I chose to leave the materials only partly planed to provide a more rustic result. For joints, I chose a simple hand-cut oversized finger joint. I may choose to strengthen the joints with authentic cut nails.
There's a reason that pallets can be gotten free. They are made from very low grade, very cheap wood, and they are often severely abused. So even as lumber prices climb, pallet lumber will remain cheap and free but for the amount of time you must spend making it ready for use. And then because the wood is low grade, the results of your labor may not match your hopes and dreams. That does not deter one from having fun with it.
Be on the lookout for pallets that are relatively clean and made of soft woods like pine that will be easier to plane and work with hand tools.
Make, fix and create. Assist others in learning lifewise.
"They are made from [...] very cheap wood".
ReplyDeleteThat is: cheap in the country where the material was put on the pallet. I have heard of some pallets in exotic wood...(granite from south America).