Pallets! Pallets as far as the eye can see!

The latest in an irregular series of posts on pallets and the interesting things you can do with them!

So the first thing is a bit of an apology for not posting sooner I wasn't feeling particularly great this week so haven't been doing an awful lot on the shed stuff but now I'm back!

This time I'm going to be talking about (and showing lots of pictures of) the other main kind of pallet I have access to.

I'm not sure if there is an official name for these but they look like some kind of standard so I'm sure the internet will tell me at some point!  I get these from a local company that builds and repairs cold rooms/walk-in fridges.  These are a waste product to them as they get insulation sheets delivered on them and then they are a pain to dispose of until I come along!

So this what they look like:

So the overall dimensions are 2400mm x 1220mm x 105mm (8feet x 4 feet x 4inches) which is reasonable compared to the standard 1000mm x1200mm I'm using elsewhere.  The problem with using these as structural components is that the deck boards (the longboards on top and bottom) aren't really that strong so it would be quicker but not as strong! These are going to be used as fascia boards on the outside of the shed to keep the worse of the weather off and maybe if I decide to go down the route of shingles I'll use them for that as well!

The other problem is that whilst free I have to break them down which isn't quick if you're doing a lot of them.

The first stage is to get the deck boards off the runners (the bits in the middle of the pallet).  I have a Roughneck pallet buster bar.

If you're going to use pallets it's worth getting a tool like this to minimize the number of boards that are broken in the processing of a pallet. The tines of the bar go under the deck boards and the handle is pulled back to lever the board away from the runner:

 
Pull back and if everything works the way you want it to you should end up with something like the next picture:

Do this another few times and you get this:

So now we have some deck boards at 2440mm x 95mm x 15mm (approx) and runners 1220mm x 70mm x 30mm but they have a few nails left in them!

Removing the nails from the deck boards is pretty straight forward knock through from the pointy end and then flip the boards over and pull out using a claw hammer or nail puller.

Giving you nice clean boards:

As you can see, I normally try to work on a batch process, i.e.

• Get a big load of boards prised off pallets.
• Lay them out on top of another pallet.
• Whack all the nails through.
• Pull the nails on all the boards.
• Rinse and repeat for each batch of boards.   

The nails in the runners can be a bit more tricky as the nails are normally stuck fast and if you try to pull them out the heads can come off meaning you have to use pliers or mole grips to remove the nail shafts.

This is the point at which my phone decided to die so no pictures for the next step.  

To avoid the headless nail embedded in your bit of wood give each nail a few good whacks (while still keeping the head out of the wood).  The science of how this counter-intuitive method actually works is by hitting the nail you are breaking the physical bond between the nail and the wood making removal with a claw hammer or nail puller easier. 

If everything has gone well you should end up with a large pile of useable timber: 

... and several hundred recovered nails in various states of bent-ness:

These may or may not be getting reused in the building of the shed I'm still trying to decide the merits of recycled fasteners.

The other jobs I've done this weekend are:

• Sorted out the various pallets identifying the ones that are going to make up the base/floor.
• Laid out the floor pallets to actually get a sense of the size of the finished structure- it's big ( cue schoolboy giggle!)
• Broken down a load of small pallets (I'd say these are either half or quarter pallets) for the wood so I can use these to seal in the pallets before insulating them
• I've also helped my daughter move into a new nicer flat in another part of the city, have fun Catti!

In other breaking news, my friendly cold room contractors have said that I can take off cut insulation as well so no need to buy insulation and it comes in nice thick sheets ( or bits of sheet)!  So the end of the weekend is looking a wee bit more positive than the start.

Onwards and upwards,

Rob