My neighbor scored me some old decking planks (Woohoo!). At first I didn't think there was much that could be done with them because they seemed pretty beat up and cracked and such, but...it turns out that there are a couple uses for the planks. The first, since the edges are round, is trim work and decoration. What I did was cut them and make some half-round!
This is what the planks looked like after being pulled free of 2x6's and the nails removed:
Using a table saw, I set the guide at 1/2 inch:
And trimmed off the rounded edge so I ended up with this:
After doing that, I salvaged what pieces were not cracked by setting the table saw guide to 1 inch and cut up some 1x1's and some 1x2's.
I plan on using the 1x1's for figure armatures and frames for other props, and the half round for decorations and trim. I want to build a haunted grandfather clock for the haunt and I was thinking of using the 1x1's for the framework and covering with the thin plywood, and then adding the half round for trim. I am also thinking about using the thin pieces for things like cranks and armatures for motorized animatronics. I know metal is probably better, but I have to use what I can get. I hope this helps you guys and gets some juices flowing for ideas
I once covered a garage with the planks from a dilapidated fence we were replacing when we first got our home. Worked great, as long as I drilled holes where I was putting in the nails. Other wise the planks would split.
I'm still trying to get some pallets from somewhere. So far nobody wants to give them up. There are a lot of things I can make out of pallets. I've got one more place, or two, to check. If I get some I can make a bunch more coffins out of them as well. Yeah, pallets would be great! Thanks PW
