No.
Pallet Wood
- Thread starter Matt S
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Homeless Squirrel
Established Member
Guess you being in OZ don't get to see the prices over here? It's shockingly expensive! and my cash is spent trying to keep rear end out of the water with leccy/gas along with food/fuel making your eyes water more than a tub of freshly peeled/chopped prime onions!
And thought part of woodwork was the creative aspect?Just turning something into something useable is creative? But it's all free wood and my Charity group has little cash and get donations from places one being a picture framing company that gives us offcuts of soft/hard woods.
plus pallet wood is good outside for bird boxes etc as if used "high Class" wood it would need protecting with finishes which RSPB etc don't like
Also one i cut up other day someone is using to make a gate for there garden.
Stevekane
Established Member
Ive made a few things with pallets and as you say it does feel creative, a limiting factor is the length unless your happy with a few “rustic” nail holes or can incorporate them into the build, I have a pallet length upright spice rack and one that I really like is an electric meter cover for my sons hairdressers shop, that was pallet wood with galvanised steel panels that have big industrial dimples punched into them, which were the rear panels from old Dimplex Storage heaters, it looked great and I wanted him to just wash some light paint on it, maybe with a rag, but it ended up brown!
Still looks good though sitting against a bare brick wall.
I like using reclaimed wood and pallets certainly have their place.
Steve.
Still looks good though sitting against a bare brick wall.
I like using reclaimed wood and pallets certainly have their place.
Steve.
Shelving ,tool racks ect in the workshop saves £s
Adam W.
A Major Clanger
This picture frame is made from a superb Georgian pine floor joist with a spruce pallet wood backing frame. Both were lovely woods to work with and just right for the job in hand.
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sawtooth-9
Established Member
Even though prices in Aus are crazy, I do understand that inflation in UK is sky high. So I do understand the need to seek out ways to keep your costs down.
And you are right, there are suitable applications for pallet wood ( heat treated only ).
It's great that you are working with a charity group, and I like your balanced and realistic position.
Homeless Squirrel
Established Member
I'm more than happy just cutting pallets up as still being creative! well helps someone else out and last time cut leg up from a snooker table which left a big round mahogany looking big round part with what looks like a top to it and hopefully guys going to put on lathe sand it up then square neck up cut it off low as pos then hollow out pot to make a big mahogany jar with lid? or my other thoughts was chop some port holes in sides cut some shapes out of perspex etc place them in like a wooden window then with some thin hardwood shape a moulding and fix in like window frames then place an led light inside.
I'm full of wacky ideas! lol
No your just thinking out side the norm I like it
One way to separate the assorted pallet parts/bits is to use a multi tool - use a metal cutting blade - to slice through the nails. Simply insert the blade between the two adjacent surfaces and let the cutter do the work. If the residual nails parts when left in the wood are no problem, fine. If they are a problem then punch them out? I’m making a log store where I cut through the nails holding the supporting parts from the main upper layer of an “H” type pallet, and that upper layer forms the back of the store. The parts of the nails left in the wood are no problem.
I used to hack saw through the nails, so as to avoid splitting the boards if trying to prise them apart. The multi tool is so much easier and more efficien.
I used to hack saw through the nails, so as to avoid splitting the boards if trying to prise them apart. The multi tool is so much easier and more efficien.
sometimewoodworker
Established Member
The answer is that you absolutely can. Though I would not do it myself. As others have said there are a huge verity of pallets and shipping frames, as far as wood species are concerned along with a verity of qualities.
Where I live there is a busInes devoted to selling reclaimed pallets and making furniture with them, it is one of the only sources of softwood. They can make reasonable quality pieces.
This is a piece I commissioned from them and a Google photo of the store
Pineapple
Established Member
Or use it outdoors for junk jobs like compost bins.
As a general observation, pallets that have carried ceramic or stone tiles are often hardwood. They are considerably heavier than normal pallets. As each pack of tiles has a cardboard surround, there is little to no contamination by stone material.
Stigmorgan
Established Member
As a school site manager I get tired of being told there's no budget to buy toy sheds/storage so have made a few from pallet wood, biggest downside to pallets is the time it takes to strip them apart and turn into usable wood, being a school we regularly get deliveries on pallets and occasionally some of them are brand new and come apart easily. The main ones I look out for are the ones with iroko corner blocks, it's one of my favourite woods when finished.
