Hi all,
I’ve been seeing a load of really great projects coming out of pallets lately. I know there’s a fair bit of work in getting the wood ready but most of the projects on YouTube are American or Canadian makers and it seems like their pallets are far better in wood quality.
Anyone having some great success in the space with turning pallet wood into slabs of wood for reuse? Got any tips in what to look for in a pallet?
Thanks in advance for any advice… 
Some pallets are not worth it, some are fine, but usually have some dirt on them and nails. Once you remove the nails or cut around them, you can plane it,cut it and sand it. I personally went through the trouble a couple of times, last time when I used it for a frame for my desk at home. The old holes from nails are features. I did not bother to sand it as the projects was in a spirit of ‘good enough for now’
When I attended college the tutor advised us to look out for a specific type of pallet.
Some are made with just small blocks of wood separating the top and bottom layers but this makes them susceptible to bowing.
Look out for pallets that have a supporting framework that stretches the whole length/ width of the pallet to get wood that isn’t bowed or warped by pressure.
Difficult to explain in words but if you look at the structure of pallets you’ll see the difference in the way they are constructed. That sounds really nerdy I know but it’s true !
2 Likes
Another thing to keep in mind is that a lot of pallets have gone through nasty treatment processes and can contain toxic chemicals. I’d make sure to look for any markings on a pallet you’re about to cut up in the space: https://earth911.com/health/how-to-safely-use-pallet-wood/
1 Like
On a similar note, I noticed some pressure treated wood scraps in the wood shop, we should probably chuck those.
1 Like
Good point about treatment of wood. I have processed a few for making bug and bird houses for school projects. I’d agree that many are pretty poor quality wood compared to the US but they were good enough for the projects. I just would run a jigsaw close to the central and side beams and end up with around 20 pieces of 30 to 40 cm wood which did not need to be de-nailed - though obviously I checked in case there was stray metal! Then I’d put them through a thicknesser several times and end up with a respectable stack.
2 Likes