Sourcing timber/pallet wood for DIY project?

DoctorFoster

TidyMax wrote: »

We contacted a reclamation last yard after a recommendation off a recommendation on another forum.

The pallets we had originally seen come from a local company who import their goods from America. The pallets they had stacked up appear to be built out of 2 lengths of 4x4 @ 2400mm but they wanted about £12 each for them. The timber on top was rough cut but looked decent and as mentioned were 25mm x 75 mm so after i had sanded/planed and stained i thought it would look good.

I wouldn't set out to make a cheap/nasty looking bed with nail holes or a nice blue tinge.

Going over to the reclamation yard to pick up a few bits and see what i can get the finish we want on.

Every piece of wood used in a pallet has nail holes in them, how you going to fill them?

rum1

Would love to see a photo of the completed project

TidyMax

DoctorFoster wrote: »

Every piece of wood used in a pallet has nail holes in them, how you going to fill them?

This is a pointless argument i just feel as if you are trying to justify your awkwardness.

The same way i filled any issues in our real wood floor. When i sanded the floor back i used to sawdust mixed with wood glue as a filler. The home made filler came out the exact same colour as the wood and then once i had filled sanded back and stained you could hardly tell.

As mentioned in an earlier post the final finish on the bed is going to be like a rough stain. I don't know if this is the correct terminology.

Look at the headboard on this DIY bed, the ultimate goal is a stain finish similar to that but not as dark.

http://hnydt.co/2012/04/28/build-a-king-sized-platform-bed/

DoctorFoster

Pallet floor too?

Check you out.

Since you appear to be clueless as to what's involved I was merely asking questions about things you may not have considered.

When you talk about rough finish and pallets one assumes rough sawn wood as this is what pallets are made from. Wouldn't want winston getting splinters when you're not there :rotfl:.

Had you used terms like rustic instead of rough finish it may have given us the idea it's not a complete bodge.

Chunks

On the back of shabby chic trend and a desire to recycle, there appears to be a lot of interest in pallet wood for DIY projects. There are downsides (beyond splits, warping, nail holes and colouration) one of which is that you have no idea what was transported on the pallet the wood comes from and it could be nasty (eg. toxic chemicals). Reclamation yards might provide you with another source of (cost effective) timber supply. You might find usable lengths of exactly what you're looking for.

Good luck.

TidyMax

Cheers Chunks!

Yeah a couple of people have raised concerns about what the pallets may have been used for. Which is something i hadn't considered at all until asking about it. I think we can pretty much rule pallets out unfortunately!

I have been enquiring about old scaffold boards now, they are made from european whitewood which seems decent, i am just drawing out a full design of the bed which is looking pretty over engineered at this moment in time. I dread to think how much it is going to weigh.

We are using vintage veg crates as storage under the bed (4 on each side). I have just found the ones i want online so those measurements were the last piece of the puzzle. Once i have got a total amount on the lengths of wood needed i will number crunch the total weight and see if its feasible or if its back to the drawing board!

Current scaff board prices appear to be £1 per foot for either new or old? I assume there is a high demand for old ones for these style projects.

Thanks for the reply!

DoctorFoster

TidyMax wrote: »

Cheers Chunks!

Yeah a couple of people have raised concerns about what the pallets may have been used for. Which is something i hadn't considered at all until asking about it. I think we can pretty much rule pallets out unfortunately!

I have been enquiring about old scaffold boards now, they are made from european whitewood which seems decent, i am just drawing out a full design of the bed which is looking pretty over engineered at this moment in time. I dread to think how much it is going to weigh.

We are using vintage veg crates as storage under the bed (4 on each side). I have just found the ones i want online so those measurements were the last piece of the puzzle. Once i have got a total amount on the lengths of wood needed i will number crunch the total weight and see if its feasible or if its back to the drawing board!

Current scaff board prices appear to be £1 per foot for either new or old? I assume there is a high demand for old ones for these style projects.

Thanks for the reply!

Cheapest going.

Redwood is a better soft wood.

TidyMax

Whitewood appears the be the European specified wood for scaffold boards so i imagine that all scaffold companies/manufacturers will use whitewood if its the cheapest

Any ideas on where i can get redwood ones from?

What is the difference between the two other than the tree they come from?

Chunks

TidyMax wrote: »

.... looking pretty over engineered at this moment in time. I dread to think how much it is going to weigh.!

With the material you're looking at now, I would tend to agree. Could find your shabby chic bed (plus occupants) end up in the lounge .

Another thought might be wooden furniture sold through charity shops (up cycle project)? You could find a 'project' bed or some other wooden furniture that you can rework, might be a whole lot quicker to build and more fit for purpose?

Setting aside the weight issue, and source of redwood boards (no idea) the finish of wood not intended for the purpose you intend, will have to be perfect especially where sheets/mattresses/hands come into contact with wood.

Personally speaking, I would love to give up the day job and make furniture (shabby chic or otherwise). If you could turn old kit into something saleable (decent tools and a bit of skill assumed) or veg crates into storage, got to be the way forward; we can't keep chucking stuff out.

Axled

I agree that the wood is low quality and often crap but there are lots of pallet wood projects (with finished pics, not just ideas) and they look great if you like that sort of style. Think you'd need some decent attention to detail with the finishing though as agree that it is likely going to look shabby with no chic if you don't finish it well.

Good luck though!