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A few years back (mid 90s) I remember a project in New York which was trying to recycle old pallets into usable flooring. Anyone recall that? I was just wondering about that as I stare at the 30 brand new pallets behind my shop which are going to rot or turn into firewood if I don’t find a use for them. They are of course the size which no one buys back nor recycles but I was thinking of using my planer, joiner and router for something creative?
Anyone ever “made” flooring or am I just sitting around thinking too much?
Good ahead, tell me like it is…I can take it.
Mike Rimoldi
Replies
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Mike,
Will it make parquet block? -- no, let me rephrase that -- it WILL make parquet block. The size is not important so long as the length of the block is an exact multiple of the width -- 5 times is good.
Let me know if you want any patterns
*Mike, have you tried to take one apart? Have you discovered that the nails from hell are not going to come out so you are faced with cutting the slats off?And ending up with 15" long pieces of what could probably best be used for firewood? Pallets are made to hang together until they are destroyed by forklift driven by idiots, they don't come apart easily. Joe H
*Mike, The real reason that they aren't made into flooring is the damage they will do to your equipment getting them into shape. If they were only used once then there is probably only a little grit ground into the wood. used more then once then there will be a lot of sand and grit that is ground into the wood as those things are moved from mfg. to warehouse to truck to warehouse to delivery truck and finally to you. When you cut the pieces to length, run them through the planner and shaper, you will be cutting into that grit which will raise hell with any blades used. Finally 15 pallets won't provide much wood. figure on at least 50% waste. A lot more if you aren't very good at taking apart things that don't want to be taken apart. A much cheaper source of wood is to go to the sawmill that provides the wood for those pallets. There you can buy hardwoods like oak, maple and black walnut, cheaper then you can buy sheet rock. For example a 9"x7" x 9'6" white oak timber costs about $13.00 (at todays prices) They are used for railroad ties and can be made from most any hardwood.( prices are slightly less for mixed hardwoods like hard maple, black walnut, etc.
*Pallets are made from hard wood "Trashwood" that does not remain dimensionally stable. It warps something fierce, and is usually hard as a rock. A lot of it is poor grade hickory, full of knots and crappy grain that warps. Burns nicely, though. See if you can sel them or give them to someone w/ a fireplace and a chainsaw. Let them wreck cutting tools on rusty nails and gravel.Don
*I am currently using hardwood pallets that I am getting for free. It is some sort of tropical timber. The grain patterns and colours are amazing. To me well worth the trouble. I had considered using them for flooring, but will need a hell of a lot of them for that. When taking them apart I have found that it is easier to do it from the bottom towards the top. Some bits just wont let go, so i cut those out with a circular saw. Small bits I am using for boxes and stuff.So far on mine grit has not been too much trouble, and I am careful about nails.
*Similar comment to AJ's notwihtstanding agreement with Frenchy. Have made doors and furniture from oak pallets (4ft by 12 ft from aluminum mills in TN). The 50% cull is a pretty good rule of thumb. Some of the figures and burls are fantastic.Only thing that will pull some of the nails are farriers nippers, a few won't pull at all. Frenchy's grit is bad but may not be the worst however. Even pressure washed and redried, pallets are notorious for having broken off staples that are hard to catch. If I could buy 20 ft 8x12 oak for $35 like Frenchy, I wouldn't mess with pallets either, but no low cost source of hardwoods in PacNW.I do a first run thru one side of 15" planer, use the other side for finish, the rough cut side gets pretty nicked/dull and needs to be sharpened after S2S surfacing only about 50 1x6x4ft boards. Good luck.
*AJ:I've played around with some of those type pallets you speak of. I found bunches at a tile distributor and the materials seem to originate in Taiwan or some other place. I found a good amount of rosewood, and others I can't even recall the names.They were some strong freakin' pallets and were held together with 2" bolts. Good stuff for small projects.
*You found i rosewoodin pallets! wow. thats both good ( for you ) and terrible ( what a wastful use of nice wood ).The stuff I get, I have no idea what it is really. some is really hard and dense, other stuff is almost 'balsa' like. still has pretty colours though. For small projects this stuff is great. I am doing a run of boxes and trays etc with it. what could be better, free materials and a sellable product. The trucking outfit I get them from was going to burn the lot, and as I have a wood saving gene a lot like Frenchies.....................:)
*few years back took one, cleaned up the exposed surfaces, chamfered the skids, rounded the slat edges, stained and top coat. attached casters, and voila! - a coffee table (albiet somewhat funky). we used as is, although a glass top might help to keep stuff from falling through.rather than taking them all apart, is it possible to fill in the spaces btwn slats on the good ones? use as a raised floor.
*I went looking for a few regular pallets (to use as pallets) at a local pipe distributor. I came home with a load of 7' long true 4X4s of oak, maple and cherry. They are used to separate the really big pipe on a semi load and are promptly thrown into the dumpster on arrival. Some have knots, splits, and bits of bark. I assume they are the crap that the mill doesn't want to bother with, but I have yet to encounter any nails or staples. I have used them as temporary fence posts, shoring, framing for a garden shed, and have a few nice cherry posts in a shed waiting for a couple of more "serious" projects. The place I get them always seems to have a dumpster full...Chris- (a confirmed scrounge)
*Chris , So what is differance from that and what you get from the lumber yard.
*Now that you mention it, there's not a heck of a lot of difference in the wood- except I get to dump them into the mud puddle, not the delivery driver.
*I use nylon tree fallers wedges to help seperate the slats without damage. And both nail pulling nippers (from Lee Valley) and gooseneck pliers to pull the nails. As well as an assortment of prybars. Lots of waste, some decent wood after all. My wage in wood is about $2 per hour. But the waste burns well, the nails go into my next concrete pour or piling as short rebar. And I feel like I am doing a little to save the planet. Plus none of the tools are really dangerous so I may allow myself one beer while doing it. Which I wont while doing any other woodworking. And I always wear eye protection and safety boots because those nails snap easy and there are always sharps things on the ground.Scott
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A few years back (mid 90s) I remember a project in New York which was trying to recycle old pallets into usable flooring. Anyone recall that? I was just wondering about that as I stare at the 30 brand new pallets behind my shop which are going to rot or turn into firewood if I don't find a use for them. They are of course the size which no one buys back nor recycles but I was thinking of using my planer, joiner and router for something creative?
Anyone ever "made" flooring or am I just sitting around thinking too much?
Good ahead, tell me like it is...I can take it.
Mike Rimoldi