Resawing loads of pallet wood

[sickasapike]

I was wondering if anyone had any tips for resawing pallet wood, I've a stack of it that I've de-nailed, thicknessed and kinda-jointed them on a saw jig, so next I'll be resawing them on a bandsaw to about 3mm thick (for applying to a wall).

I've set up a fence of the right height, nice and perpendicular, second test cut on short pieces bang on (first was before realising my extended fence wasn't perpendicular) so it's a matter of easing a few dozen pieces through twice each - all seems like a pleasant hour or two with some music on but was wondering if anyone had any tips that a beginner might employ to make it go more smoothly ?

Presumably I should I take breaks between every Xth cut to let the blade cool ? - the blade is nearly new.

While most of the planks are pretty much the same size, there is some variation in width (or height, as they'll be plonked on the wall), I was wondering whether I'd be wise to just rip the lot to the same width for a much easier life when fitting it, or risk it for a biscuit in fitting/cutting it together (and possibly cursing myself) as I go, probably wasting less wood and perhaps ending up with a nicer, less regimented effect overall... and I can't decide which way to go !

Ahhh... or maybe ripping each to the nearest half centimetre, so there are maybe 4 different widths; with a few custom strips here and there it could all come together nicely.

 

[sunnybob]

I post this every time palletwood furniture is mentioned

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

 

[MikeG.]

One tip I'd pass on is that a bandsawn face isn't any use against a fence if you want accuracy.

The second tip is that unless you have dried this wood to a low moisture content (ie around 8% or so) you have zero chance of obtaining any useful 3mm sections. You'll end up with a sculpture rather than something which could be applied to a wall. The third tip is that 3mm is too thin anyway. Normal matching is about 9mm thick. I can imagine 6mm being possible in decent dry timber, but 3mm? No way will that work.

Re-reading your post, I wonder if you mean the same thing by re-sawing as I do. If your sections are say 100 x 25 (by say 1500 long), then re-sawing to 3mm would give you pieces which are 100 x 3 (x1500). Is that what you mean? Or do you mean you're wanting to end up with sections which are 25 x 3 (x 1500)?

 

[sickasapike]

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

Thanks Bob, interesting read, I didn't know any of the info about the stamps.

The ones I'm using are from a printworks nearby, they have an open sided warehouse packed with pallettes of paper and wotnot and build a pile of them outside where I take them from (with the traditional banter about them being a fiver each now... :^) - I happened to be there a while back, asked and the foreman guy said come get some any time, cool !

They're all the smaller size (which fit in my small boot !), maybe 50/60% of full size like an A5 to an A4 and *seem* to be first use, they're certainly spotless (including the slab of ply that is usually on the top side) and the scraps of cellophane still stapled to them are clean too, not seen any stained ones or any evidence of a second use, but none have any markings at all about HT or MB etc. - I think I'm OK with those (though I was unaware of the dangers, ta for posting).

I sometimes get one from the fruit seller round the corner but not often as they're the big ones and I'm generally walking ! - those are generally old and claggy, and a different, harder (and heavier !!) wood, I might have put in a few planks from those into my pile so I'll check through, no shortage of the clean ones so might as well play safe.

I must confess to burning all my pallette cutoffs in an open fire though, I'll watch out from now.

 

[MattRoberts]

Agree that 3mm is too thin - that sort of wood is invariably softwood, and you'll punch through 3mm of it with the first knock of something - that's if you can even get it to stay flat on the wall (the thinner it is the more likely to warp). Plus you'd find the isn't enough meat for whatever fixings you're planning on using to fix it to the wall. I'd go 10mm or more to be honest - you want it to look and feel substantial.

Regarding width, cutting them all to the same width is by far the easiest, but if you wanted to minimise the wastage then I'd agree that cutting to tessellating widths (multiples of 40mm for example) would be the next way to go

 

[sickasapike]

One tip I'd pass on is that a bandsawn face isn't any use against a fence if you want accuracy.

Good point, so if I am slicing each into 3 I'll use the thicknessed face both times.

Accuracy isn't terribly important, it's intended to be a bit rugged, more like a shed/cabin rather than like panelling. The wall it's going on is a bit curved and slanty anyway.

The second tip is that unless you have dried this wood to a low moisture content (ie around 8% or so) you have zero chance of obtaining any useful 3mm sections.

I think I'm good with that, or good enough - they were stacked outside in the summer before dismantling but then came indoors to be prepared, and I ran out of room in my tiny shop so moved my 'timber with a purpose' collection to a metal frame in the lounge behind the TV in front of a radiator (yea, batchelor....) all stacked to breathe well, so they've been cosy for a couple of months now.

