up with 20 pretty much the same. Those that were cracked at the ends were cut down on the mitre saw and used for the side boards.

Fixing the beading to the inside of the frame

The aluminium window frames were too narrow for fixings, so I ripped down some lengths of 50 x 50 on the table saw, into 15 x 15 beading and attached this to the frame with screws and waterproof PVA glue.

Marking up the top boards for the diagonal cut

Cutting the diagonals for the two side boards with the Festool track saw

In order to cut the diagonals for the top side boards I set up the Festool track saw on the MFT table holding the boards secure with dogs and rail clamps. Since installing the MFT top, I wonder how I ever managed without one!

Gluing the diagonals to the side boards

I decided to glue each diagonal board to the one below with waterproof PVA glue. Due to my Titan planer thickenesser only having a 200mm wide bed, I was limited to gluing just two boards together. To make the clamping easier I glued the two opposite diagonals at the same time, which made up a rectangle and made for a very strong clamp. I left the boards to dry overnight and the next day the two sections were ready for planing.

Sanding the side panels

After planing I assembled the side, back and front panels and sanded them with the DeWalt random orbital sander with 120 grit paper.

Dry fit with the glass panels in the lid

The next step was to assemble the cold frame with the glass panels as a dry fit, to test for square and adjust as necessary! Then take the whole thing apart again and apply two coats of Danish Oil which works just as well outside, as long as a new coat is applied every year.

Applying the first coat of Rustins Danish Oil with a lint free cloth

After the first coat had dried I denibbed the Danish Oil with a 240 grit paper and applied the second coat and let this dry overnight.

The cold frame sections laid out on the weed membrane

Each panel came together easily

The three cold frames will sit on a one metre wide weed membrane which will help keep slugs out, but allow the bed to drain easily. I was pleased to see that panels remained in square and screwed together easily and the lid fitted correctly.

Using a speed square to check for square

The next day the cold frame was being made ready for starting seeds in trays and hardening off plants that had started arriving by post.

The heavy glass panels means there is no need for catches to hold the lid down in windy weather

The lid is held open by two long and two short supports to regulate the temperature 

Now ready to receive plants and seed trays

The build took about five days from laying out the windows on the bench to the cold frame being ready for planing. Had I been using new wood this could have been reduced by a couple of days, but considering this was made from rough pallets and an assortment of reclaimed wood, I am very pleased with the result.

You can never have too many clamps!

One of my woodwork teachers said to me "you can never have enough clamps" and you know he's dead right, because no matter how many you have, sometimes there are never enough!

Four Bessey K Body Revo 1250 Clamps and two Uniclamp 60's hold four 3 x 37 inch boards in glue up

Over the last 60 years of woodworking I have used all manner of clamps and the Record cast iron sash clamps were a firm favourite as these were brilliant for holding windows, doors and tables securely in glue up.

Cast iron sash clamp

However these days with arthritis in my spine, I have to be very careful lifting awkward heavy weights, so when I came to upgrade my clamps I started looking for lighter alternatives..

An assortment of Bessey, Irwin, Axminster and Festool clamps

I recently invested in a superb set of Bessey Clamps which are made in Germany.The K Body Revo 1250, of which I have four, can exert 8000N of clamping force and having used these on various projects, I feel are nearly as good as the much heavier iron sash clamps and will give me everything I need for the foreseeable future. I also have two of the smaller Bessey Uniclamp 60's
which are also very good and of which I shall be buying more in due course.

Bessey Uniclamps and Irwin Quick Clamps hoslding four 48 x 3 inch boards in glue up

For small holding tasks the Irwin Quick Clamps are very handy as they can be set with one hand. I use them in the workshop all the time and the 12 inch medium hold clamps are my favourites. In the above photo I am using them to glue up some pallet boards together with the Bessey Uniclamps to prevent the boards twisting. I left these boards to set overnight and they were ready for planing the next day.

Festool and Axminster Rail clamps holding the guide rail and work piece in place for a precise diagonal cut with the TS55

I bought the Festool TS55 plunge and track saw because it was the lightest model I could find and I have been delighted with my purchase. The saw package came with two Festool FSZ120 120mm rail clamps and for use with the MFT table, I bought a further two of these from Axminster which look identical, but have a slightly larger 160mm capacity and the wooden handles are painted red.

