Show Me Your Pallet Projects!

[Sally PB]

I'll just mark the wood with chalk or something so that i don't cut it at that point or run that wood through a planer. My goal is to detect any hidden metal in the boards, and then decide if it's worth my time to remove the item or use that wood for a different project.

That's what I'll do if I get one of these.

What made me think I'd like one is some old barn wood that was built into something that has served its purpose. It's dry, dry rotted, and would make great kindling for the wood stove. I just don't want nails/screw pieces in the ashes. We sometimes use ashes on the driveway for traction in the winter.

 

[gtaus]

What made me think I'd like one is some old barn wood that was built into something that has served its purpose. It's dry, dry rotted, and would make great kindling for the wood stove. I just don't want nails/screw pieces in the ashes. We sometimes use ashes on the driveway for traction in the winter.

Understand your situation. I just thought of some possible solutions.

1) Using a metal scanner to make sure you don't burn any wood with nails in them. If you buy a metal scanner, you can also use it on your pallet wood lumber used in your projects that require cutting or milling of the wood.

2) Burning the wood with possible hidden nails, and then passing a magnetic wand over/through the ashes to pick up nails. - This is what I do with my stump burn out ring. I just toss in lumber, even with nails in them to burn, and just use my magnetic wand to pick out all the metal from the ashes.

3) If you use a shop vacuum cleaner to clean out the wood stove, you might be able to find a small wire mesh (screen door screen?) to put over the vacuum hose to let the ashes pass through but block any nails from getting sucked up.

Back in the day, I used to have a sandbag in the trunk of my car(s) it case we needed some additional traction if the car got stuck. But, we now have 4 wheel drive and all wheel drive vehicles. And, my front wheel Toyota Camry has never been stuck in snow. Growing up, with rear wheel drive cars, I was always getting stuck.

Sand is less messy than ashes. I have heard lots of people use their wood stove ashes out on the garden. If you toss the ashes out on the garden, then you should be able to pick out any nails without much problem. And you won't have to worry about getting a flat tire.

 

[chickengr]

I burn wood with nails in my stove. it is really easy to pick them from the ash.

 

[raingarden]

Well, I mentioned that I found an interesting YouTube video on making modular workbenches. I can make most of the workbench with pallet wood, but am still trying to figure out if I can make a smooth bench top with pallet planks that are not all the same thickness. If not, I might buy some 3/4 inch plywood just for the tops of the workbench.

Anyway, the video is less than 15 minutes long, if you are interested in a modular workbench idea for your garage it's worth watching. Bonus: the workbenches can also be used as mobile storage carts by adding shelves and/or drawers. Since I have limited room in my garage, wheels on these 2X4 modular carts/workbenches will allow me to put them out of the way when I garage my cars.

Ultimate Modular Workbench: A Design for Everyone​

Let me know if you have any ideas on using pallet planks for the top of the workbench and getting them smooth and level. I'm thinking of running all the planks for the workbench top through my planer and try to end up with maybe 5/8 inch thick boards. But if anyone else has other thoughts, I would love to hear any suggestions.

You need a planer to smooth out the planks and get them uniform. A planer, some polyurethane and some elbow grease can get you a glass finish.

 

[raingarden]

Just a quick follow up on that post. I received my metal scanner yesterday around supper time. I put a battery in it this morning and tested it out on some of my pallet wood lumber. It immediately detected some hidden nails and screws in my wood that I did not see! Very nice! The nails were easy to take out, but the broken screw buried into the lumber is a real pain in the behind. I'll probably end up using that lumber where that hidden screw will not matter. I'll just mark the wood with chalk or something so that i don't cut it at that point or run that wood through a planer. My goal is to detect any hidden metal in the boards, and then decide if it's worth my time to remove the item or use that wood for a different project.