I am a beginner so kinds expect to learn some lessons... and don't mind if I end up rejigging it (or even abandoning the idea if I just don't like it, small wall) but I think that lot should be fairly stable by now, the short cuts I made came out pretty uniform, or certainly uniform anough, if that translates to the longer ones too I they'll be fine size-wise.

I plan to attach them with brad nails to a sheet of something (marine ply.. or probably normal ply) as I go, no glue, which again may be a mistake but I want to be able to remodel, and could ultimately redo key areas or the lot with glue if wanted - don't want it to be a big faff to remove it if I don't like it - it's all a bit of a proof of concept / experiment.

The third tip is that 3mm is too thin anyway. Normal matching is about 9mm thick. I can imagine 6mm being possible in decent dry timber, but 3mm? No way will that work.

Hmm, I don't know what you mean by 'normal matching', I'm happy that they won't be flush with each other, have no intention to smooth them off to each other at all after attaching, it's not a wall you brush against or that needs to be uniform.

Re-reading your post, I wonder if you mean the same thing by re-sawing as I do.

I only learnt the term resawing recently, but that's what I mean yes, turning a plank into 3 slimmer planks like slicing a book into pages. 3mm isn't a target as such, just what gives 3 slices out of the typical plank.

In the end, there's no client or 'er indoors to answer to, just me messing about so if I find it all on the floor one morning it's fine

 

[MikeG.]

........I plan to attach them with brad nails to a sheet of something (marine ply.. or probably normal ply) as I go, no glue, which again may be a mistake but I want to be able to remodel, and could ultimately redo key areas or the lot with glue if wanted - don't want it to be a big faff to remove it if I don't like it - it's all a bit of a proof of concept / experiment.

The third tip is that 3mm is too thin anyway. Normal matching is about 9mm thick. I can imagine 6mm being possible in decent dry timber, but 3mm? No way will that work.

Hmm, I don't know what you mean by 'normal matching', I'm happy that they won't be flush with each other, have no intention to smooth them off to each other at all after attaching, it's not a wall you brush against or that needs to be uniform.

Re-reading your post, I wonder if you mean the same thing by re-sawing as I do.

I only learnt the term resawing recently, but that's what I mean yes, turning a plank into 3 slimmer planks like slicing a book into pages. 3mm isn't a target as such, just what gives 3 slices out of the typical plank.

In the end, there's no client or 'er indoors to answer to, just me messing about so if I find it all on the floor one morning it's fine

It won't work. 3mm thick resawn boards will warp, twist, cup, curl, and split. You will waste your time and your wood trying it. I'll take a bet that any re-sawing of pallet wood will have the same result, but that extremely thin sections such as you are proposing are going to do it to an extreme. I wouldn't expect a high success rate from furniture grade kiln dried stuff, let alone rubbish timber with a high but unknown moisture content.

Matching: http://www.timberclick.com/midlands/timber-claddings/softwood-matching.html

 

[sickasapike]

Agree that 3mm is too thin - that sort of wood is invariably softwood, and you'll punch through 3mm of it with the first knock of something

Darn, that's 2 of you now, maybe I should up the thickness then, resaw each in half so they're more like 5mm, I don't want to use whole planks, want to make the most of the wood and keep the weight down (stud wall behind) - I don't have a car now so not so easy to go and grab more pallettes !

They're not long pieces - small pallettes and I generally cut them wholesale with a reciprocating saw as I don't want the nail holes and they don't have gaps so i can't use a lever/bricks and mallet between them, which brings the length down again, that should help with the warping, most pieces are 40-60cm long, 7-10cm wide, 10-12mm thick.

Plus you'd find the isn't enough meat for whatever fixings you're planning on using to fix it to the wall. I'd go 10mm or more to be honest - you want it to look and feel substantial.

That's another issue I've been mulling, I was thinking if I used staples rather than nails it'd hold better and still be barely visible, it's supposed to look rough and ready so not a problem I think.

Yeah, thicker pieces, thanks chaps, you're right.

I do want to keep it easily abandonable, i.e. no glue at least initially, if I really like it I could even remake it in shaped sections firmly glued to ply, then screw them to the studs and glue the last pieces in place to cover the screw heads.

 

[sickasapike]

It won't work. 3mm thick resawn boards will warp, twist, cup, curl, and split. You will waste your time and your wood trying it.