Although designed to hold the guide rail securely in place, I find these clamps very useful for a number of jobs. They fit through the 20mm holes in the MFT and will securely hold boards and panels in place, ideal for sanding, routing and using a hand plane. The other day I set up a stop on the pillar drill to drill holes in tiny one centimetre wide strips of pine. The Festool FSZ120 were perfect for holding the stop and this made drilling the 12 strips and easy task. I wonder why it took me so long to buy these clamps as they are brilliant and useful for a number of applications including holding the TS55 guide rail secure!

So whilst I have a number of clamps from the tiny Festool FSZ120's to the mighty Bessey K Revo 1250's, I know that I will always need more. There are times when I use every clamp in the box and wish I had more. C'est la vie!

CamVac Interceptor Lid Review

Camvac Interceptor Lid

A couple of years ago I bought a Titan Planer Thicknesser from Screwfix and have been very pleased with my purchase.

Titan Planer Thicknesser

The dust extraction port is 100mm (4 inch) and when I saw a used Record Power RSDE2 High Pressure Low Volume 100mm dust extractor listed locally on Facebook Market Place for a good price I called the chap up and we did a deal for the extractor and as many free cooking apples as I could cart away!

Record Power RSDE2 100mm Dust Extractor

Initially and not knowing very much about dust extraction I thought the RSDE2 was all I needed, but as I was soon to discover,  planers and thicknessers, called jointers in the US, produce an awful lot of dust and debris, which quickly fill up the dust hopper and clog up the filters!

So I began to investigate how to intercept this debris before it reached the extractor and found that what I needed was a dust cyclone, which could trap the heavy particles and some of the fine dust by swirling the debris around in a vortex, thus leaving the extractor free to provide the needed umph to pressurise the cyclone and make it all work.

Oneida Dust Deputy with 100mm ports

At the time finding a suitable cyclone was very difficult and only Oneida an American company, were making their Dust Deputy with 100mm ports, but at a cost of over £300 which admittedly did include a cardboard barrel, but to which one would have to add the cost of  pipe and fittings, this made the whole thing outside my pay grade!


Whilst reeling from the shock of the cost of the Oneida cyclone I was visiting the Record Power web site searching for a part for the dust extractor, when I happened upon their Camvac Interceptor Lid for a mere £18 and which was claimed to do a similar job.

Camvac Interceptor Lid

Intrigued that this plastic dustbin lid could do what I needed for a fraction of the price of the cyclone I ordered one of these from West Country Machinery4Wood and it arrived a few days later, but as I was to find all too soon, there is no such thing as a free lunch!

The Camvac Interceptor lid will fit a 480mm barrel. So I logged on to Ebay and searched for a used steel drum with a 480mm opening, but found various steel barrels for £20 and £30 but none with the correct size opening. So I then looked at plastic fruit juice barrels, dust bins, trash cans, paint tins etc etc, but all it seemed drums with a 480mm opening were as common as hens teeth.

So I got on the phone to West Country 4Wood and explained my problem and the chap kindly informed me that what I needed was a Record Power CGV386 90L steel drum, available to special order for £99.99! Unsure if the Interceptor lid was actually going to work, I kept looking for a cheap plastic bin so I could try it all out and perhaps order the steel barrel later on.

So with my tape measure in hand I visited a number of local builders yards, farm shops and household supply superstores, but nothing was the correct size or anywhere near close. I was buying some Kreg screws from the last builders merchant on my list, when I spied some very dusty industrial quality plastic bins part buried in the corner of the warehouse and would you know it, one 90L bin had a 470mm lid and the cost was just £12.

I glued strips of closed cell foam to form an airtight seal

In order to get the interceptor lid to make an airtight seal with the dustbin I cut up a sheet of closed cell foam that came in an Amazon box and glued this around the rim of the lid. To enhance the cyclone effect I fitted a stainless 100mm to 120mm connector that I had lying around, to the underside of the in port. The most expensive part that I had to buy was a length of anti static 100mm flexible pipe and some matching pipe clips for £75 making the total cost £105.

The Camvac Interceptor Lid stops most of the dust reaching the extractor

12 months of running the planer thicknesser has only produced this fine layer of dust in the extractor!

I use the Titan Planer Thicknesser mostly for cleaning up pallet wood which I use in my woodwork projects. As you can see in the photo above, the Camvac Interceptor lid traps most of the dust. The light coating of dust in the bottom of the RSDE2 extractor is all that has accrued over a 12 month period of fairly heavy use. By comparison the Interceptor dustbin has been filled and emptied many times over. Now that I have used it for over a year I can say hand on heart it works perfectly and no need for the metal drum, as the plastic bin does the job.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a low cost dust separator for your planer thicknesser, the Camvac Interceptor is an absolute bargain compared to other products on the market!