Quality pallet wood


Milo

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Recently, I saw some excellent examples of quality projects from quality pallet wood.

 

It got me thinking, where can you find quality pallet wood? Good, solid hardwood pallets.

 

What businesses would be most likely to receive stock from areas which would ship with hardwood pallets?

 

What businesses receive stock from overseas that would have “exotic” wood pallets?

 

My first thought was a flooring store. I have a lumber liquidators I thought of checking out.

 

If you have any ideas on the subject, please share.

 

Thanks,

 

Milo

 

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I see trucks locally driving around overloaded with pallets that they pick up from various places, and sell to other places.  I've never managed to flag one down, but I've seen them pull out of a lot of different industrial park areas.  

 

I'd check with private ambulance companies, as they occasionally (not always) get larger shipments in on pallets.  They usually don't have anyplace to put these, so they need to go immediately.  However, many of them also have restrictions on how things can be shipped, and how many they can receive (or get rid of) at a time, so this is not a guarantee.

 

where I work has dozens of pallets lying around, but most still have large quantities of paper still on them.  While I've only been able to bring home one 2/3 size pallet (it was all my car could carry at that time), I've checked with my boss and have been given occasional approval to remove one - as long as it's in the shipping/receiving department or headed to the trash.  But there are other companies out there that receive large loads of paper that often have them stored on pallets.  I'd check with the office supply companies to see if they can give any extras, or any leads on where they get there pallets, or if they would mind contacting some of their clients to let you remove the pallets from their location when they are done.

 

I'd also check with some of the machine shops out there.  they get deliveries often of large equipment that needs quality bases, boxes, or pallets.  Sure, some of the pallets will crack under the stress of the metal, but there will be others that are simply stellar.

 

Also, check with some of the larger local bakeries - the ones that supply to grocery chains.  They may have some lying around.

 

I think your best bet would be some of the light industrial areas, if you have some time in the "normal work hour" portion of the day to scout them out.

 

I'd be interested to hear where everybody else would find some.

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They'll be more trouble than they're worth IMO.  Filthy, full of nails, and the wood won't be kiln dried.  The first time you throw a board through your planer or jointer and hit a nail, you'll have lost any money you saved not paying for real lumber.  But to each his own...you find a cocobolo pallet and I'll eat my hat.

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Not expecting a pallet of cocobolo, ;)  Whoever, what might be "pine" to another country could be "cocobolo" to another.

 

I picked up some wonderful oak once that was being used as separaters in some roofing. It was almost 3x3.  I've kept my eyes open for similar ever since.

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Check with companies that receive heavy machines, I have seen them on oak pallets. The oak is usually pretty low grade but if you cross cut out the nail hole sections and let the boards dry inside there can be some nice pieces. Some of the prettiest grain is right next to the biggest knots and flaws.

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To Eric, Not kiln dried is a plus for many. I worked in siding for a decade. Miratec trim came from our finisher on 20 foot pallets of superior quality and 9 inch deapth. Cutting the nailed portions off left plenty of useful length. The nicest window stool/sill repair I did in my previous 1860 colonial was from a huge chunk of maple from one such pallet. It had dried in my shed for three years and was a gorgeous piece of wood.

The problem is that I cannot answer the original question because I have not seen consistent pallet quality from any supplier we used. It seemed as though we were not recieving directly from manufacture and that redistribution and resale left a huge variation in quality and style. I would look for an industry that recieves directly from manufacture and hope they do not return the pallets for credit.

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“What businesses receive stock from overseas that would have “exotic” wood pallets?”

 

 

My neighbor sells Nissan auto parts over the internet, on Monday when I came into work there were

five of these boards measuring 10” x 84” lying next to the dumpster. Red Oak ?

 

 

post-6734-0-52935000-1368142583_thumb.jp       post-6734-0-51024400-1368142605_thumb.jp

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When Marcos was paying for Imelda's many shoes Luan from the Phillipenes was cheaper than pine for awhile. All the trim in my house is solid Luan . The builder was smart and stained it, I have refinished most of it in place and added new mahogany trim to match in places.

Some of what passes for mahogany plywood is Luan faced.

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I made things from pallet wood for a while. Mainly they were shop fixtures, etc. I got some purple heart pallets once. That was a nice find...

 

The biggest problems with pallet wood is that they start out with the worst of the worst wood. This is wood that can't be used for anything else. Cracked, full of knots, etc.

