# I hate pallet furniture!



## MikeBeee (Oct 19, 2015)

Hey guys! Quick rant. I have just got into finer woodworking in the last 6 months after close to 20 years of carpentry type woodworking. I will say it's going extremely well so I put an ad up on Craigslist for custom woodworking. I've got a few projects so far but it seems 95% of the people who contact me want pallet furniture. I hate to turn down projects but using cracked pallet wood and pulling nails for hours isn't my cup of tea and not to mention miss a nail, time for new planer blades. Does anyone have any recommendations?


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

Don't use pallet wood.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

Mike I've got to agree with you. I've done three small box projects with pallet wood. One of the boards that I'm pretty sure is was poplar had a distinct septic order. It gave me a sinus infection. Bottom line…never again. I threw all that wood away. I've only done 2 small projects for profit and I didn't care for them.

I guess you just flat tell folks you don't do pallet wood. If they want it they can do it themselves.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I don't do pallet wood furniture. But I have seen some pretty amazing things made. Once again, patience and the skill of the craftsman. On the flip side, if it isn't what you want to be known for, don't do it. That's why I turn down certain requests. It's not an area I want to venture into. Pallets is one of those areas.


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## MikeBeee (Oct 19, 2015)

I'm glad you guys agree! I live in a college town and I think that's why I get so many requests for that type of work.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I get requests for log furniture. It's not what I do, or want to do. I tell them that there are others in the area that make it.


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## lateralus819 (Mar 24, 2013)

I think it looks terrible personally lol.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

> I think it looks terrible personally lol.
> 
> - lateralus819


Not to my eyes. 
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/169658


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## pjones46 (Mar 1, 2011)

Pesonally I use alot of pallet wood….in my wood stove and that's all its good for and at that is is poor..

List what you will make in the ads specifically and show some sample pieces. Keep the faith as it takes about five years to develop a business.


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

I've made a lot of really beautiful stuff from pallet wood… but never furniture. The main problem is you can't get big enough stock for anything substantial, unless you happen to like that 'nail hole' look 

Cheers,
Brad


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## PineSucks (Aug 3, 2015)

If I'm building for cash, whatever pays my bills is what I'm building. I can understand not wanting to be known for that style of woodworking, but if it pays the bills, I say build something you like with the profits.

Funny story about pallets. My Dad worked at GSK for 40 years and often dealt with the shipping department in his earlier days.

One day back in the 70's, they called him down to inspect a truckload of pallets that they said looked like they were ruined by black with mold/mildew. Considering they were putting out millions of doses of medication on these pallets, a mildew problem could be catastrophic.

My Dad got down there and the company forklift driver was just staring into the truck in quiet awe. He turned to my Dad and asked "do…do they even know what they have here?!?"

Turns out it wasn't a load of pinewood pallets with a mildew problem. The entire truckload of pallets was made of black walnut and they were gorgeous. The tops, the sides, the bottoms. The whole damn load. All heartwood walnut. The guy asked if he could have a few skids and my Dad mentioned that he couldn't load any medicatitions onto a "damaged" pallet. Any damaged pallets would need to be stacked by the dumpsters.

There were a few "oops" moments on the loading dock that week resulting in "damaged" skids. LOL.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

The best use for pallet wood, in my opinion of course.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

I have used some pallets for projects. You can get some good wood out of some of them but it is a lot of work for very little return. If you want to build out of pallets go for it. I've seen some nice pieces made from it and other pieces I wouldn't have. It all comes down to peoples taste. I hate barn wood.


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## Adrock1 (Feb 5, 2015)

I've worked in manufacturing for 15 years and seen pallets treated with, soaked in, or spilled on with all manner of nasty chemicals, gross stuff, and filth. Unless I know the source and use of the pallet Im repurposing I'd rather not muck with it. I have no desire to breath dust saturated in pesticides or industrial chemicals or who knows what.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

What I been saying all along - dangerous stuff!


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## SirIrb (Jan 12, 2015)

I have avoided this topic because I know there are some who think the pallet wood is (for some esoteric reason) near the Holy Trinity.

Questionable wood of questionable moisture content with questionable objects impaled therein (I worked at a lumberyard, their full of crap)...it's all questionable and to top that it has nails in it. Not my jointer, planer, saw or shapers.

And yes, I have a palette in the back of my truck now. I use it to haul OWWM on so the bed won't damage the old iron. Works great for that.

