Are all (any?) pallets treated? I had someone telling me recycling pallet
lumber was a bad idea since they were treated and the sawdust or even smoke
from burning, was toxic.
I looked at several sites that sell pallets and I can't confirm this. It's hard
to believe the manufacturer would spend the money to treat a pallet and then
not sell that process as a value add to their product.
I do understand there are different grades of pallet but they don't seem to
want any of them back that have block, sod or mortar shipped on them. Some look
like pine but others are oak.
Mon, Dec 29, 2003, 4:36am (EST+5) [email protected] (Greg) ponders:
Are all (any?) pallets treated? <snip>
Interesting question. I've seen a few, I guess you could call them
pallets, used for shipping stuctural steel, that certainly looked like
they could have been treated. They definitely looked like they had been
used repeated times too, so I'm thinking they didn't toss them. Quite
possibly just stained from use tho.
The ones I have access to just now, free, are definitely not
treated. I haven't been using them, so haven't looked at the wood
closely, but appears to be birch. Nice wood anyway. I've got a planer
now, hehehe, just for the cost of shipping. Little drive-by gloat.
Which works great - finally got a chance to try it. I'm dfinitely
planning on using pallet wood in the near future. Being free, it's all
popular wood.
JOAT
Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of
enthusiasm.
- Sir Winston Churchill
Life just ain't life without good music. - JOAT
Web Page Update 29 Dec 2003.
Some tunes I like.
http://community-2.webtv.net/Jakofalltrades/SOMETUNESILIKE/
Some of my favourite pallets are the ones used to ship paper for printers.
Because an uneven surface on a pallet will transfer to the paper making it
wavy and unusable by printers, these pallets usually have a surface without
any gaps. This means more wood per pallet. If the paper is shipped in bulk
as opposed to in cartons, then the pallet has a matching top that takes the
stress from the steel straps. I am still working on my stash of pallet
"lids" that I gathered up over a few years in a printing plant. This
particular paper mill shipped their paper on pine pallets. The caps or lids
were 7/8" thick pine boards ranging from 8 to 12 wide by 42" long. They were
easy to disassemble. While there are often large knots, areas of dry rot and
splits, the good portions have ended up in many jigs, small projects and
small framing and supports throughout my house. The bad portions that I cut
out become kindling for my wood stove.
Check out a local printer. This would be someone who uses large sheets, not
the pre-cut letter sized sheets that come in small cartons.
"Phisherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 29 Dec 2003 04:36:31 GMT, [email protected] (Greg) wrote:
>
> >Are all (any?) pallets treated? I had someone telling me recycling pallet
> >lumber was a bad idea since they were treated and the sawdust or even
smoke
> >from burning, was toxic.
> >I looked at several sites that sell pallets and I can't confirm this.
It's hard
> >to believe the manufacturer would spend the money to treat a pallet and
then
> >not sell that process as a value add to their product.
> >I do understand there are different grades of pallet but they don't seem
to
> >want any of them back that have block, sod or mortar shipped on them.
Some look
> >like pine but others are oak.
>
>
> You never really know. Some are treated, others not. Not only pine
> and oak, but I have walnut, ash, beech, maple, cherry, and several
> other wood types I have not identified. You might be able to detect
> preservatives by cutting a small piece of the wood and (carefully)
> smelling it.
"Greg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Are all (any?) pallets treated? I had someone telling me recycling pallet
> lumber was a bad idea since they were treated and the sawdust or even
smoke
> from burning, was toxic.
> I looked at several sites that sell pallets and I can't confirm this. It's
hard
> to believe the manufacturer would spend the money to treat a pallet and
then
> not sell that process as a value add to their product.
Some are. Import regulations require that wood be treated or the container
be fumigated. Most pallets used domestically are NOT treated. I don't know
the details of treatment. I do know that a lot of containers stink when
first opened.
Since pallet wood is not dried the same as furniture grade, you will
probably wait a period of time before cutting themanyway. That takes care of
any odor present. Be selective. Some pallets have good looking wood, many
have poor grades and much wasted.
Ed
[email protected]
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome
Greg wrote:
> Are all (any?) pallets treated? I had someone telling me recycling pallet
> lumber was a bad idea since they were treated and the sawdust or even
> smoke from burning, was toxic.
Some might be, I guess. Treated wood is usually pretty obvious though, and
I haven't seen anything that looked like treated lumber after 10 years in
the workforce doing jobs that involve moving goods on pallets. I've seen
them made out of everything from pine to MDF too. (MDF pallets suck, BTW.)
--
Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan <[email protected]>
Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Rue/5407/
On 29 Dec 2003 04:36:31 GMT, [email protected] (Greg) wrote:
>Are all (any?) pallets treated? I had someone telling me recycling pallet
>lumber was a bad idea since they were treated and the sawdust or even smoke
>from burning, was toxic.
>I looked at several sites that sell pallets and I can't confirm this. It's hard
>to believe the manufacturer would spend the money to treat a pallet and then
>not sell that process as a value add to their product.
>I do understand there are different grades of pallet but they don't seem to
>want any of them back that have block, sod or mortar shipped on them. Some look
>like pine but others are oak.
You never really know. Some are treated, others not. Not only pine
and oak, but I have walnut, ash, beech, maple, cherry, and several
other wood types I have not identified. You might be able to detect
preservatives by cutting a small piece of the wood and (carefully)
smelling it.