Picked up a couple of free pallets. Rebuilt my gate and built a bug hotel at the request of the missus all for the cost of about 2 quid in screws. IMG_20210417_172317211 by CrapBag posted 21 Apr 2021 at 19:33 FB_IMG_1619025229813 by CrapBag posted 21 Apr 2021 at 19:33
Oh, that gate is elegant! Reminiscent of giant lollypop sticks. Top marks. Edit: just saw modd1uk's post, I guess it wasn't just me.
Thanks guys. I hadn't thought about the lollipop angle but your right. Can't imagine the amount of brain freeze you'd get freeing up those sticks mind.
Any recommendations for getting the planking off pallets intact and in one piece? I have a couple sitting round and they'd be useful repurposed if I had the length intact. You are being asked by someone who can barely knock a nail in straight. I can imagine getting it wrong and trashing every last bit!
@Arboreal - As someone that has been tearing stuff up even before being potty trained, I'm not sure how you wouldn't know how yet. For opening the gaps to get a prybar in, find a heavy duty trowel, They tend to be 2mm thick and often have a metal pommel for hammering on. Work slow with a wide head prybar and raise the plank evenly. You can often tap the plank back down and the nails will stay pulled half out. You know...so you can pry the nails out. -Other stuff: Try to pry as close to a nail as possible. If they used staples... I'm not sure I'm up for the essay that would need.
Saw a funny pic the other day. Can't remember exactly how it went, but was along the lines of "Look at this lovely pallet I made from a garden chair" or something. Did make me smile.
Thanks Cheaps, all I'll say is that my term (semester?) doing cookery at school was WAY more successful than the term doing woodwork OK, I can see using a trowel and crowbar. I guess the trick is going in gently and not all ham fisted like I would. You may also like to know that I build a rather good wood store a few weeks ago under the expert guidance of a friend. A pallet based crate for roof slates with 3 sides was extended up to about 5ft high and clad with feather board. Success at last with woodwork now I'm over 50! V-T, I did look at furniture building from pallets, but some of the chair designs needed 6 pallets each and would have weighed a ton.
I used my reciprocating saw with a metal blade to cut through the nails in the end as I was breaking to much using any other method
Pallet lifter works a treat: https://www.toolstation.com/roughneck-demolition-lifting-bar/p60696 I use it to lift the bars off spare pallets. you can then knock the nails back though. Built a log store last month that I'm slowing filling up.
I've tried a bunch of stuff, even advice from chaps on YouTube; I feel like with rusty ring nails holding them together some are a lost cause, others aren't worth the effort. If I were doing it often I'd go down CrapBag's route.
It does depend heavily on their condition. I just use a crowbar and about 2/3s come off intact, the rest break. I think of it as natural selection. General disclaimer, don't burn pallets made before a certain date - they're mostly gone now, but the old ones had toxic **** like arsenic or something carcinogenic in them. I forget the exact stamp that gives it away, so as a rule just don't burn really old looking ones you find left dormant from years ago. New ones are safe to burn in a stove. Still not open fire safe I don't think, plus they spit terribly anyway. Also I suggest we rename this the bit-tech DIY thread and put all our wood projects in here, I have a couple.
Result! It's done. Nice bit of featherboard there. I'll have to post by featherboard wood store when I get a sec
Fence fweend Done a little while back when we had a random hot weekend whole things now been painted Black an the two old posts removed
