What's in a skid ... trash or treasure trove? You decide.
In a manner of speaking, I’ve hit the skids.
Well, hit them, tripped over them, shoved them around the shop and eventually, piled them just outside the door here. My stack of skids come from various places. Sometimes two skids arrive with a tool shipment, but only one goes back. Other times I’ll order a load of lumber, and the only thing left when the lumber is gone is the skid. The pile keeps growing…they don’t seem to go away on their own.
Some woodworkers come up with creative uses for these things and build really nice furniture from them. But I’ve never really explored that option. I think what holds me back is pulling all the darn nails out — there are hundreds in each one. I just keep adding to the stack and hoping it doesn’t fall down on me.
Now, I’m going to let a cat out of the bag here: A lot more skids are on their way to my shop in the next few weeks. We’ve got a big tool review scheduled for the January print issue, and this stack of mine is bound to get even taller real quick.
So, here’s the challenge to you: Tell me what you’d do with a dozen or more skids if you had them lying around your shop. It can be funny, downright outrageous or a genuine idea. I really don’t know what to do with these things, besides watch them rot or set them ablaze. And, there’s no warehouse guy out here in rural Ohio to take them away. Even the truck drivers don’t want them back.
If you’ve built some nice stuff from skids, leave a comment and tell us what you’ve made. How do you process the wood effectively? What should we look out for? What kind of wood do you usually find in your skids? Maybe we’re all missing out on a good source of REALLY cheap lumber. Or, maybe it’s just kindling.
There’s your challenge: How would you put an end to skid row? Let the ideas fly.
Catch you in the shop,
Chris Marshall, Field Editor
Tags: Project Ideas, scraps, Wood Sources
I use old pallets for many things. Pulling nails and staples is the important thing prior to milling the wood. Nothing like a nail to ruin a carbide saw blade or set of planer knives. Usually smaller projects are good for this type of lumber. I love finding white oak for outside projects like planter boxes and bird houses. When I have culled the chaff from the useable , I end up with great kindling for the fireplace and weekend camping trips
You could stack them up, set them on fire. When the stack collapses, quench the stack with water to extinguish the fire completely. Then filter your batch of distilled sour mash through the charcoal and into some oak barrels to age for a while.
I don’t bother with the nails. I use my circular saw to cut to cut the usable material out and then the rest hits the firewood pile. I’ve made cutting boards, knife racks, boot jacks, bird houses and loads of tole projects. Pallets (skids) are made from a variety of different type woods. Some are more colorful than others. But the best part is that they are usually free.
I used to pick up stray pallets too, thinking I could use them for something. However, the ones I picked up were oak, I think, and neither me nor my little skillsaw were tough enough to even cut them up–like you said, there’s no way to pull all the nails out. I had to give up and send them on their way: dropped them onto the pile of pallets outside the loading dock at work. I’m very curious what other folks will come up with on this one.
My dad used pallets for many of his woodworking projects and I have somewhat maintained the tradition. While most of the pallets made in the US are either pine or oak, you will find a variety of woods used in pallets coming from overseas. I recently received an order on a pallet that appeared to be constructed mostly of lacewood (or a reasonable facsimile) and have seen mahogany and other woods that I haven’t been able to identify yet.
I have used old pallets for years, turned small pieces of pallet Oak into corner planes as gifts for my boys. Made a marker out of other pieces. I use them to support stacks of wood for turning, and even build parts of the add on to my wood shed (for storing more lumber) with the flat planks. I used them for the floor and the roof under the shingles. That took a fair number of pallets which I pick up from a band saw blade shop down the way. I have built compost bins from them and fenced off sections of the garden. I even built a storage shed once with pallet sides and an old canopy from an El Camino for a roof.
I have used pallet boards for drawers and boxes for storage. They are the right height and after planeing, are just thick enough for sturdy drawers. You can also use pallet stock for many craft projects. A great use is for practice boards for hand cut dovetails. When you get them right, add a slot for a bottom, and you have a new drawer or storage bin.
The nails or staples are coated, so removing them is a lot of work and usually isn’t worth the trouble.
You might engage in a bit of homebuilding… I’ve heard, after all, that a man’s home is his pallets.
I’ll be here all week, thanks.
I ‘ve had some unique opertunities using pallets for projects I recently built a work bench using some maple pallets that I collected . ripped the boards on a table saw then ran them through a planer after I removed the nails of course it was not very easy but well worth the effort once that task was complete and I had the frame set in place I used the maple boards as a top for the work bench by butting the boards together and staggering the seams it turned out to be very solid and makes for a great work surface although you may not make the next great piece of american furniture by using pallets it’s a great way to save a few bucks on projects for the garage or shed other projects you could possibly do is birdhouse or a tissue box for kleenex it never fails your bound to sneeze everyonce in a while being in a wood shop and it’s a great way to protect them by building a tissue box
I have used Pallet wood for many things. I see some people use them for building birdhouses as I have. But have also made small wall shelves and backs of park benches. Some of the wood grain is really unique. I have also made paper towel holders. You could also try little jewelry boxes
Using pallet wood can be a great way to obtain a lot of cheap wood for projects, but, as many have noted, the nails can be a real pain. Even if you just cut out the wood from the areas that are nailed to the frame pieces, there can be quite a few nails or other metal bits embedded in the wood. If you are going to do a lot of wood recycling, I would highly recommend getting a decent hand-held metal detector. The wand style ones work pretty well and you can find a good one for less than $100, which is definitely worth it if you save a few expensive saw blades!
Like others I have used pallet wood from birdhouses to planters, compost bins and of course toys for the grandkids. What I find most useful is having the FREE wood available for my grandchildren to use as they please that way leaving my good stuff alone. My grandson is currently helping me tear them apart, when he visits, and we’re saving the wood for him to build his “fort” out in the woods come spring.
I found a beautiful piece of cherry and let my young son make a really handy napkin holder. He also got a blue ribbon when he entered it in our county fair. I don’t pull out the nails, I just cut out the good looking pieces and while they are small many of them are quarter sawn and make really good nicknacks, Jigsaw puzzles, toys for kids, and even toilet paper holders. The rest I use for kindling.
Working with wood pallets if one is a masochist is just what the therapist ordered.
What little wood can be gleaned from a tedious effort is better spent by turning that effort into shopping lumber sellers for scrap pieces, paying a few cents for the wood and converting what would have been wasted energy into a productive end.
It is really not worthwhile unless you are a masochist or have masochistic tendencies.
i use a sawzall to cut the nails between the boards and the stringers. then i use a punch or nail set to drive the nails out of the flat boards.
I like the sourmash idea the best, but my family has used all kinds of “scrap wood” to build many things. You can use them to make decorative toilet paper cabinets for the throne room, or potatoe and onion boxes for the kitchen. Sometimes it’s nice to have a garbage can box to put that wonderful rubbermaid garbage can in. We have also made cooler boxes for summer picknics and an assortment of childrens toys. Minature cabinets and so forth. All from lumber like pallets that were lying around.