TheUnicorn
Established Member
the 'no budget' argument is such a simple way of placing no value on people's requests / ideas, and invaraibly is followed a week later by an overpriced and unnesacery purchase. insulting and aggrivating
Julie
Member
Only unimaginative people think you should be limited by your materials, creativity is it's own reward, whatever you create and what you create it from is unimportant Julie
Homeless Squirrel
Established Member
Recip with right blade is red hot knive through melted butter!.
Memo to ones self! Don't use Lennox Demo blades on a cordless recip as mullers batteries!(teeth are like circular saw teeth!)
Battery got hot so put in fridge to cool before recharge
Johnwa
Established Member
Our local recycling place breaks pallets, bundles all of the wood up in clingfilm type wrap and sells them for about £5. Not worth knocking a pallet apart for that price. Have a look in your recyclers some time. I've had some lovely oak and mahogany(?) For just a few quid. Suits my old geezers pocket a treat
A lot of the builders yard slate currently is Brazilian.
It comes in crates made out of some sort of Brazilian hardwood...
I don't make stuff from pallets, but I think the snobbery around doing so is shameful.
If the end result is attractive, I would suggest that the journey is up to the creator.
It comes in crates made out of some sort of Brazilian hardwood...
I don't make stuff from pallets, but I think the snobbery around doing so is shameful.
If the end result is attractive, I would suggest that the journey is up to the creator.
clogs
just can't decide
I hate cutting up pallets but when they are as new, free or 3 euro's each who can resist.....
they get left by the council bins as well.....
even my wife pick em up now on her travels....we drive a VW T4 kombi.....which helps....
for me to make a new pallet here would cost at least €25......ouch.....and often the wood in pallets is better than shop bought....
I wanted 45m2 of decent decking, I asked the guy to show me, it was basically fire wood.....!!!!!
went somewhere else and it cost €800 euro's....
anyway,
I cut the corner blocks in 1/2, sawsall, the middle one just gets a twist when the rest are cut.....
split the blocks with an old sharp bolster chisel....instant kindling....
then as above nip thru the long nails and a quick tap to reveal the heads.....
we find old n empty 2,5 liter tins that had olive oil in em.....so lids off and all the old nails get tossed in there....
there's a local pensioner that collect metal for scrap.....helps with the poor pension here.....yes it's worse than UK....
so when almost full we leave it at his gate....
Making,
bat n bird boxes boxes, a large pallet size insect Hotel.....and saving / collecting the rest for a wood surround for an above ground plunge pool....
so many things to build.......
Ps, I buy boxes of the drywall screws to build everything,
strong, cheap and they'll go straight thru 2 thicknesses without the need for pre drilling....
u do get the odd split but Chipindale it aint....hahaha...
Julianf
just wish we had some here....hard wood....stuff of deams.....lol....
they get left by the council bins as well.....
even my wife pick em up now on her travels....we drive a VW T4 kombi.....which helps....
for me to make a new pallet here would cost at least €25......ouch.....and often the wood in pallets is better than shop bought....
I wanted 45m2 of decent decking, I asked the guy to show me, it was basically fire wood.....!!!!!
went somewhere else and it cost €800 euro's....
anyway,
I cut the corner blocks in 1/2, sawsall, the middle one just gets a twist when the rest are cut.....
split the blocks with an old sharp bolster chisel....instant kindling....
then as above nip thru the long nails and a quick tap to reveal the heads.....
we find old n empty 2,5 liter tins that had olive oil in em.....so lids off and all the old nails get tossed in there....
there's a local pensioner that collect metal for scrap.....helps with the poor pension here.....yes it's worse than UK....
so when almost full we leave it at his gate....
Making,
bat n bird boxes boxes, a large pallet size insect Hotel.....and saving / collecting the rest for a wood surround for an above ground plunge pool....
so many things to build.......
Ps, I buy boxes of the drywall screws to build everything,
strong, cheap and they'll go straight thru 2 thicknesses without the need for pre drilling....
u do get the odd split but Chipindale it aint....hahaha...
Julianf
just wish we had some here....hard wood....stuff of deams.....lol....
Cozzer
Established Member
Have to say I quite like this : might have a crack at it if I can find 2 similar sized jobs.
Granted, you wouldn't stick a vice on it or anything, but it looks a handy enough piece to roll around the shop!
Granted, you wouldn't stick a vice on it or anything, but it looks a handy enough piece to roll around the shop!
