turning pallet wood

[Brad Barnhart]

Howdy folks! Its that time of year in our corner of the world again, & this year has brought some unusual requests to our shop. We've got craft shows coming up, & we're busy getting things ready for those. But, I've had several folks asking us about projects with pallet wood. What little I've worked with it, it's ALOT of work, brittle, & hard on equipment. One of my worries of putting pallet wood on the lathe, & trying to turn it, is it "exploding" so to speak due to it being brittle. I did finally get up enough nerve to run a glue up of pallet wood through my planer. Taking light cuts, after I finally got through the rough part, it cleaned up nicely. Yes, there are assorted breeds of wood in pallets, & that's another intriguing point of it. So, I guess the main question is, has anybody turned pallet wood? And second, how did it work out for you? Thanks for your time & advice.

[Mark Greenbaum]

I made 18 magic wands for my daughter's birthday Harry Potter themed party from pallet wood. Mostly oak and beech, but I got over my fear of the skew.

[Brad Barnhart]

Awesome Sir! Any trouble at all with it coming apart, or breaking?

[Mark Greenbaum]

I made 19, but one did fly apart. The Shopsmith may have been partly to blame; darned slowest speed was 600 rpm.

[Brad Barnhart]

Thanks for response Mark. I appreciate your input. The pallets we get around here aren't much above firewood. The runners are anywhere from 1/4" - 3/8" thick, on 2 x 4's.

[Aaron Craven]

Never turned it, but I have a friend who uses it for all kinds of misc. projects. You have to be really careful with what we have around here to watch for broken off nails, though... they're hard on cutting tools!

[Marvin Hasenak]

Years ago Japanese motorcycles were shipped in wood crates. The local Honda and Kawasaki dealers trash wagons were a gold mine waiting to be harvested. Never did know most of the species I collected, but I know some was paduak, Philippine mahogany, along with ll kinds of rosewoods. The local Honda dealer was on my way to work, and I would drive by it 4 times a day, if I saw a truck unloading I knew there would be crates in the trash pile that afternoon. Nothing bigger than a about 3x4, all had the nails that where like screws, I just cut around the nails, but I make little stuff so it was almost all useable.

Now the motorcycles come in cheap metal crates. I remember seeing them unload the first of the metal crates, within a few years my wood source was gone.

[Brad Barnhart]

Thanks again fellers for your input. I've got a couple places I get pallets from, it doesn't mean they're always in mint condition, but, they do have some good oak & ash pieces in them. I just wasn't sure about putting lathe tools to it. Its hard on saw blades! We just completed a project for a local outfit here that wanted pallet pumpkins made. We made over 40 for them of different sizes, shapes, etc. I stripped the pallets w/a circular saw & a recip saw. Talk about a job!! I drove OTR 35 years, & all the pallets I've hauled around the country, I never dreamed of using them for anything but what they were designed for. But, I'll tell ya what, folks seem to like the look of the pallet wood projects, & seem to want that type of thing right now. I'll keep you updated on what's happening with this, if anybody is interested. I'm yet to figure out how to post pictures, but, I'll keep you all in the loop. Thanks again for your time, & input. You've been a huge help!!

[Mark Greenbaum]

I used to bicycle ride to work in the late 80's with a woodturner. He veered off behind a machinery import company to inspect their pallets, and went back after work to discuss removing them. They paid him him to take the tropical hardwoods off the site. He made folding adirondack chairs from rosewoods, padauk, mahogany, etc. He made a baseball bat out of what must have been lignum vitae, he called it greasewood. So heavy you couldn't shoulder or swing it.

I am getting geared up to make a pallet & scrap wood wall for our dining room, with shelves to accent and show off some of my turnings. It the latest designer rage.


Years ago Japanese motorcycles were shipped in wood crates. The local Honda and Kawasaki dealers trash wagons were a gold mine waiting to be harvested. Never did know most of the species I collected, but I know some was paduak, Philippine mahogany, along with ll kinds of rosewoods. The local Honda dealer was on my way to work, and I would drive by it 4 times a day, if I saw a truck unloading I knew there would be crates in the trash pile that afternoon. Nothing bigger than a about 3x4, all had the nails that where like screws, I just cut around the nails, but I make little stuff so it was almost all useable.

Now the motorcycles come in cheap metal crates. I remember seeing them unload the first of the metal crates, within a few years my wood source was gone.

[ALAN HOLLAR]

At one time Kubota Tractors , or perhaps the accessory attachments , came on pallets. These were frequently made of very attractive mystery woods. I am not sure why dry wood would be a problem to turn. If it is free of cracks, which is sometimes hard to tell, dryness just means lighter cuts, with more heat and dust generated. Even 100 year old chestnut beams with finger wide cracks can be turned with a bit of care and a few hose clamps.

[Montgomery Scott]

personal time is too valuable to waste on garbage lumber.

[Robert Henrickson]

personal time is too valuable to waste on garbage lumber.


Depends on your definition of “garbage lumber”. Pallet wood – oak but also some other woods – may be ideal raw material for some types of things I turn, particularly certain spindlework.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

personal time is too valuable to waste on garbage lumber.

I would aree IF you were talking about pine/fir, but there are lots of hardwood pallets out there if you look. Oak is common, so is mahogany from outside the country. There is a lot of uesable wood in a pallet. Invest in a metal detector. I use a cheap one, the Little Wizard, limited in depth, but since you can scan both sides of pallet wood, it works well. Pallet nails are not your usual nails, they are much harder. You need to get them out.
Google Pallet Pal, you can get plans for a pallet breaker that speeds up your pallet salvaging. Hardwood pallets, are real hard to get apart.
I've turned quite a few items using pallet wood.

[Steve Peterson]

I don't understand the huge effort spent trying to dismantle a pallet. I would just rip along the main beams with a circular saw to get the 4" wide by ~18" long pieces. This would only take a few seconds and would eliminate most of the nails. The larger beams are nice, but have lots of nails coming from both directions. Not worth it to me.

Another thing that nobody has mentioned yet is that pallets may have been sprayed with insecticide. They are designed to sit directly on the ground and might not make it through customs if there is insect damage. Be careful with how you use the wood. For example, don't make cutting boards from pallets. A respirator would be wise while sanding.

Steve

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Another thing that nobody has mentioned yet is that pallets may have been sprayed with insecticide. They are designed to sit directly on the ground and might not make it through customs if there is insect damage. Be careful with how you use the wood. For example, don't make cutting boards from pallets. A respirator would be wise while sanding.

Steve

+1 on this! Look for "HT" (Heat Treated) on the side of the pallet. This means that the pallet wood itself was not sprayed with insecticides to treat for insects, which does allow shipping. This, however, does NOT mean that it could have been sprayed after, or carrying a load of stuff you don't want to inhale...... Be careful!

[Brian Myers]

+1 on this! Look for "HT" (Heat Treated) on the side of the pallet. This means that the pallet wood itself was not sprayed with insecticides to treat for insects, which does allow shipping. This, however, does NOT mean that it could have been sprayed after, or carrying a load of stuff you don't want to inhale...... Be careful!


http://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/

[Reed Gray]

It can be trash and/or treasure. Generally, they use stuff that has more knots and 'defects' in it, so you may end up with a lot of irregular grain. Other than nails, which can be ring shank or spiral, the price is right, and you never know what you will find.

robo hippy

[Brad Barnhart]

thank you for all the input!�� I certainly appreciate it! I'm happy to know I'm not the only one that looks at pallets for the oddities, & not just the nails. They can be some work, but I strip them with a circular saw. Get the best I can get, & the rest goes to the dump. I'll keep looking, & working at it. Thanks again!!!