Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Smokerbill]

I have a couple of bottles of air tool oil. I put in the recommended 3-5 drops into the tool before use. I have not heard about any daily oiling. As far as I know, you only need to put in oil before each use.



Congratulation on the super deals! Love hearing that kind of story. I use the 1-inch chicken wire as cages over Dear Wife's planters and that has kept out the squirrels and chipmunks. I think they would easily get into the plants with 2-inch chicken wire.



When I go to town, I always check out the cull lumber at Home Depot. You can really get some good deals if you are there at the right time. One big advantage of cull wood over salvaged or pallet wood is that you don't have to worry about any nails in the cull wood. That's important if you need to cut the wood. Don't want to ruin a $40 table saw blade on free salvaged or pallet wood!

Considering that possibility, last winter I purchased this from Harbor Freight...

View attachment 3567175

Of course, I waited until it went on sale. I am happy with this detector. It has worked well for me. I still visually inspect any salvaged or pallet wood I need to cut, but the wand might be able to detect some hidden nails.

Love hearing about all your projects. Gives me a boost of energy just looking at the pictures you post. Keep them coming!

The twisted and curved cull lumber should be perfect for making the base of my chicken wire chicken run. I'll just have to match the curves and twists to the lay of the land. LOL I have a bunch of 8 and 10 inch spikes that I can drive through the base boards to fix them to the ground.

My metal detector is different than yours. I had "gold fever" several years ago and bought one for finding gold nuggets. Which never happened, but it was fun anyway.

I took a break today from working on the raised bed enclosures. I hit it pretty hard yesterday, and things are pretty well protected with old fencing. But I'll need to go out at dusk and cover all my summer squash plants with storage containers and buckets to keep the deer from destroying them.

They can eat the lettuce that's left. I have a ton of new lettuce seedlings that just sprouted, so I'll have plenty in a couple months.

 

[gtaus]

My metal detector is different than yours. I had "gold fever" several years ago and bought one for finding gold nuggets. Which never happened, but it was fun anyway.

Yep, I have one of those metal detectors that you walk around holding and it scans the ground. I suppose it would work on lumber with nails as well. But the handheld wand is just so much more convenient for scanning lumber.

 

[Smokerbill]

Yep, I have one of those metal detectors that you walk around holding and it scans the ground. I suppose it would work on lumber with nails as well. But the handheld wand is just so much more convenient for scanning lumber.

And yeah, I watch out for nails, but staples like T50s, I'll just buzz right through them. Probably shouldn't do that.

 

[gtaus]

Quick Update on Raised Bed Pallet Wood Trellis

Just a quick update on the pallet wood trellis I made for Dear Wife. 3 weeks ago she had some bitter melon planted in the raised bed and I built a trellis for her using some 6 foot long 2X4's from a longer than normal pallet I salvaged. Here is a picture of the completed trellis 3 weeks ago...

Here is a picture of the bitter melon today. Notice how much it has filled out and is now climbed up over 6 feet high on the trellis and is about to flop over and start growing on the top...

It's really coming in good shape. We have never had such good growth as this year. We are at least one month ahead of where we were last year, maybe even more than one month ahead.

There was some questioning about the regular galvanized Arrow T50 9/16 inch staples I used to attach the fencing to the trellis frame. A person suggested I should have used stainless-steel staples instead. Well, I did not even know about special stainless-steel staples at that time. However, as of today, none of the regular staples I have used have failed. So far, all good in that regard.

If the Arrow staples do start to fail, I am thinking I might take the direction of @Smokerbill and use my pneumatic nailer/stapler and get some of those 1-1/2 inch staples and drive them in deep to hold the fencing. The Arrow T50 staples are limited to 9/16 inch long, regular or stainless steel. So, I think if I have to redo any staples, I'll just use the pneumatic stapler and use longer 1-1/2 inch staples.

 

[gtaus]

And yeah, I watch out for nails, but staples like T50s, I'll just buzz right through them. Probably shouldn't do that.

I read somewhere that said staples and 18 gauge brad nails will not harm a saw blade. I would not worry about them. As a matter of habit, however, I still remove any and all staples and brad nails I can see.

I always recommend wearing eye protection. You may hit hidden metal staples, brad nails, or nails... in any wood. Protect your eyes!

I have 2 circular saws that I typically use with my pallet wood in case I run into and hidden nails. The first circular saw is a little 5-1/2 saw with an old blade in it. The blade is already well used and has a broken tooth or two. It still cuts, but I would not worry about hitting a nail with that blade. I mainly use that saw for cutting off pallet wood planks. The second circular saw is my 7-1/4 inch saw and I bought a demolition blade for that saw. In theory, it should cut through a nail if needed. Of course, I still take out all nails I can see or find by scanning the lumber with my metal detector wand. No use to dull the blade when you can pull the nails.

I am very cautious about cutting pallet wood and/or salvaged lumber on my table saw. My table saw blade is more expensive and I will check out any used lumber a number of times before cutting it on my table saw. Same thing with my 12-inch miter saw. I don't want to ruin an expensive miter saw blade if I hit a nail. Really, it does not take very long to visually inspect the used lumber and/or scan it with the metal detector wand. But I never just throw a used board on a good saw without checking it out first.

 

[ChicksnMore]

Copy of another post from the gardening thread, but I think that it makes sense to post it here as well as it discusses a tool I have used on some of my pallet projects. I don't think I ever mentioned my power stapler. For those of you who like tool reviews....



What kind of staples did you use?