Got a buddy who helped me grab some OWWM two weeks ago, shaper and a planer. He wants me to help him make a hat rack out of my pallet. I care about him (and my tools) too much to allow that.

We will find a way or make one but for me and my shop, no pallets.

Done digressing with the pallet dis.


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## Stewbot (Jun 7, 2015)

> I m glad you guys agree! I live in a college town and I think that s why I get so many requests for that type of work.
> 
> - MikeBeee


Are they college kids specifically asking for you to build this furniture or young working professionals? If students, I'm curious what they would say when you tell them the price for this custom pallet furniture, including labor to break down said pallets. when I was in college I was building any furniture I needed out of fence boards, sure didn't have enough money to pay a carpenter to do so for me.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

WHEN I can get pallet lumber, I WILL use it. All it takes is a little more work than the STORE-BOUGHT nicely planed for you stuff. It is about the same amount of work to process as rough sawn stock…..spent many a year building items out of either pallet lumber, or barn wood lumber. The following was from a pallet or two…









The runners made the end posts, runners supplied the 3/4 Oak stock. The slats on the pallet became the slats on the Quilt Rack.

Yes, the Oak runners had a few nails in them. If I needed some 3/4" thick stock, I would resaw ( on the tablesaw) right down the center, where all the nails were, or used to be.

The only reason I am not using pallet lumber at the moment, is a lack of pallets to tear down. Nowadays, I usually dumpster-dive for decent stuff..

BTW: I used to find a lot more Spalted lumber when I took apart pallets. One LARGE center runner made a few decent items..









Had enough left over to turn a few knobs for a few planes. Wood is Spalted Maple.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

Just use oak or pine, rough it up and tell them it use to be pallets, they'll never know the difference haha. I hate when people post cutting boards made from pallets, don't care if you think 100% it hasn't been treated, why risk it.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

The reason I don't want to use pallets is because it's such a pain separating them, not worth the time or effort even though they're fee.


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## ScottC (Apr 6, 2010)

I don't like it. Far too much effort to disassemble and far too risky to use power tools on.

I admit, you may find some nice pieces of wood, and I know nice things can be made, but it's not for me.

And, I don't buy the whole "upcycling" aspect. If a perfectly good pallet is taken apart to build something else, then, in theory, a new pallet has to be manufactured to take its place. I know, pallets are usually plentiful, and if it's a case where you come across one from a delivery or something then I could see doing something with it. But, me personally, I'm not going to seek them out.

Carry on.


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## JAAune (Jan 22, 2012)

Your problem is the client base that's available from Craigslist. While it probably won't hurt to advertise there, chances are you'll get better clients faster through just about every other type of marketing.

I did advertise my laser cutting services on Craigslist a few weeks and got one customer whose projects paid well for the time spent cutting them. Problem is that for every $100 of laser cut stuff I sold him, he expected me to spend hours calculating time and cost estimates for every possible variation of numerous designs. That customer vanished without notice before approving the second sale and I wasn't disappointed.

Other than that, I never got any leads from Craigslist. For people that do high end residential work or commercial contracts, I wouldn't recommend advertising there at all.

As far as pallet wood goes, I'd avoid it due to chemical issues plus time and space costs required to process the pallets. If you're going into the reclaimed wood business, then I'd recommend going all out and getting a truck, trailer, sawmill and woodshed. Then you'd be able to get the high-value stuff like barn timbers and old growth city trees as they are cut down by municipal workers.


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## Dabcan (Feb 1, 2011)

pallet wood and chalk paint, my two least favourite things. What a lot of people miss is pallets are often sprayed with chemicals (fungicides, insecticides) not to mention whatever was on the pallet could have spilled. Really not the kind of stuff you want in your home.


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## tomsteve (Jan 23, 2015)

you might be able to find a mill nearby that cuts pallet stock and get the lumber before it goes into pallets. or a mill that can cut the stock.


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## TTF (Sep 13, 2009)

It depends if you want make money at woodworking. It's very much the style right now. You and I can have our opinions, but it's the customers who have the money.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Customer wants a loft bed built, and supplied a couple pallets to use…









Cut them to length, lag screw some new 2×6s, and we have a place to set the box sping on. Been working on the corner posts, and it is also to her design…









Note: these were NOT sprayed with anything, nor carried any nasty chemicals. They are branded as HT, heat treated. They are "roasted" to remove bugs. These also carried boxes of electronic gear. Fairly clean Oak boards.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

In the last picture, I am using the cut-off to hold a post so I can test fit a joint. 2×6s stick above the pallet, to keep the box spring from sliding off the bed. Notches in the posts are for more 2×6s, to make "ladder" ends. Still had one pallet to do..something with….


