Good wood from pallets? Really?

If those things came from overseas, there is no telling what type of wood you’ll find

-- Gary, DeKalb Texas only 4 miles from the mill

A number of months ago I answered/suggested pallet wood not be used – UNLESS – it is known without a doubt, that the wood has not been infused with insect repellent, or some kind of anti-rot presertive. The pallet builders, and the users, want the pallets to last a long time before they become trash. True, some companies have stacks of them, because they do not belong to them and want to get rid of the pile. How do I know? I was a shipping/recieving manager at a local retail/wholesale distributor for all kinds of hand/power tools, woodworking machines, compressors, etc. Everything came in on pallets infused with something. True, some of them were not, but which ones ? Difficult to tell. From that experience, I will NOT use pallet wood for anything, Somebody else wants to, go ahead. BUT, be forwarned.

-- *Arachnoleptic*: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidently walked through a spider web.

It will be a Dog’s Breakfast as they say in Australia. Some of everything. Some will be good, some will be junk. You roll your dice. Pallets are made from the lowest grade hardwood logs in the business. However, some of those low grade hardwood logs have a lot of interesting character. I saw logs and dry lumber. For me, I would not do it as it is a lot of work, and there are a lot of nasty nails, but I guess if you had a small project, it would be fine to break down a few pallets.

I have decided after many years of woodworking, that given the time and investment that one places in making a project or piece of furniture, why use low quality wood? That does not make sense to me. That is not to say that there is not some good wood in pallets if you want to spend the time to dig it out.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

One of two such tables, both used to be old Oak pallets. legs were turned from the 2x runners. Yes I pulled a bunch of nails, but, saved a bunch of cash. Figure the amount saved in the legs. Quarter sawn white oak in 6/4 stock. Tops were glue ups of more of the runners. Nail holes? Nope. I resawed the runners right down the middle. yields 2 boards just under 3/4” thick, by about 3” wide. Aprons were more of the same. The slats of those pallets? Well these tables were made during the winter, and at the time they were made, I heated the shop with a wood burner.

Another source of “Free” lumber? Maybe an old barn in your area has fallen down, or needs to be taken down? Or, in my case, an old garage/carriage house fell down. I found a joist of Black Cherry, loads of white oak rafters, beams of Sycamore…..

There was even enough to build a few things with it…

Or, IF there was an old school house that was demolished? Maybe the flooring was usable?

Of course, if one just doesn’t have the time to process some old boards, and has enough cash to blow on NEW wood, by all means, spend the cash. I’m cheap, er, frugal, as in BROKE, so, IF I see a source of Pallet wood, Crate wood, Barn wood, etc… i will grab it. Been doing it from about the 80s…..

-- A Planer? I'M the planer, this is what I use

Pallets can be made from some pretty wood, but it’s often from parts of the tree that aren’t overly suitable for furniture grade lumber….more twist, warp, wane, cupping, cracking, bowing, etc….

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

Varies a lot. Place local to me gets in giant sheets of metal resulting in a large number of hardwood pallets. Runners have been white and red oak, cherry, maple and hickory. I prefer to take a circular saw and slice all the cross pieces out which usually nets me a bunch of 31-34” boards that are always over an inch and most are a minimum of 6” wide, I’ve gotten up to a foot wide. I then use a large crow bar to pull off the remainder of the slats from the runners which almost always pulls all the nails out at the same time. I burn these in the summer or trash them in the winter. With the runners pay attention to the grain, if it looks close to the center of the tree and it’s oak then just thrown it out, always seems to crack all the way through. Maple and hickory have all produced good pieces for turning or short legs. I’ve had a very poor return rate on the oak runners so now I just pick based on the slats. Check out my rocking dino project, the rockers and base were all pallet wood, the three I’m making this year will be cherry pallet wood.

-- --Rev. Russ in NY-- A posse ad esse

I have used pallet wood in the past. I’ve also figured out a way to break them down without as much work involved. However, I’ve brought home my last pallet. From the hit and miss quality coupled with the unknown chemical content, I can find other FREE wood without those problems.

Try wood flooring that has been ripped up from a flooring installation. No chemicals, and fewer(and easier to pull) fasteners. And lots nicer wood too. I frequent the dumpster at a local flooring installation company and come home with a variety of great hardwoods. Brazillian cherry, hickory, oak(although I’m not to fond of oak anymore), beech, and many others. Even got some bubinga one day.

-- Backer boards, stop blocks, build oversized, and never buy a hand plane--

I just got wood from tha pallets at my job and this time I got some curly maple and cherry I always get oak and other types of hard wood if u look at some of my projects there made from pallet wood if it’s free it’s for me.Go get that wood it’s worth it theres a Company next to mine here in Boston an they do the same with the pallets too just give em away if I had a truck I would be there all the time.

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

I wouldn’t bother with any pallets that are less then 30 or so years old. The wood they use is inferior. I worked at a semi shop for a few years and occasionally repaired pallets…they are all junk wood and are not worth your time. Pallets for the food industry are always maintained better then the others, but are still probably not worth your time.

Now old pallets on the other hand can be well worth you time. My dad came across some old walnut pallets some 30 or 40 years ago. The wood sat in a shed until my wandering eyes found it. He let me use it, but all the pieces were 3’ or under and 3-6” wide, but 5/4. I came up with this table http://lumberjocks.com/projects/64745
Turned out to be well worth my time.

I love pallet wood! I have an endless source for getting pallets from a grainery that would just burn them. My uncle made me a 4’ long pry fork that goes between the rails and under the boards and pops them up pretty easy. I plane most of them but some are pretty twisted. I’ve thought about cutting the top off of a 55 gallon drum, filling it with water for soaking the boards in for a few days and then stick stacking them to dry. There is some really beautiful hard pallet wood.

I need one of those hand held metal detectors though.

-- I'm a twisted 2x4 in a pile of straight lumber.

When I lived in Illinois there was a local pallet maker that would sell cut offs ... by the dump truck full for free! If you wanted this wood, typically oak, a dump truck backed into your driveway and dump away five foot high an 8 foot diameter pile in your driveway … no words exchanged except “where do you want it”.

I picked out all of the useable pieces, more than I would need for a long time, and then along with my neighbor we had enough fire wood for two winters .. in Northern Illinois!

I made a LOT of projects, typically small like plaques, breadboards, knock-knacks, and the like; that was 22 years ago and I still have one or two small pieces. Very good wood at a decent price!

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"