Reclaiming Pallet wood for beginner

[Matthew Wright]

Hi all,

Love the forum. I have some questions for those of you who have used pallet wood for projects:

(1) What did you build?

(2) Should I be picking only the "nicest" pallets, or can you make use of almost anything?

(3) Do you use the thin pieces on the top bottom, or just the thick heavy long pieces (stretcher) in the middle?

(4) Do you toss the rusty nails in the garbage? Or is there a market for scrap rusty pallet nails?

(5) Should I be concerned about termites or molds or any other toxic unknown secret maladies the pallets might have picked up in their lives?

(6) Was it "worth it" after all the trouble to use free discarded pallets rather than store-bought lumber?


Thanks,

Matthew

[Myk Rian]

I made some drawers for my screws and nails.
The better the pallet, the better the wood. Don't use something that had tar, cement, stones on it.
Toss the nails, unless you like the task of straightening them
It was worth it. Free is free.

[Jamie Buxton]

Pallets may vary from region to region, but the ones in my area don't yield much usable lumber. They're made from very low-grade wood, unsuitable for any higher use. This means they're full of knots and checks and such. They're generally assembled from green lumber with spiral-shank nails. The nails generally rust, staining the wood around them. The wood generally shrinks tightly around the nails as it dries, so it is nearly impossible to pull the nails.

[Mike Heidrick]

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e169/BloomingtonMike/chairandtable.jpg

The oak in the picture is from pallet wood. In fact the legs, arms, and back of this booster seat are the section of the pallet where the tines go. The little bracket table fits between a couch and a wall to rest drinks on.

[Mike Heidrick]

To answer more of the questions. We get big heavy seed and farm equipment pallets around here mostly made of oak. I do not mess with the nails or tops - just the thick oak longer pieces. It looks narly but cleans up nice. It is kinda pain to salvage the wood but free is free. Mostly I use pallets to store stuff on outside. Easier to buy the wood (spoiled) and get what I want. Reuse is kinda cool though.

[glenn bradley]

I take any pallets and packing sheets, strip out anything useful and send the rest to dad's stove. I use them for prototypes so they don't have to look good. "Junk" wood is great for going through the motions of a new joint or method before committing the good (read expensive) stuff.

Pallet proto of nitestand:
142406
Done in ash: 142408

Pallet proto for plane cabinet (no "real" one yet, I got side tracked):

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=135066&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1260673122 http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=135068&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1260673144