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## Shadowrider (Feb 2, 2015)

> I ve worked in manufacturing for 15 years and seen pallets treated with, soaked in, or spilled on with all manner of nasty chemicals, gross stuff, and filth. Unless I know the source and use of the pallet Im repurposing I d rather not muck with it. I have no desire to breath dust saturated in pesticides or industrial chemicals or who knows what.
> 
> - Adrock1


Same here. I've worked in machine shops in automotive, oil field and aerospace. One of the last ones we had our own metal finishing shop which I managed for awhile. I used to get chromium trioxide and sodium metabisulphite on pallets. The sodium metabisulphite wasn't too bad but the chromic acid was another matter. They were both dry chemicals shipped heavy paper sacks and were often ripped. The chromic acid would make a really pretty orange stain on the wood. That's hexavalent chromium by the way, just think Erin Brockovich and you'll have a grasp on what it was.

But like you I've seen just about every form of nastiness spilled on them and advise EVERYONE to avoid them for anything indoors. Also I believe that foreign sourced pallets are mandated by regulation to be sprayed/treated for insects before being brought into the country. Bottom line is use pallets for putting heavy stuff on, not for making things from…


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## SirIrb (Jan 12, 2015)

Maybe this would account for why lauan smells of formaldehyde. Back in the day when i worked in a lumberyard a bunk of 1/4 lauan would make my eyes water and nose run.


> I ve worked in manufacturing for 15 years and seen pallets treated with, soaked in, or spilled on with all manner of nasty chemicals, gross stuff, and filth. Unless I know the source and use of the pallet Im repurposing I d rather not muck with it. I have no desire to breath dust saturated in pesticides or industrial chemicals or who knows what.
> 
> - Adrock1
> 
> ...


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## Tennessee (Jul 8, 2011)

In my city there is a company that rebuilds pallets. They take all the wood they don't want to use, and stack it in bins at the beginning of their driveway, so people can take the lumber for whatever they want.

It's junk, and who knows what is in that lumber. But whenever I go by that place, there is either a lot of lumber and a lot of people picking it, or the bins are just about empty. Saves the company a ton of disposal money, and who knows what happens to the wood.

On the other hand, one day I went to one of the local lumberyards I used to use and they were in a bit of financial trouble. I walked in to see them making custom pallets out of #1 white oak. I asked the yard manager why, and he said they had to pay the bills, and had a lot of oak lying around, sooo, pallets it was. Argh!!

Personally, the only pallets I used in the last five years were very large with oak 4X4's on them, from an American manufacturing company that supplied the company I worked for with large HVAC units, so I knew it was just oak with no chemicals. Other than that, not even good firewood.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

It's called recycling. It's not a bad thing.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

For many years, I worked in an office near a place that received large HVAC units. There was almost always several large piles of clean pallets of various sizes out by the road. I picked up lots of them over the years. They are great for uses such as stacking my drying boards in the barn attic, stacking bales of hay, and makeshift fences.

Other than that, the only things I have really made from them are fence gates and bonfires.


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

Same thing here. I woodwork as a hobby, but have people I work with ask for pallet style furniture all the time. I simply say no.


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## bonesbr549 (Jan 1, 2010)

> Customer wants a loft bed built, and supplied a couple pallets to use…
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My motto is to each his own, and I won't do it because I work in an industry that is sensitive to pallets. And we switched from any pallets to only ones "HT" because of chemicals, and I would not want to expose my lungs to those and I mean there are nasty chemicals used. We recently switched to plastic, after news reports of supplliers forging the "HT" or removing the pallet boards with the HT on them and putting them on non heat treated.

I'd just stay away from them just not worth risking your lungs and health.

Just M2CW but that and 2.50 will get you a cup of coffee


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## wmgworks (Sep 14, 2015)

> Hey guys! Quick rant. I have just got into finer woodworking in the last 6 months after close to 20 years of carpentry type woodworking. I will say it s going extremely well so I put an ad up on Craigslist for custom woodworking. I ve got a few projects so far but it seems 95% of the people who contact me want pallet furniture. I hate to turn down projects but using cracked pallet wood and pulling nails for hours isn t my cup of tea and not to mention miss a nail, time for new planer blades. Does anyone have any recommendations?
> 
> - MikeBeee


Your work is your brand. If you don't want to be known for doing pallet projects then don't do them. When you look at craftsmen throughout history they are known for their style - not for doing what people want necessarily. However, pallet stuff is very popular right now. Only you can decide on if you need the projects or you can hold off and do them your way.