A few weeks ago, I built a trellis on a raised bed and used regular (galvanized) Arrow T-50 staples to attach the wire. Someone suggested that the staples would rust out and fail in little time. They suggested I get the more expensive stainless-steel staples for attaching the wire to the frame. I did not even know about stainless-steel staples, but our local Menards does sell off brand Arrow T-50 compatible staples that are stainless steel. The stainless-steel staples cost 3X as much as the normal galvanized staples.

Side note...

I don't have the strength in my hands like I used to have. A number of years ago I was using a manual Arrow T-50 stapler on a big project, and I really felt it afterwards. I bought a Ryobi 18v (Arrow T-50 compatible) Stapler and love it. So much easier on the hands and much better stapling job on my projects. That device has over 1,700 reviews and sitting at 5 stars. I know I was one of the reviewers that gave it 5 stars. The current price is sitting at $79.00, but I know that I got my stapler for a lot less on sale. Maybe even on one of those sales where you buy some extra batteries and get a tool for free.

Whatever I paid for it, it was well worth it for me. For anybody with declining hand strength, this tool will allow you to work for many years longer on projects compared to the manual staplers.

There are probably other power staplers from other brands, but I'm in the Ryobi line of 18v tools so this was a no brainer for me. Point is these type of power staplers are really great.

Another tool I want

 

[Smokerbill]

Safety glasses, always. Ear plugs, sometimes.

 

[gtaus]

Safety glasses, always. Ear plugs, sometimes.

I have always been safety conscious. The older I get, the more I seem to need to protect. In addition to safety glasses, I almost always wear Bluetooth safety headphones. I just load a good Coast to Coast AM radio program and listen to whatever crazy or interesting guests they have on the night. I have a number of different types of gloves to use depending on what job I am working on. Pallet wood has lots of splinters, so I always wear gloves for my pallet work. Recently I had to go to the ophthalmologist for a new prescription. Doc said I have the start of cataracts, so now I have to wear sunglasses outside in the day when I work. Also, hair is getting thin on top, so I have to wear a ball cap or risk burning my balding head. All that safety equipment does not bother me. Better to be protected than having someone drive you to the ER because you slipped up and did not have safety gear on to protect yourself.

 

[Smokerbill]

I have always been safety conscious. The older I get, the more I seem to need to protect. In addition to safety glasses, I almost always wear Bluetooth safety headphones. I just load a good Coast to Coast AM radio program and listen to whatever crazy or interesting guests they have on the night. I have a number of different types of gloves to use depending on what job I am working on. Pallet wood has lots of splinters, so I always wear gloves for my pallet work. Recently I had to go to the ophthalmologist for a new prescription. Doc said I have the start of cataracts, so now I have to wear sunglasses outside in the day when I work. Also, hair is getting thin on top, so I have to wear a ball cap or risk burning my balding head. All that safety equipment does not bother me. Better to be protected than having someone drive you to the ER because you slipped up and did not have safety gear on to protect yourself.

Well I messed up today. I was cutting out more triangles of plywood to use as corner brackets for my raised bed deer proofing side panels on my table saw. One of them kicked back, and I wasn't standing to the side. Hit me right in my fat belly! Thought I was skewered for a second, but when I looked it was just a big red spot. Kind of bled a little later.

Soap, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol (externally, and internally for good measure) and a big bandage and it's all good. Need to look closer to see if there are any wood slivers embedded in the wound.

In spite of the stupidity, I was able to finish the second raised bed deer proofing enclosure today. I'm pretty proud of the final result. Used lots of free and discount wood. Fencing and screws were the big expense, but it's worth it to keep deer from eating my hard work before I can.

 

[gtaus]

Well I messed up today. I was cutting out more triangles of plywood to use as corner brackets for my raised bed deer proofing side panels on my table saw. One of them kicked back, and I wasn't standing to the side. Hit me right in my fat belly! Thought I was skewered for a second, but when I looked it was just a big red spot. Kind of bled a little later.

Soap, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol (externally, and internally for good measure) and a big bandage and it's all good. Need to look closer to see if there are any wood slivers embedded in the wound.

Ouch! I have heard that table saws can be one of the most dangerous tools in the shop. I have a table saw on a stand, but I don't use it very often. When I do use it, it's usually simple crosscut or straight ripping of lumber. I use my miter saw a lot more.

But I always try to stand to the side when using the table saw just in case of kick back. Also, I use push sticks to keep my fingers far away from the spinning blade.

I think I could count the number of angled cuts I have done on the table saw on one hand. I usually use a hand circular saw for something like that. However, I have been watching some YouTube videos where they use table saw sleds for increased safety.

I'd probably build one except that my miter saw has a 12-inch blade and it slides out for longer cuts. So, I can dial in any angle and cut a fairly big piece of wood. I like the miter saw because there is no kick back to worry about. The kick back on a miter saw would send the wood away from you. For me, I just think it's a safer saw to use.

Sorry to hear about the incident, but thankful you were not seriously injured.

FWIW, I have had a few incidents myself. Last one was when I shot a 18-gauge brad nail into my finger a couple of years ago. Still don't know how my hand got behind the spot where I was shooting nails, but it really caught my attention and hurt like heck for a number of days afterwards. I don't mind putting sweat equity into a project. But I try not to end up giving Blood, Sweat and Tears into any build.

I was able to finish the second raised bed deer proofing enclosure today. I'm pretty proud of the final result. Used lots of free and discount wood. Fencing and screws were the big expense, but it's worth it to keep deer from eating my hard work before I can.

The enclosures sure look nice. That's a good job. Glad it did not include an ER visit!