View attachment 3283683


As to the quality of the metal scanner.... Well, it's just a cheap plastic item. I don't think it would survive a drop. So, you better be careful with this scanner. Having said that, this scanner was less than $20 and I don't think you can realistically believe it was built to be tossed around.

The generic instruction manual was obviously printed to cover a number of different models. The model number of this unit was printed in a different font and size than the rest of the instruction manual. Not a big deal, but you know that the manual is not specific to the unit you purchased. Also, the instruction manual talked about a feature that my scanner does not have, and left out a button on my scanner which was not included in the manual. On the plus side, considering this unit comes from China, the manual was translated into English very well and was easy to read. Not too many features on these metal scanners to worry about anyway.

So, on Day One of use, I'll give this inexpensive metal scanner a 5 star rating, considering the cost of the unit and performance of finding hidden metal in the lumber that I myself did not see. I'll just write off the expense of this scanner over the life of the warranty, and if lasts longer than that, I'll be more than happy. Amazon return period on this item is 30 days, no stated warranty on the item after that. So, consider that before you make a purchase as I don't expect that Chinese company to be around, say a year from now, if the unit fails.

In comparison, the Cen-Tech scanner from Harbor Freight costs $40.00 and only has a 90 day warranty.

View attachment 3283669

As far as I can tell, they are basically the same. Probably will work good until you drop them, then you will have to replace it.

I ordered one when you first mentioned it. Thank you again. Yeah, plastic, but who cares if it works. It seems to have two sensors; one near the tip and one near the base.

 

[gtaus]

You need a planer to smooth out the planks and get them uniform. A planer, some polyurethane and some elbow grease can get you a glass finish.

I do have a Delata 12 inch planer that I took from my old garage and put it into my current garage just a few days ago. It's an old planer, and I have not used it in many years, but I think I will put it back into operation for the workbench top.

Now that I have a metal scanner, I feel more confident that I will not accidently destroy my planer blades with hidden nails in boards. I have started pulling aside pallet wood of ~3/4 inch thickness and will run them through the planer to smooth them out.

I'll have to check into getting some polyurethane for the finish. Thanks.

I ordered one when you first mentioned it. Thank you again. Yeah, plastic, but who cares if it works. It seems to have two sensors; one near the tip and one near the base.

I just got my metal scanner yesterday, but it seems to work just fine. It detects metal that I did not see. Like I said, knowing that there is hidden metal in the board allows me to decide how I want to use that board. Only the metal free boards will go through my planer. The other boards will be used for other projects.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Understand your situation. I just thought of some possible solutions.

1) Using a metal scanner to make sure you don't burn any wood with nails in them. If you buy a metal scanner, you can also use it on your pallet wood lumber used in your projects that require cutting or milling of the wood.

2) Burning the wood with possible hidden nails, and then passing a magnetic wand over/through the ashes to pick up nails. - This is what I do with my stump burn out ring. I just toss in lumber, even with nails in them to burn, and just use my magnetic wand to pick out all the metal from the ashes.

3) If you use a shop vacuum cleaner to clean out the wood stove, you might be able to find a small wire mesh (screen door screen?) to put over the vacuum hose to let the ashes pass through but block any nails from getting sucked up.

Back in the day, I used to have a sandbag in the trunk of my car(s) it case we needed some additional traction if the car got stuck. But, we now have 4 wheel drive and all wheel drive vehicles. And, my front wheel Toyota Camry has never been stuck in snow. Growing up, with rear wheel drive cars, I was always getting stuck.

Sand is less messy than ashes. I have heard lots of people use their wood stove ashes out on the garden. If you toss the ashes out on the garden, then you should be able to pick out any nails without much problem. And you won't have to worry about getting a flat tire.

Great suggestions!

 

[Sally PB]

If you use a shop vacuum cleaner to clean out the wood stove, you might be able to find a small wire mesh (screen door screen?) to put over the vacuum hose to let the ashes pass through but block any nails from getting sucked up.

Nah, I just scoop with the little flat shovel thing. Thanks for the ideas, though.

