SS

"Spenzdad"

22/06/2004 10:16 PM

scrap wood projects

I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
Say some discarded wood pallets.
Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be satifactory
for small projects?
The project I have in mind is a octogonal shap poker chip holder with a lazy
susan rotary base layers the wood to build up the height.

I have a industrial grade planer and edger. As long as get all the nails
out, i was wondering if anyone had experience working with such discarded
material.

I guess the intriguing challenge is to make something beautiful out of
throwaway wood.

any thoughts appreciated.
.



This topic has 15 replies

JJ

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

23/06/2004 1:19 AM

Tue, Jun 22, 2004, 10:16pm (EDT+4) [email protected] (Spenzdad) ponders:
<snip> Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
satifactory for small projects? <snip>

Archives. Look.
http://groups.google.com/advanced_group_search?as_ugroup=rec.woodworking&lr=&num=30

JOAT
Use your brain - it's the small things that count.
- Bazooka Joe

Pv

"P van Rijckevorsel"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

23/07/2004 10:20 PM

Spenzdad <[email protected]> schreef
> I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> Say some discarded wood pallets.
> Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
satifactory

+ + +
No.
The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% the wood
of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.




Pv

"P van Rijckevorsel"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

24/07/2004 11:31 AM

> "P van Rijckevorsel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > No.
> > The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% of cases
the wood of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.

Edwin Pawlowski <[email protected]> schreef
> That has not been my experience. I'd say closer to 60%. Use some care in
selecting the wood. It is not suitable if you want long lengths with no
holes. I also have some 2 1/2" square that came from runners on a skid
that will eventually become table legs. Now the initial skid was about 8'
long and I had to cut some pieces out, but I have very nice 3' long
sections.

+ + +
A lot will depend on where pallets come from. For a pallet made around here,
95% is conservative. For pallets from SE Asia or South America it may be
much too high. I guess there will hardly be any wood that has not been used
in a pallet, once upon a time. Pallets of rosewood and mahogany do occur,
but if you go in earch of one you might spend quite a bit of time before
finding it (again a lot will depend on where the pallets you have access to
came from).

The point I am trying to make is that the first step is to have a good eye
for what wood is worthwhile. Just picking up a random pallet and trusting to
the law of averages that this will give nice wood is very much a losing
proposition.

Anybody asking the question OP asked is well advised to give it a miss. It
would be entirely different if somebody asked "I have this pallet that seems
to be made of this lovely mahogany. Is there a reason I should not be using
this wood?". Then we could hem and haw about chemical preservatives (and
drying problems and metal detectors).
PvR

Rr

"RonB"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

23/07/2004 3:51 PM

I have seen some pretty nice projects done locally out of pallet wood. A
lot of the pallets manufactured in the southern kansas area are from lower
grade native Oak, but some of the low grade lumber has interesting grain.
The risk you run is inbedded objects such as nails, wire, etc. Some of our
pallet lumber is harvested from hedge rows (barbed wire). A few busted
planer blades can override the savings.

If you do this you might want to invest in a low end metal detector.

"P van Rijckevorsel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Spenzdad <[email protected]> schreef
> > I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> > Say some discarded wood pallets.
> > Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
> satifactory
>
> + + +
> No.
> The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
> Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% the
wood
> of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.
>
>
>
>
>

tt

"toller"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

23/07/2004 9:22 PM


"Mike Marlow" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:u%[email protected]...
>
> "P van Rijckevorsel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Spenzdad <[email protected]> schreef
> > > I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> > > Say some discarded wood pallets.
> > > Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
> > satifactory
> >
> > + + +
> > No.
> > The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
> > Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% the
> wood
> > of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.
> >
>
> A friend of mine would be entertained by your reply. He has a stack of
> mahogany that he obtained by disassembling the pallets that Yamaha
> snowmobiles and personal watercraft came on. Seems like a waste of
mahogany
> to me, but I wasn't the one paying for the mahogany.

That doesn't really make sense. Unless Yamaha makes the items in South
America, they would have to import mahogany to make their pallets.
That seems rather unlikely.

JJ

in reply to "toller" on 23/07/2004 9:22 PM

23/07/2004 8:32 PM

Fri, Jul 23, 2004, 9:22pm (EDT+4) [email protected] (toller) says:
That doesn't really make sense. Unless Yamaha makes the items in South
America, they would have to import mahogany to make their pallets. That
seems rather unlikely.

I've been given to understand Japan imports a large amount of
lumber/wood, so it would be possible. Mahogany also grows in southern
Mexico, North America, Africa, the West Indies, and probably a few more
places, too.



JOAT
Every thing that happens stays happened.
- Death waxes philosophical

JC

"J. Clarke"

in reply to "toller" on 23/07/2004 9:22 PM

24/07/2004 6:29 AM

J T wrote:

> Fri, Jul 23, 2004, 9:22pm (EDT+4) [email protected] (toller) says:
> That doesn't really make sense. Unless Yamaha makes the items in South
> America, they would have to import mahogany to make their pallets. That
> seems rather unlikely.
>
> I've been given to understand Japan imports a large amount of
> lumber/wood, so it would be possible. Mahogany also grows in southern
> Mexico, North America, Africa, the West Indies, and probably a few more
> places, too.

