pallet wood furniture

[Yorkshire Sam]

I often browse on stumbleupon, surfing various woodworking sites and am often surprised at the number of 'furniture from pallet' threads. Its quite amazing the amount of stuff that is made of pallets. I am an old guy and admit to being set in my ways and my first thoughts are usually on the lines of ... would'nt give it room on my allotment never mind my house! To me they all still look like pallets! Is someone having a laugh? I can appreciate the amount of work that must have gone on to create some of it, but I still can't see the point!

Is there any pallet furniture makers on this site that can explain to me the fascination and perhaps introduce a new point of view for me?

 

[novocaine]

is it that time of year already?

topic106618.html
topic105773.html

we seem to get this one on cycle every 6 to 8 months.
lets just say each to their own and leave it be, it's safer I think.

now, does anybody know the correct way to sharpen a pallet? should I be using a tomak or diamond plates? will i be able to get the same edge if I do it the old way?

 

[clanger]

I've made a number of bits of garden furniture from up/re-cycled pallets. They are:

• Compost heaps;
  Log Store

.

 

[ScaredyCat]

Isn't there a difference between pallet wood furniture and furniture made from pallets? To me pallet wood furniture is furniture made from wood extracted from pallets, cut planed, finished etc and furniture made from pallets is exactly as marcros said in the first of those links "looks like a load of pallets with some cushions on" ...

 

[thetyreman]

can't say I will ever be a fan regardless of how in fashion it is,

it encourages low standards and the wood often isn't fit for purpose, when I have used it the wood has been too weak for joinery, it was very very fast growth spruce, which from an economy point of view makes sense, they save the best parts of the tree for timber merchants and joinery grade wood with fewer knots in it.

 

[Tasky]

To me they all still look like pallets!

That's just people who don't know how to 'Upcycle' properly!!

when I have used it the wood has been too weak for joinery

I think the idea is more that you nail it together, for that Olde Worlde Rusticke Looke.... or something.

To me pallet wood furniture is furniture made from wood extracted from pallets, cut planed, finished etc and furniture made from pallets is exactly as marcros said in the first of those links "looks like a load of pallets with some cushions on" ...

^ Precisely.
Pallet Wood furniture, even without high end finishing, can often look a little on the rustic side and indeed that's the appeal (for people* who wear Barbour, get Country Life clothing catalogues delivered and dream of driving an old Land Rover across their own estate, with several dogs in the back)... but should still look nothing like a pallet upon completion!

*As the husband of one such nutter, I was planning on getting some pallets to try making her something, one day...

 

[clanger]

Pallet Wood furniture, even without high end finishing, can often look a little on the rustic side and indeed that's the appeal (for people* who wear Barbour, get Country Life clothing catalogues delivered and dream of driving an old Land Rover across their own estate, with several dogs in the back)... but should still look nothing like a pallet upon completion!

Wear Barbour (yep)
Country Life (only ever read it in the doctor's surgery)
1995 Land Rover Defender equipped with Labrador and Terrier theft deterrent (yep again)

In the words of Meatloaf - Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

 

[MattRoberts]

Isn't there a difference between pallet wood furniture and furniture made from pallets? To me pallet wood furniture is furniture made from wood extracted from pallets, cut planed, finished etc and furniture made from pallets is exactly as marcros said in the first of those links "looks like a load of pallets with some cushions on" ...

Spot on...

 

[Geoff_S]

I thought that if you paid an extortionate amount of money for a "piece", then that made it artisan finessed up cycling and therefore OK.

 

[rafezetter]

Is it wood from pallets? yes of course. Does a lot of it look like pallets have been covered with cushoins, also yes, but is that the only things you can do with wood from a pallet? No - with the caveat it depends on the wood.

I've got lots of boards of wood of oak, ash, and various other hardwoods, some really quite nice - if you keep your eyes peeled when you see a stack of pallets, you'll be surprised at what you might find.

Can make allsorts of stuff from that, and that's not even taking into consideration other things like if I want to say use a few boards to practice dovetails (which is something I've been meaning to do for ages) or hone my "planing to a given line" or chamfers to 2 lines, whats the harm?

Sure I could buy the same woods for a project, but it's free, and most of us have got space to store a few planks until you get a useful amount.

If you change the wood in a lot of those projects from basic softwood to hardwood, does that really make it any different?

I would say the viewpoint is largely in the beholder....

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

I posted this question not in the derogatory ' this is not really woodwork' way, but a genuine wish to elicit some views about an obviously growing trend ... not surprising when you consider the price of even construction timber in the uk. The pallet is ubiquitous, they are every where, unfortunately I live in a rural area where they are not common... perhaps I might be a bit envious.

While I may not want them in my home, I must admit that considering all the ingenuity, thought and effort that goes into making such items there is a little of something to be admired. After all its a hobby and if you get pleasure in making stuff ... who cares!

Thanks to all who shared thier views, it has given me a new light on this facet of woodworking.

 

[John Brown]

Yorkshire Sam, are you the one who has the monopoly on bird's eye Maple?

 

[Tasky]

The pallet is ubiquitous, they are every where, unfortunately I live in a rural area where they are not common... perhaps I might be a bit envious.

So do I... but there are often little industrial areas tucked away that you'd never know about without a cunning Google.
Farms often have some going spare, as they get things like bags of animal feed and crop treatments delivered on pallets.
Ebay too sometimes has truckloads of pallets available for just a few quid - I missed a couple recently that offered 100 pallets for 99p (buy it now price) including delivery!!

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

Yorkshire Sam, are you the one who has the monopoly on bird's eye Maple?

No sorry wrong guy... don't think I have ever seen any let alone worked on it.

 

[John Brown]

Yeah, sorry. My mistake. He was from Lancashire.