 

[gtaus]

Well, I started building my pallet wood modular 2X4 mobile workbenches this afternoon. Thought maybe it would take about an hour per workbench....

Ran into nothing but problems. One of the big design pluses on this workbench is the holes drilled into the 2X4 frames to allow the workbenches to be bolted together in any number of configurations. I can confidently tell you that I discovered at least 3 ways not to drill those holes!

So, big learning curve for me today. I discovered that holes drilled on my drill press wandered off the mark and were not true. I tried hand drilling some holes and those came out slanted. And I tried using my new Speedbore impacted rated bits in the drill press but it just ate into the wood and shut down my drill press. I think on my third board I finally got the holes drilled on mark, straight and true. What a lesson from the school of hard knocks today. But, I think I have a system down now to drill the other holes correctly.

Spent about 2 hours and created at least 3 2X4 boards to be used on a smaller project someday. I'll find a use for those boards, but, darn, I hated to admit that I really screwed up drilling those holes. In my defense, as old as I am, I have never had to drill holes in wood with any precision. So, it was back like being in middle school shop class making firewood out of good wood....

I have also started to rethink my idea of using pallet wood to make a smooth top for the modular workbenches. I am now leaning on buying some 3/4 inch plywood and having it cut down in the store on their panel saws to 2X4 foot sections. That will save me lots of time and I will end up with a uniform, consistent, bench top on all the workbenches.

Most of the workbench will be made with pallet wood, but I'm thinking it's just worth it to me to have a quality plywood top on each of the workbenches. That, of course, depends on the price of plywood at the store. If the cost of plywood is a budget buster, I'll just put pallet wood on the top of the workbench, as good as I can for now, and call it a day. My main goal at this point is to get them built before it snows, and I can always put on a better top in the future. I guess I could live with that compromise.

Tomorrow, I'm heading into town and I will be buying some of those Harbor Freight dollies on sale this week for $10.00 each. I'll take off the wheels from the dollies and use them on the workbenches. If you bought the wheels separately, they cost about $5.00 each. So, buying the dollies is like getting the wheels at half price.

I ate a lot of humble pie today, but still feel good that I made some progress on my project. Hope tomorrow goes better for me and I can finish at least one workbench. It's always the first build that is full of surprises. I plan on making 4 of these workbenches, so I hope I will have the tricks down sooner rather than later.

For anyone coming late to this thread, I am attempting to build modular workbenches using substitute pallet wood based on this YouTube video...

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

So after some thought and walking by the wood bins at work enough I decided to patch up my pallet Turkey Tower.

Here's the deal. The wood is from broken pallets. PLANKS that have broken off of pallets go in the wood bin. The one down side is the nails are pretty much bent all to heck and likely can't be removed. It turned me off for a little while...then I decided imma take some and try it. I took all I could find over the wkend and brought them home.

The result was a lot of wood with a lot of bent nails sticking out.

Here goes nothing...

The minors and I just followed the bend and hammered them down against the wood plank

We then started piecing it together. Now I understand this will not completely seal off the Tower which is totally fine in my book. Air flow and ventilation are needed and the turkeys DO NOT need a 4 sided solid coop.

This is for wind block mainly.
And so I am not using tarps inside the Tower.

So tonight, we placed boards where we thought they'd fit and took a look inside the Tower.


WE CANT SEE NAILS!!!

this will be my method for "closing off" the Tower.

I will continue to take broken off planks from work and finishing patching. This pile will get me one side and a touch on the other. The front wall was covered by left over OSB so that doesn't have to be patched.


(Excuse the weird look to the pics! My phone seems to only work taking pics on the zoom out option now....)

We will be attaching the boards tomorrow.

ETA I will also be wrapping 4ft tall hardware cloth around the coop to help deter little critters from getting in and making a home somewhere I do not wish to have them, but also an attempt to keep bigger preditors out that may wanna check things out