# Pallets made out of oak??



## Marcus (Jan 25, 2010)

Not sure if this is the correct area for this post.....

My work has tons of pallets that have sides built up to about 36" or so which is what I believe to be oak. I say this because I know that oak has a distinct smell and it seems to be the same smell as some other oak that I have already. I'm not totally sure though because it seems a little light in weight for a hard wood.

Do you guys know if oak is used too often in pallets? Some of them have what I would think is red oak due to the color of it.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Marcus said:


> Not sure if this is the correct area for this post.....
> 
> My work has tons of pallets that have sides built up to about 36" or so which is what I believe to be oak. I say this because I know that oak has a distinct smell and it seems to be the same smell as some other oak that I have already. I'm not totally sure though because it seems a little light in weight for a hard wood.
> 
> Do you guys know if oak is used too often in pallets? Some of them have what I would think is red oak due to the color of it.


I think oak is about the most widely used wood for pallets.

I don't follow what you mean when you say "... sides built up to about 36" or so ..." Pallet sides are usually a few inches high.


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## jlhaslip (Jan 16, 2010)

... but not the 'best' Oak. Usually a second/lower grade.
Having said that,,, a friend has a resawn floor from those pallets. Dried them and ran them through a bandsaw. Looks good.


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## Geoguy (Feb 22, 2008)

I've read about people recycling wood from pallets for years. A few years ago I brought some pallets home and thought I would give it a try. I couldn't get the darn things apart! These things must have been put together with kryptonite staples! I gave up and threw 'em away.

However, in response to your question - yes, they probably are oak. Hope you have better luck than me getting them apart.


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## Streamwinner (Nov 25, 2008)

I have been continually surprised at some of the wood I find in pallets. Curly maple, spalted white oak, mottled stuff, some stuff that I'm certain is foreign exotic wood (looks like rosewood), etc.

Don't bother trying to disassemble them. Just cut them at the ends (just before the nails) with a reciprocating saw or circ saw, then try prying off the middle or cut the middle, too. Even the ugliest grey-brown boards that look ruined turn out fantastic in the planer (watch out for hidden nails and staples).

And yes, I've found lots of oak in pallets.


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## sankofa (May 2, 2009)

I have about 8 decent oak 4 by 4s that were used to crib machinery on a flatbed truck and a couple of true 4 by 4s of pine about 6 feet long that I snagged out a big dumpster at a plant I was working at.

Im thinking of using the big pine 4 by 4s for bench legs.

I have enough oak ones I think but Im afraid they are going to be a lot smaller dimension wise by the time I get them planed down and square.

One of those oak 4 by4s is the heaviest piece of wood I have ever held...It weighs twice what any other oak 4 by 4 I have weighs....

I got a halfway decent poplar skid a while back.....used part of one of the 3 by 3s to make a mallet and a board from the pallet to make a couple of saw filing jaws....

I see quite a few poplar pallets but the wood is poor.

Good pallet wood is hard to come by though...lot of it is very twisted or has so many staples in it that it is about useless.

Im working at a japanese plant now and they have some machinery crated up from japan there now that is being set this week. Id like to hop into their wood dumpster this week and see what I can find but Im not sure the plant will let me.

I saw some wood there today...... looked whitish with thin brown streaks in it.....nice looking wood but the pieces I saw were still together as a crate and there were so many staples in them that they would be useless for anything.

Of course it could be domestic wood...US wood.... I know we ship boatloads of lumber to japan.... but it didnt look like any wood I have seen....

Im almost hoping I have to work there saturday..... They have a dumpster for wood only and Id like to hop in there for 20 minutes or so... Not just for the chance at some japanese lumber...but also for some domestic wood if there is anything decent in there.


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## JohnK007 (Nov 14, 2009)

Here are a couple of toys I made from a pallet I salvaged. I originally misidentified the wood as Hickory because it was so heavy but it's Oak. Pallets are a great source for hardwood and I find it satisfying to recycle what otherwise might be thrown away.


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## Ed'sGarage (Aug 16, 2007)

*Oak in Pallets*

Before I got into woodworking, I was in the printing business and used to purchase pallets by the truckload. In those days, my eyes never got to really look at the pallets. We used to put piles of broken pallets out with a sign "free take them". They never lasted long ( maybe for good reason). I saw this post and was amazed to read that many of those ugly ducklings were made from hardwood. I do know(through experience) that taking them apart was virtually impossible, as noted in these posts. I'm just surprised at what they were made of.


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## joek30296 (Dec 16, 2009)

Pallets are a great source for small pieces of hardwood. I used to regularly check out the pallets where I worked and have found maple, birch, cherry, poplar, oak, hickory, pine, and many I couldn't identify. Keep on the look-out; some good stuff out there.

joe


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## Marcus (Jan 25, 2010)

phinds said:


> I don't follow what you mean when you say "... sides built up to about 36" or so ..." Pallet sides are usually a few inches high.


Well, I guess some people call the "Palletainers". They have walls on them built up to about 2-1/2 to 3 feet tall. They keep heavy engine parts in them so cardboard would not do.

Well guys this seems like good news to me!!! I was confused. Like I said I know that oak has a very distinct smell and I could have sworn that's what it was but wasn't sure. Guess that now maybe I am.

A lot of it is useless, but at the same time there is a whole lot of it that would be good after a few passes through the planer. It's 3/4 stock so I think I can get it all down to 5/8" to use for projects.

Thanks guys!!!


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## garryswf (Aug 17, 2009)

Marcus,
Funny you should post a thread about using old palletts for projects, i just finished a small table and a couple of chairs for my little buddy (grandson). Finding these palletts in Florida that are oak is tough, but they are out there. Now tearing them apart requires a good prybar, a hammer with a straight claw, and a 1.75 litre bottle of CROWN ROYAL :thumbsup:. Some of the wood from these palletts isn't the best but they are a fair source for wood. All i can say is give it a try, the grandson love his table and chairs.
OMT---The table top and chair seats were made out of scrap plywood i had in the garage, there was not enough oak from the pallett to make these parts out of.








