Anybody reclaim wood from pallets?

[TheRic]

I have recalimed used pallets. I grapped the ones that had little wear and tear on them, took a circular saw (old blade) and cut away the parts I wanted ( left the parts nailed together). The nailed together parts are used in the fire pit. The wood I saved I plan to use for sample cuts, test cuts, playing, etc. Not planning on using much of them for finished projects. I will admit they are a pain in the *** to get the wood. Have passed up many since!!

[HarmsWay]

Another thing is that many pallets from the Pacific Rim (and nowadays, that's a high percentage of all pallets) stink to high heaven. I think maybe they spray the things with insecticide or something. Besides the smell itself, which is bad enough, there may be health and/or finishing issues that could arise from whatever is causing the smell.

Exactly. We had a massive crate on-site that was used to ship a large milling machine to us from Japan a number of years back. The whole this was meranti (sp?) - a cheap relative of mahogany. Several of us worked like mad fiends tearing this thing down to get the wood. As you say though, it had an odd smell and I was pretty certain it had been sprayed with something. They also used a million ringed nails to assemble it. The nails were generally not too bad to remove but many of the ring bits were left behind. A carbide tipped saw blade will eat through bits of metal without trouble but planer and jointer blades will always get a nick. I've really only used it for interior structural members - including the torsion box for a BT. Also a few contrasting trim bits on small boxes.

[Tamarack]

I got some useable wood from shipping crates at my favorite lawn and garden equipment store last spring. The riding mowers and commercial equipment was shipped in them, the store was glad to get rid of them. Mostly oak, some ineresting warped pieces, but overall worth the effort to break them down.

Paul

[RonT]

Aside from having to deal with the removal of nails and board breakage, there is the issue of stone and gravel that me be imbedded in the wood from their primary use. That will, as we all know, tear up cutter knives while dressing up the wood. NOT something I'm intersted in.

Now, in the early days when Honda motorcycles made their way to the states, skids were made from teak wood. Carefully salvaging that wood might have been worth it but, those days are gone.

[Rand]

I found a pallet on the beach a couple weeks ago. It looked like hardwood so I took it home. I cleaned it up and the stuff is quite beautiful. It looks Sort of like mahogany but I have no idea what species it is.

[Martin]

Salvage pallets and wine boxes

When I was working; several years ago, I used to salvage pallets and got a lot of 8 ft long 3X3 oak pallets skids. Sometimes, I could get some good wood about 12 feet long when the sheetmetal shop ordered aluminum.

Now, I have learned that some brands of wine come in nice wood boxes, and some have BB tops which slide into groves in the side.

I can tell myself that I have some branded boxes made with rare exotic wood from Australia.
I get them from the supermarket.

Most of their wine comes in cardboard boxes.

[tribalwind]

ive used the slats for some scrollwork pieces,and got BIG ones with 4x4 oak that i used for building raised planting beds in my garden,,also made a compost bin with a bunch of em used whole..south american ones use good hardwoods,domestic i think is all scrub-oak,high silica/mineral content,murder on saw blade...
whats better is reclaiming a whole Tree that someones taken down, get yourself a good strong chainsaw and a milling attachment etc... i've gotten cherry,black walnut,apple,magnolia,tulip,sycamore,all kindsa maple,and others i coulnt identify...i havent bought a piece of hardwood ever since chainsaw millings not for everyone, but i love it ,one more step of control over my materials, using up ain invaluable resource and keeping it out of the landfills..even get paid to take some away.what could be better!

[drillman88]

I get lumber from shipping crates at work.They are generally white pine,yellow pine or spruce .In 3/4", 1" and 1 1/2" thickness and 3 1/2 "to 13"widths.I use these alot on painted projects and adirondack furniture.Its a little work getting these apart but worth the effort unless they use alot of staples or nails that have glue on them.There are also some corrugated clips used that you need to look out for.
I consider my self lucky to have this free source of lumber.
I have only taken a few pallets apart these were new ones made from syp and poplar we get occasionally.I dont use older or soiled pallets.

[SARGE..g-47]

The company I used to work for got pallets from the Pacific Rim. The top slats were junk but the bottome runners (roughly 1 3/4" thick.. 4"-5" wide and just short of 4' long) were "para-wood" which is Indonesian rubber tree. They have a 30 year cycle of producing sap and then they are cut down and recycled into lumber with trees planted to take their place years before.

Bassett.. Broy-hill.. etc. furniture is about 80% para-wood these days since it is made over-seas and not in the U.S. So... I saved it hoping to find a use someday. I had just built a country kitchen table from white oak and the someday arrived. What better way at my first attempt at these in 36 years at the time. I would not have $$ tied up in a failed attempt.

So.. the pallet runners got put to use and fortunately the set of 4 came out OK.. not great but not bad considering I had no prior experience in that particular arena...

[TheOne]

Wife & I bought a cottage on Prince Edward Island a few years ago. It had a 8 X 12 ft shed on the lot. When we looked it over I was surprised that the frame of it was pallets. Most were 4 X 8 ft. Some of the winds can be quite strong on the coast but this shed hasn't budged, it's very solid.

[billwmeyer]

pallets

Mr Bill and The One: How was the house/shed constructed. I was going to try this about 10 years ago on a shed, and I could never decide how to use the pallets for walls. I never did figure out how to join the pallets, save money, and have a strong structure.
Bill

[Mr__Bill]

Mr Bill and The One: How was the house/shed constructed. I was going to try this about 10 years ago on a shed, and I could never decide how to use the pallets for walls. I never did figure out how to join the pallets, save money, and have a strong structure.
Bill

Other Bill, this is from memory and a 50 year old one at that. As I recall it was standard stud wall with plank sheeting. The pallets were broken down and the 2" pieces were cobbled together into longer 4x4" studs. The 1" stock was used to sheath the outside walls and roof. I expect the inside was covered with Insulite (like Homosote) as that was very common then and there. The house sat with a tar-paper covering outside for several years and when the mill started to make siding out of vinal covered pressed Insulite he sided the house with seconds from the mill. Thinking about it, it must have been an awful lot of work, but I expect the builder had more time and energy than money. This was back in the 50's when county building codes were nonexistent and nothing was assembled with staples.

Another Bill.

[billwmeyer]

Pallets

Thanks, Mr. Bill. That is more work than I was wanting to do. I wanted to join the studs to frame up the walls, and save money on 2x4's. I was thinking along the lines of putting a 2x4 between pallets and framing up a shed that way. Codes are not a problem here. I can get pallets for free anytime.

Bill

[drillman88]

Shutter attachment

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