Fair enough, point taken - I'll go thicker, thanks for the advice.

 

[MattRoberts]

If you're going rustic, make the fixings a feature.
https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Screws ... ack/p84270

 

[MikeG.]

.......Darn, that's 2 of you now, maybe I should up the thickness then, resaw each in half so they're more like 5mm, I don't want to use whole planks,........

That won't work either.

With non-dry timber, the outside is drier than the inside. If you slice it in half, you will have one face which is dry, and the other which is wet. The wet face is now exposed to the air, so will start drying. As it dries, it will shrink, and as it shrinks, it will pull against the non-shrinking already-dry face. This will make it curl, cup, warp, split and generally ruin itself. It will pull your nails out of the ply backing. If you want to save any of your timber, use it as it is. You'll still have problems with that, but far less than if you re-saw it. If you re-saw it, you'll eventually bin 90% of it.

 

[Tasky]

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

Thanks Bob, interesting read, I didn't know motorcycles cost upwards of £30,000 nowadays!!! :shock:

 

[sickasapike]

With non-dry timber, the outside is drier than the inside. If you slice it in half, you will have one face which is dry, and the other which is wet.

I don't know that I'd say it's wet, I don't have a hydro meter thing but it's been cut and spaced out on metal shelves in front of and above a radiator since August perhaps; not really by design to cook them, behind the TV is the only place the metal shelves would fit !

Hmm, what timescale would the deformation happen over do you think ? - if I went straight to the purpose-cut panel idea, gorilla glueing pieces to custom plywood shapes (bottom left, bottom middle etc) that fit round the obstacles and coincide with the studs then I could wait and see with one test panel before it gets anywhere near the wall.

It's no problem to have bare wall for a month, lots else to do, and that way I don't have to grovel around making a mess fitting individual pieces and going back and forth to make unplanned cuts, it'd be a lot firmer on the wall and remove very easily.

Means I'd commit the wood to using it for that but only risking one panel's worth, that's fine.

I appreciate the advice/warnings from you and the other chaps, am happy to make mistakes (or, those that leave me with 10 fingers anyway !), it's cheap wood and my objective is to learn more than be productive at the moment.

 

[sickasapike]

If you're going rustic, make the fixings a feature.

I like the idea in general but have strived to get it all without nail/knot holes, or I could have saved longer planks - I don't know if I'm after all /that/ rustic, maybe just slightly out of town but in the opposite direction to the retail park

 

[HappyHacker]

I would say give it try on one or two boards to see what happens. While it will probably do exactly as has been said above there is nothing like learning from experience and seeing how little/much the wood moves after cutting into different thicknesses. It is normal even in seasoned wood for there to be some movement after re-sawing as the internal tensions in the wood change.

 

[monkeybiter]

Thinner slices may well deform but the thinner they are the easier it may be to flatten them again, depending on your chosen method of fixing to the wall. They will be thick veneers.

 

[sickasapike]

Has to be the best way forward doesn't it - I'll prep the wood, cut the bottom right corner ply section and make it up with glue, slap a piece of carpet and some weights on it overnight then leave it for a week or two in place, then I'll do some photos

 

[Hemsby]

Also worth a read. UK version

https://northantswoodrecycling.wordpres ... lets-mean/

 

[sickasapike]

I made a test piece, just 8 slats, long and short, in a 3-deep layout on thin ply. I'd already resawn some 3mm pieces so used those - threy'll show worst case perhaps - glued (just gorilla wood glue) and clamped overnight, today went over with 60 grit on oscillating sander, 120 hand sanding, then gave it 2 goes with danish oil on one end, tung oil on the other with a light sanding between coats.

Will do 2 more coats of each tomorrow then leave it on a high shelf above the kettle for a couple of weeks - there won't be any steam in the bathroom for a while, am half way through my first attempt at regrouting...

I used the two outer pieces from resawing so the sides glued to the ply are pretty flat from thicknesser/sanding and the show sides are clean and nicely wavy. I need to get smoother on the bandsaw operation to reduce the saw marks (around where I changed stance and realised drill press was in the way, darn) but can be sanded out.

I don't know how long it might take to warp if it's going to - I didn't go oerboard on the glue and used no nails at all, and using the 3mm pieces hopefully I've given it every chance to rebel if it's going to

 

[sickasapike]

I found the wood I need for the backing, 2 sheets of 1200x2400x9mm osb for free - clean and flat with a couple of corners cut out and one mangled corner from my lugging, just the job !

lugging-free-wood-around-t109068.html