 

The second biggest problem is that pallets are stacked on pavement or concrete and get grit embedded (sometimes deeply) in them. You end up having to run them through the drum sander quite a few times to remove the grit. Then you sit there and hold your breath when you run it through the jointer or planer, just hoping you got all of the grit out. Most times you did not. When I was using pallet wood and didn't have my drum sander, I would belt sand the worst of the grit off, put my special "pallet blades" on my planer, and run it through a few times. The "pallet blades" were nothing more than blades that had been knicked by grit, etc.

 

Planer blades at $22 per set didn't make a lot of sense just to save a few bucks on pallet wood, especially given how much time I spent in prep.

 

A cousin works at Lumber Liquidaters, and they get a ton of pallet wood in. He gave me a few of the nicer pieces, and I use them for turning, but never flat work anymore. Too hard, too expensive.

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==> They'll be more trouble than they're worth IMO

+2

 

Over the years, I've had several woodworking co-workers.  As the Opps guy, one of the areas of responsibility under my hat is logistics, which includes shipping, receiving and transport.  I was constantly asked for permission to 'save' palettes for the would-hounds to pick-over.  The long-and-short-of-it was over a dozen years of picking-over dozens of palettes/day on-and-off for years, the hounds harvested less than 100 palettes suitable for actual furniture making --- some had stoves in their shops and were happy to burn them -- but that's another story.  However, there were lot's of stories about chipped planer/jointer knives until they invested in a high-quality metal detector and developed a process -- see below.  There is also the issue of bugs and encrusted dirt.

 

I'm not saying it can't be done -- they guys occasionally 'scored big' with shipments originating in Central America or Asia and ending-up with clear mahogany and other desirables -- but again, if you do the math, it was rare.

 

The best practice they developed

1-power wash the palette

2-look for any sign of bugs

3-break-it-down

4-scan for nails/staples/etc

5-buy lunch for the receiving guys as thanks for identifying potential good palettes and setting-them-aside.

6-make sure to suspend all operations when the auditors were around.

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The best practice they developed

1-power wash the palette

2-look for any sign of bugs

3-break-it-down

4-scan for nails/staples/etc

5-buy lunch for the receiving guys as thanks for identifying potential good palettes and setting-them-aside.

6-make sure to suspend all operations when the auditors were around.

 

Someone once told me it's easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission.  However, that person has never had to look for a job afterwards...  I like #5 and #6, but it is possible (occasionally) to continue operations when the auditors are present.  It depends on 1) the auditor, and 2) the way that you do your operation.

 

For example, when I pick up my few pallets, I take them from the stack in the back, after they have already left the building.  Once they are by the dumpsters, it's been considered "public area," and there's no restrictions on them.  (I've only scored two decent pallets this way, in case you are wondering.)

 

I hadn't considered the pressure washer... how much does this affect the moisture content and stability of the wood?  (I ask because I do not have a place to store wood until it's equalized: currently it needs to be used within a week of purchasing it, or the landlord gets grumpy about the piles of wood outside... and so does the wife, and the hive of bees, the flocks of geese, and the colonies of ants nearby.  And no, I'm not joking.)

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I hadn't considered the pressure washer... how much does this affect the moisture content and stability of the wood?  (I ask because I do not have a place to store wood until it's equalized: currently it needs to be used within a week of purchasing it, or the landlord gets grumpy about the piles of wood outside... and so does the wife, and the hive of bees, the flocks of geese, and the colonies of ants nearby.  And no, I'm not joking.)

 Put it under your bed. :) I have a 6ft almost 47" wide 12/4 waterfall bubinga slab with no sap wood that has been under my bed for 10+ years.

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==> 47" wide 12/4 waterfall bubinga

 

holy cow...  someday, post a photo...  from the rough math -- it weights about 300lbs? I can understand why you stored it -- I couldn't think of what to build with dimensions like that...  

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==> 47" wide 12/4 waterfall bubinga

 

holy cow...  someday, post a photo...  from the rough math -- it weights about 300lbs? I can understand why you stored it -- I couldn't think of what to build with dimensions like that...  

 

Someday Ill dig it out. I was at woodcraft a few months back and they had one twice as long surfaced flat ready to go. 

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==> woodcraft a few months back and they had one twice as long surfaced flat ready to go. 

 

how much $$?

 

$1500 Woodcraft seattle seems to have slabs pretty often. Im thinking they may be working with urban HW for the milling and domestics. Those guys dont play around with little sticks.

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I work for a trucking company and there are always pallets around. I don't use them they are thin and are full of nails. Oak,pine and poplar are common but they use the bottom of the barrel boards to build them also they are fill of dirt and rocks and sand from getting slid on the ground.

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