View attachment 13146


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## Marcus (Jan 25, 2010)

Looks good to me Gary!!

I tool the side walls of the pallets apart with the tools that I had at work, a hammer and a large chisel. The marks from the chisel are in the area's of unusable wood where all the staples and nails are. Each sidewall has either 3/4X3X30 or 3/4X6X30 planks in them, about 8 to 10 for each side wall. I gotten 2 trunk loads of it so far (wish I had a truck!). I may be delicate in some areas but for most of it I'm going to do what Streamwinner said above about using a circular saw to get all the planks out. Each one of the planks that I gave measurements for only have staples on the top/bottom 3-4" of each one so I'll have a lot of usable wood for it.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

I ran some salvaged oak pallet wood through my planer, and it turned out fine. The only drawback was that it was hard on my planer blades. No nails as far as I coud tell, but the wood was very hard and may have had some fine grit in it. I would like to buy or build a thickness sander for any future efforts along this line.

Gerry


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## Total 2% (Jan 27, 2010)

What planer are you using Gerry? Ive found with mine, the blades dont wear out as fast when I plane hard wood.


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## garryswf (Aug 17, 2009)

Marcus,
As someone else has already mentioned, the wood that you retrieve from these palletts isn't top quality but there are useable parts in one. The picture that i posted of the table and chairs is mostly all painted. The oak that i used for this project varied in color so much it really would have looked pretty bad if i hadn't painted it. I will tell you this, i have a few pieces left over from this project that actually look pretty good, good enough to make a small jewelery box or something on that order.
OMT--Streamwinner had the right idea of just sawing the good parts out and using what remains for fire wood or just throw it away.


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I must be the lucky one because I never have any real difficulty taking pallets apart. I posted about a run I got from Lumber Liquidators a few months back. Ended up with some really pretty woods. No finished projects yet, but several with a lot of potential.

There are all different types of hardwoods being used for pallets, but in the USA Oak is probably the most common.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

frankp said:


> I must be the lucky one because I never have any real difficulty taking pallets apart. I posted about a run I got from Lumber Liquidators a few months back. Ended up with some really pretty woods. No finished projects yet, but several with a lot of potential.
> 
> There are all different types of hardwoods being used for pallets, but in the USA Oak is probably the most common.


Frank you *ARE* a lucky one. Somewhere in my glossary, in talking about the difference between a pry bar and a crow bar I note that if one fella can't pry something apart with a crow bar, he's gonna need either another fella or some dynamite. With pallets, it is DEFINITELY dynamite in my experience. I generally give up and break out the reciprocating saw to just get what short pieces I can.

Paul


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## BHOFM (Oct 14, 2008)

I have recycled lots of pallets.. Oak and cedar. I have some full 4x4's
nearly four feet long, clear white cedar.

The table saw can handle the staples, not good for it, but it doesn't
seem to do visible damage to the blade.

Do try to get them out. They will damage the planer blades.

You need this to get them apart, and it takes time. A pair of end 
nips will get most of the nails, staples out. 












http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=2529










http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=38496

Made from old pallets.


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## Larry Norton (Sep 30, 2008)

I actually got these from a pallet.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Total 2% said:


> What planer are you using Gerry? Ive found with mine, the blades dont wear out as fast when I plane hard wood.


 At that time I was using my Delta 12-1/2 inch portable planer. I recently took it apart to flip the blades, and they had some pretty good nicks in them. I had planed a lot of cedar, hemlock, and alder with it, so maybe it was more accumulated wear, but I think the oak did some of the damage.

Gerry


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## inachu (Oct 30, 2015)

*Pallets made from wood.*

Depending on how they are made seem to smell really bad when it left outside when it rains.

A new batch and a new producer in PA. USA makes their and cures the wood and OMG when they are brought in from the rain they no longer smell bad but smells like whiskey! 

The stock room smells so good now. :1eye:


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

>>>> I couldn't get the darn things apart!

Many, if not most, pallet manufactures use ring nails when building pallets. These are nails that have rings of raised metal around the shank of the nail Manufacturers also deliberately use "green" lumber. This way as the lumber dries and shrinks it tightens around the nail. These two factors contribute to making the removal of the nails very tough and frequently impossible. Another point is that the moisture in "green" wood causes the fasteners to rust which again inhibits removal of any fasteners. Finally, pallets frequently pick up grit and stones which will damage saw blades.

All in all, pallets have a lot of negatives associated with their use in woodworking.

Another point is that the wood used is the cheapest the manufacturer can buy.


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## HowardAcheson (Nov 25, 2011)

<<<< I gave up and threw 'em away.

There are a few factors to be aware of is planning to use salvaged pallets for wood.
First is that many, if not most, manufacturers use ring nails for assembly. Ring nails have raised rings around the shank intended to tighten the nail in the hole and resist withdrawal. 

The second factor is that manufacturers use "green, wet, wood". As the wood dries, the wood shrinks tightly gripping the ringed fasteners.

Third, pallets are made with the cheapest wood that a manufacturer can get. The boards can have serious defects that affect the board's structure.

Finally, the pallet can have all sorts of dirt, grit and even small pebbles embedded in it.

All in all, salvaged pallets are risky to use for woodworking projects. You must be very careful and fully inspect a prospective board.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks to inachu, this thread from *2010 *has been brought back to life! :yes:


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

MT Stringer said:


> Thanks to inachu, this thread from *2010 *has be brought back to life! :yes:


Seems to be happening a lot around here lately. :laughing:


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