Breaking Down Pallets

[rickc]

I have spent several hours this weekend trying to "reclaim" wood from several pallets. I spent about 1 1/2 - 2 hours on the first one, trying to gently pry the pieces off, pull nails, etc. About 50% of the pieces split. I started on a second one, and found every board I tried to lift up enough to get nails off, split. The third and fourth ones, well, lets just say I have a bunch of pieces about 14" long, and NOT split. I got some decent pieces of nice, dry red oak out of one, but I an going to have to rip them and glue them up to have any thing of consequence.

Any suggestions as to how to take these things apart without spitting the wood?

 

[Monty]

Don't know how to help you on that one... I've never bought anything big enough to come on a pallet! :-?

I've heard others have the same experience as you have with pallets, though... pretty low juice-to-squeeze ratio when it comes to getting useful wood out of pallets. OTOH, the price is right, and any free wood is a good thing!

Let us know what you make out of that wood...

 

[SteveColes]

I don't think, they use the best quality wood in pallets:eusa_danc

 

[Ryan]

I break down alot of pallets to use in projects. Normally, instead of prying the top planks off of the runners, I take my cordless circular saw and run it across the planks right beside the runners. You lose maybe 3" of wood off each side, but the ends are usually full of nail holes and split/checked anyways. Hope this helps.

 

[rickc]

Thanks for the suggestion. That was how I had done them for a while, but then in this month's Wood Magazine they had a blurb about "penny pinching". The one about the guy essentially building a garage from left over and scrap lumber Iincluding pallets) got me wondering if I was too impatient. I also was told I didn't lay my hands on some "good" pallets, as some use staples that are easier to remove. Long and the short of it, I broke down and used your technique! Like I said, easier to have a bunch of smaller pieces without the splits and nail holes than having to rip and glue!

 

[Ryan]

Youre right about the staples being easy to remove (normally). I hate it when they use ring-shank nails!

 

[sapwood]

Rick,

Certainly agree that pallet wood scrounging is tough.
Although, I'm sure you've already thought of it--bigger pallets yield bigger wood and foreign pallets can yield unique wood. I consider it treasure hunting and one day I may strike gold :lol:

To date I've only succeeded in freeing up enough oak for a couple hardwood miter sled runners :crybaby2: But fallen wood/firewood and pallets are free and I keep looking.

Anyone brainstormers with suggestions for really large pallets????

Sapwood

 

[cloudancer]

Hey I read that article about penny pinching yest *grin*. So where are you guy's getting pallets? Work?

 

[sapwood]

Hey I read that article about penny pinching yest *grin*. So where are you guy's getting pallets? Work?

Many business are glad for you to take the pallets. Just ask--although occasionally, I've seen signs posted in front--"free pallets" (Paynes Tools). Drive behind any shopping center where the dumpsters are and when you see something interesting, head to the front door. Of course, in some of the big box retailers they are NOT available--hidden behind fences.

Good luck,
Sapwood

 

[DaveO]

I've got more pallets then I know what to do with. Most are Oak and Pine, pretty beat up. I find it is hard enougt to go from rough sawn to workable wood, so tearing apart pallets isn't something I am inclined to do. Anyone want some? Dave

 

[mshel]

Just in case there are skeptics out there, you can turn trash into treasures.
Made this out of shipping skid obtained from my former employer. Turned out to be Mahogany. Legs were not part of the skid.

 

[rickc]

Boy that looks GREAT. I would love to find pallets/skids out of something other than pine, poplar or oak. Any suggestions as to businesses that might have any? You did a great job.:eusa_clap

 

[DaveO]

Beautiful, shows what can be done with one man's trash. Dave

 

[cloudancer]

I've got more pallets then I know what to do with. Most are Oak and Pine, pretty beat up. I find it is hard enougt to go from rough sawn to workable wood, so tearing apart pallets isn't something I am inclined to do. Anyone want some? Dave

Are they Mahogany?

 

[Phillip]

japanese motorcycles come in crates that are usually hardwoods, i've gotten all kinds of weird exotics from them. also, at one time, jet 18" bandsaws came in padauk shipping crates.

 

[DaveO]

Cloudancer, if they were Mahogany, I wouldn't be offering them out to everyone. Although, I do work with a guy who does high-end decking and I often get his off-cuts, Mahogany, Ipe and Purpleheart, but I horde those. Dave

 

[Ryan]

After reading this thread I remembered I've got a pallet beside the shop that I had forgotten about . A friend ordered some tile and got this pallet, it has Thialand stamped on the side. It's an exotic hardwood, so I'm thinking it'll be worth my time to bust it apart and mill it up. I'm going to try to post some pictures of it and maybe somebody here can figure out exactly what kind of wood it is.

 

[DaveO]

Look forward to seeing it. Dave