Pallet Delivery Bin

Fueled by my desire to not purchase something else made of plastic, I started down the path of constructing a delivery bin for a USPS/UPS/FedEx parcels shipped to my daddy. I like to repurpose things, so it was only natural to turn to pallet construction. Full disclosure, I sourced some other materials for the project.

Materials repurposed:

About 4 or 5 pallets of slab wood.
Two 10-year-old pressure treated 2x4s
Two old metal ottoman frames that no longer have cushions thanks to the dog
Two old brass door hinges

Materials purchased:

Tube of liquid nails

Tools Used:

Table Saw
Chop Saw
Finisher Nailer
Pocket Hole Jog (purchased for the job)
Clamps, Chisels, Screwdriver, and I probably hit something with a hammer at one point

So, I built the frame out of the 2x4s. Ripped them on the table saw so they were 1.5 x 1.5. I cut them all to length, then had an “oh ship” deciding how to join them. Enter the pocket hole jig and the Liquid nails. A little concerned about the glue holding up since it’s outside, but we’ll see. At least it’s got some screws in it. I made the frame with a 5-degree pitch from the back to the front in hopes that will be enough for most of the weather to run off.

Once the frame was together, I married the two ottomans together with a couple of bolts and used some 2×4 scrap I had on hand to make some feet that fit snugly into the ottoman frames. After that, it was cutting the pallets to fill the sides.

I hadn’t thought much about the lid until I finished the bottom, other than the pitch. I knew I didn’t want to use the pallet wood for it because I wanted to keep the elements out. I considered plywood, trying to find something metal (?), it was a head-scratcher at the time. Enter my neighbor. He had a stack of the old tongue and groove cedar from a fence that had fallen down. I built a frame that matched the base, experimented with a lap joint because I knew it needed to be a little sturdier since it was going to be manipulated a lot and cut a picture frame out to recess the cedar into. I left it so it stays raised a little bit. Added the hinges and attached the lid.

Finishing touches were cutting a finger-hole notch for easy lifting, and putting a stencil on the side facing the road, though I may sand that off at some point, but while I’m training the drivers, kinda necessary. I may consider painting staining at some point, but for now, it’s just natural.