OTOH, it might be something more "interesting". Hoadley, in "Identifying
Wood", has an anecdote about a friend who dropped off a bunch of samples
for him to identify. After discovering that they were all new to him,
Hoadley asked his friend where they came from, and his friend replied
"crating boards from a Japanese motorcycle".

> JOAT
> Every thing that happens stays happened.
> - Death waxes philosophical

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

LL

"Lawrence L'Hote"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

23/06/2004 10:59 AM


"Spenzdad" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> Say some discarded wood pallets.

> I guess the intriguing challenge is to make something beautiful out of
> throwaway wood.

You can do it. It is true that it takes some time and effort getting the
wood ready but that is part of the challenge. IMHO The nail holes, cracks
and wood defects add immeasurably to the interest of the completed project.
All my projects are made with used or salvaged wood and metal. Good luck
and post some pictures of your progress over on
alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking.

Larry
--
Lawrence L'Hote
Columbia, MO
http://home.mchsi.com/~larrylhote
http://home.mchsi.com/~llhote

EP

"Edwin Pawlowski"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

24/07/2004 4:07 AM


"P van Rijckevorsel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> No.
> The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
> Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% the
wood
> of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.

That has not been my experience. I'd say closer to 60%. Use some care in
selecting the wood. It is not suitable if you want long lengths with no
holes. I also have some 2 1/2" square that came from runners on a skid
that will eventually become table legs. Now the initial skid was about 8'
long and I had to cut some pieces out, but I have very nice 3' long
sections.

Use a metal detector. I nicked a planer blade on a nail that I did not see.
Ed

JJ

"John"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

22/06/2004 10:34 PM

Compared to the labor you will be putting into it, the wood is pretty
inexpensive. Why screw up a project to save a few bucks; especially when
you consider the work necessary to simply get the wood ready, and all the
scrap.

tT

in reply to "John" on 22/06/2004 10:34 PM

22/06/2004 10:42 PM

You may also have to work around defects like nailholes, and watch for embedded
grit, as these pallets are set down anywhere. I've made a few boxes out of
pallet scraps, and found that the sound of a planer blade hitting a piece of
whatever, sucks! Tom
Work at your leisure!

Wi

"Wilson"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

22/06/2004 11:39 PM

Not worth the sharpening...birdhouses, kindling.
There's a place in Brooklyn that has delinquents making some fairly
interesting furniture.

Wilson
"Spenzdad" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> Say some discarded wood pallets.
> Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
satifactory
> for small projects?
> The project I have in mind is a octogonal shap poker chip holder with a
lazy
> susan rotary base layers the wood to build up the height.
>
> I have a industrial grade planer and edger. As long as get all the nails
> out, i was wondering if anyone had experience working with such discarded
> material.
>
> I guess the intriguing challenge is to make something beautiful out of
> throwaway wood.
>
> any thoughts appreciated.
> .
>
>
>

jj

jo4hn

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

22/06/2004 11:47 PM

Spenzdad wrote:

> I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> Say some discarded wood pallets.
[snip]

I have built some stuff out of a neighbor's discarded deck (redwood).
Dirty nasty ugly stuff. Briefly and in order, here is how I attack it:
vacuum all four sides, visual inspection, metal detector, belt sander,
vacuum, visual inspection. At this point you decide upon how much of
the rotted or bugged stuff you want to incorporate. Cut off the junk
and toss it into the burn box (this assumes that it is dry and harbors
no life). Plan your piece and hit it with jointer and planer in the
prescribed manner. Makes for nice looking wood. Haven't had any
problems with crud still in the wood. KOW.

Labor intensive, indeed. But a good feeling afterward.
mahalo,
jo4hn

MM

"Mike Marlow"

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

23/07/2004 9:00 PM


"P van Rijckevorsel" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Spenzdad <[email protected]> schreef
> > I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
> > Say some discarded wood pallets.
> > Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
> satifactory
>
> + + +
> No.
> The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
> Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% the
wood
> of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.
>

A friend of mine would be entertained by your reply. He has a stack of
mahogany that he obtained by disassembling the pallets that Yamaha
snowmobiles and personal watercraft came on. Seems like a waste of mahogany
to me, but I wasn't the one paying for the mahogany.
--

-Mike-
[email protected]

ON

Old Nick

in reply to "Spenzdad" on 22/06/2004 10:16 PM

25/07/2004 1:50 PM

On Fri, 23 Jul 2004 22:20:03 +0200, "P van Rijckevorsel"
<[email protected]> vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

IME quite a few pallets are treated with something to stop rot, and
bug attack. be careful.

>Spenzdad <[email protected]> schreef
>> I was thinking doing a project out of scrap wood.
>> Say some discarded wood pallets.
>> Do you think if planed and edged that that type of wood would be
>satifactory
>
>+ + +
>No.
>The first step would be to recognise wood that would be satisfactory.
>Pallets have been made of all kinds of wood, but in better than 95% the wood
>of a pallet is suitable only for a pallet.
>
>
>
>

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