Thinking of making boxes from pallet wood.

[BigAshW]

The main problem with pallet wood (which is great for roofs as any spaces get covered) is to ensure a straight edge for gluing boards together without gaps. Gorilla glue is helpful in that respect as it expands on curing but the tighter the better.

Agreed. I've used sash clamps and gorilla glue when making crown boards etc that seems to work ok although I've not done it for actual boxes.

I'm at the yard tomorrow so will pick up some fresh pallets, I have in mind a variation of @pargyle method above to try out and see if it will produce something useable.

 

[John McC]

I have used pallet wood for mating Nucs, so are only used in the summer. The mating Nucs are 3 frame doubles so they are not too heavy when finished.

 

[user 20297]

Na you've been on the pop

What is it with people Mark; they are obsessed with your knobs and knockers.

 

[pargyle]

What is it with people Mark; they are obsessed with your knobs and knockers.

Only because he is constantly drawing our attention to them - exhibitionist !

 

[user 20297]

Only because he is constantly drawing our attention to them - exhibitionist !

To be fair to him, he does seem to attract a lot of knockers.

 

[pargyle]

To be fair to him, he does seem to attract a lot of knockers.

You may think that ... I could not possibly comment !

 

[Curly green finger's]

INFORMAL
a person who continually finds fault.
I would prefer the slang! Who wouldn't

 

[user 819]

Yes ... I ran them through my planer jointer to get a decent edge before gluing them together.

I am still in yesteryear and still use my old #7 jointer.

 

[pargyle]

I am still in yesteryear and still use my old #7 jointer.

Mine is a 40 year old Inca Startrite ...bought in a bit of a state but it was Swiss engineering underneath and all it really needed was cleaning, lubricating a bit of adjusment and a lick of Hammerite to the cabinet ... it's a bit of a scary beast when it's running but it really does a job,

 

[BigAshW]

Maybe I should get myself a planer.......

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Maybe I should get myself a planer.......

View attachment 30100

Probably fair to say they don't make them like they used to

 

[madasafish]

I gorilla glue and dowel pallet planks. Then square up the resulting plank and cut to size in my table saw. Simples.

 

[user 819]

Same as my Bailey #7.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Same as my Bailey #7.
View attachment 30106

Got my father's Stanley Bailey Jackplane in the shed still - together with an assortment of normal sized ones

 

[user 819]

The #7 is a weighty tool to handle compared to the #5 jack.
#5 jack is the normal plane for me, along with a a couple of small palm plane's.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The #7 is a weighty tool to handle compared to the #5 jack.
#5 jack is the normal plane for me, along with a a couple of small palm plane's.

I remember my father showing me a trying plane once (after explaining to me why use a Jackplane occasionally) I think it was about four or five feet long.
Now that's a plane
I think that one was a Stanley Bailey as well

 

[Somerford]

On making beehives out of pallet wood - yes it's entirely possible but a few thoughts..

1. alot of pallets are treated for rot and pests - be careful not to use these for beehives
2. turning pallet wood into indoor wood products - fine - as it is dry and doesn't flex. If you leave pallet wood outside you find it flexes and warps and considering the fine margins in a bee box and the fact the beehive is outside all year in all weathers it will flex.
3. making boxes with panels set at 90 degrees (like a ply in effect) to make them less likely to flex will add considerable weight to the boxes. Add honey, frames, bees and even the supers will be crazy heavy.
4. Nucs - kept outside for the summer and stored away in winter perhaps not such an issue with weathering.
5. rot....cedar, even second grade, is rot resistant by nature. white wood used in pallets isn't...

on balance if the pallet isn't treated, perhaps use it for the interior hive parts such as the laths under a roof, or a crown board, or a floor at a push....but don't let this stop you !

lastly, a friend on here made a huge amount of 14x12 brood chambers out of ply a few years ago....he abandoned them as they were very heavy and started to delaminate...

KR


Somerford

 

[BigAshW]

On making beehives out of pallet wood - yes it's entirely possible but a few thoughts..

1. alot of pallets are treated for rot and pests - be careful not to use these for beehives
2. turning pallet wood into indoor wood products - fine - as it is dry and doesn't flex. If you leave pallet wood outside you find it flexes and warps and considering the fine margins in a bee box and the fact the beehive is outside all year in all weathers it will flex.
3. making boxes with panels set at 90 degrees (like a ply in effect) to make them less likely to flex will add considerable weight to the boxes. Add honey, frames, bees and even the supers will be crazy heavy.
4. Nucs - kept outside for the summer and stored away in winter perhaps not such an issue with weathering.
5. rot....cedar, even second grade, is rot resistant by nature. white wood used in pallets isn't...

on balance if the pallet isn't treated, perhaps use it for the interior hive parts such as the laths under a roof, or a crown board, or a floor at a push....but don't let this stop you !

lastly, a friend on here made a huge amount of 14x12 brood chambers out of ply a few years ago....he abandoned them as they were very heavy and started to delaminate...

KR


Somerford

Yep understood, aware that they will have a shorter life span and weight disadvantage the reasons were more from a cost perspective. If I could afford to buy a bunch of cedar boxes then I would but I'm not in a financial position to do this at the moment. So maybe this option will tide me over until I can replace them.

 

[Bumbling Keeper]

I reckon that the potential for warping is the greatest enemy. Pallets in UK are made of both pine (the most common) and also oak.

Also, many of the pallets I've come across through work (landscape and nursery) previously have been imported and made of 'bog wood' - no idea what that actually is, but a splinter will go septic really fast...

 

[pargyle]

Maybe I should get myself a planer.......

View attachment 30100

A bit of elbow grease, some WD40, new blades and a motor and belt .. would do the job- I've seen worse than that brought back to life. Many a good tune played on an old fiddle !

You don't need a lot of table width to put a decent edge on things like pallet timber or scaffold planks. Just watch for any nails or other embedded contaminants.