Ski benches

Tutorial de avatarLow-tech with Refugees - Low-tech & Réfugiés | Catégories : Habitat

Making a 4-5 seat bench from recycled skis

Licence : Attribution (CC BY)

Introduction

  1. The first step is to collect pallets and skis, for example, from a waste disposal centre or DIY shop.
  2. The second is to dismantle the pallets and ski bindings. Only skis without visible bindings or screws are used.
  3. Once the material is ready, the third step is to cut the boards to the required sizes.
  4. The fourth and final step is to assemble the benches, finishing by sanding down any rough edges to give a cleaner finish.


A bench is built with 3 legs (only 2 legs pose problems of solidity as the skis are very flexible).

You can attach between 4 and 6 skis: 4 with 3 skis for the seat and 1 for lateral strength. 6 with 4 skis for the seat and 2 for lateral strength (see image below)


Possible alternative:

The skis on the seat can be replaced by a snowboard!

Matériaux

  • Pallets (or solid wood planks)
  • Nails x36 (minimum)
  • About thirty 5 x 50 mm screws
  • 6 skis (minimum 4)

Outils

  • crowbar or palette knife
  • Hammer to remove the paint
  • Measuring tape
  • Hand saw or jigsaw
  • Screw gun
  • Drill
  • (Optional) Sanding block or sander

Étape 1 - Recovery of pallets and skis

Plan this search in advance of the workshop: skis can be collected from waste collection centres, and pallets from the depots of supermarkets and DIY shops.

Étape 2 - Remove pallets and ski bindings:

To dismantle a pallet, take it slowly and don't force it, otherwise you risk damaging the boards. Place the crowbar in the gaps, and tap the crowbar with the sledgehammer so that it fits into the gap, repeating the process in different places until you feel the boards coming loose. Note that if you break the ends of some of the boards, it's not a big deal, as some of them will be cut off later.


Follow the boning of the following pallets:

  • Start with boards 2 and 4 from the top
  • Turn the pallet over and remove the blocks from planks 1, 3 and 5
  • Remove the boards attached to the blocks
  • Tap the nails on boards 1, 3 and 5 to remove them.
  • Similar method on this tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQnQkdUS3yo)




Étape 3 - Cutting the boards :

  • Wide: For the vertical foot boards
  • Thin: The crosspieces of the legs


Making a stand :

  • Small crossbar x2 ( Straight cut, length 30cm )
  • Large crossbar x4 (Straight cut, length 45cm)
  • Support crosspiece: 30x15 cm

So for a bench (= 3 feet):

  • Small crossbar x6 (yellow on photo)
  • Large crossbar x12 (orange on photo)
  • Support crossbar x3 (green in photo)




Étape 4 - Assemblage des pieds

Etape 1 : Visser les petites traverses sur les grandes traverses antérieures


Etape 2 : Visser les grandes traverses postérieures sur l’assemblage (petite traverse + grande traverse antérieur) afin d’avoir les pieds


Etape 3 : Visser la traverse supérieure sur le haut du pied


Étape 5 - Assemblage des skis sur les pieds

Etape 1  : Visser les skis centraux sur les pieds.


Etape 2 : Puis fixer un ski latéral par côté (à ~ 10 cm du bas)



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