As for using pallets, there are plenty of places that heat treat pallets and don't use chemicals on them. Of course chemicals can spill on them afterwards sometimes. Just be careful where you get the pallets from.

Someone said that if we take pallets we are contributing to the manufacturer making more pallets. This is just wrong. The manufacturer is just going to keep cranking out pallets. No one tracks how many they have and where each one goes. Many people who get deliveries are just stacking them up to throw away anyway. So taking them and reusing them IS doing good.

For some, tearing them apart isn't worth the effort. I can appreciate that. They are a lot of work. But, for some of us, we do like the look and what you can get out of them.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Around here…the Amish have sawmills all over the place, and almost every one is building hardwood pallets by the trailer load. Plus, the Amish around here do not spray anything on them. The heat treat for them is the heat from the sawblades, I guess.

Long time ago….I would recycle hardwood pallets from where I worked. The best ones were used to carry 2500 pounds of bagged clays. They also had a slip sheet between the pallet and the paper bags…less tears I guess? Slats were a full 4/4 thick Oak, Poplar, And some sort of reddish wood. One load came in with 4/4 vertical grain Pine/fir on Oak runners.

One time, we got a load of Friable EPDM from Brazil…...HT stamp. Wood was T&G Brazilian Hardwood…..word started with an "M".....and was about THE best crate wood I have ever found. It wouldn't take a stain of any sort..but, one coat of varnish turned the light brown wood into a deep, dark red.

I here the same arguements about using "Barn Wood" as the ones above. 









Resawn Barn rafters, mainly 100 yr old Oak









Barn Wood Desk….


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

I wouldn't have any problem using known hardwood from a pallet that would yield decent boards to produce use in a project that could have been done just the same with wood purchased at a hardwood dealer. Making on spec or commission, pallet furniture is in my opinion a step backwards for someone trying to produce fine furniture.


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## jeffswildwood (Dec 26, 2012)

Within 3 miles of where I live there is a full pallet shop. That's all they do, pallets. I had three trees cut down several years ago before I got back into wood work. The cutter asked if I want the wood and I said no. So I paid him to cut the three trees and he got paid again by the pallet maker. They have a bin of off cuts that you can just pull up and fill your truck for about ten dollars. They take any wood that's brought to them so who knows what you may find. And all fresh and clean. I have not took advantage of this because I don't have a planer but I think I would trust these pallets. And need to dig through that pile of cut offs someday. The thing is the "primitive" look is very popular now. I try to make nice stuff but to me this is just another style.


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## gregscrafts (Mar 19, 2016)

I like making furniture from reclaimed lumber. It's hard to believe what people throw away. Granted I might have to wait some time for longer material but it depends on where you look. I tried to use short pallets but ended up with a lot of busted wood. The longer ones work a lot better. I do a lot of dumpster diving looking for wood from a lot of different contractors. I save them money and I save myself money.


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

I'm glad some people like to work with it. I'm not one of them. I have seen some nice work done with them, but mostly people seem to make rather crude and poorly finished stuff w/ pallets. I just cannot see the time it takes to rip one apart with all of the fasteners they use on them for very little usable wood and then have to worry about running a screw through the planer or saw. It doesn't pencil out for me.


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## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

Years ago, I made a commissioned piece (the vanity in my projects gallery) from reclaimed pallet wood. First of all, it was a huge process to take the rough, dirty, nail and staple ridden wood and convert into dimensioned lumber that I could use. In fact that was literally half the work. Second, it was really tough on my tools (i.e. planer and jointer). It turned out well, and I can say I did it, but I prefer to get my rough wood from McBeath's.

On a side note, I see pallets all the time at work and over the last several years, I haven't seen any that have any oak in them. I've been looking, just in case I'd be tempted to nab it, but alas, not a single stick.


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## JollyGreen67 (Nov 1, 2010)

Just because it has been heat treated - for bugs presently in residence - doesn't mean they will not take up residence later in time, that's why pallets are "saturated" with anti-bug chemicals after the fact.


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## Gentile (Jun 3, 2013)

I found this on the interweb…


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