Thinking of making boxes from pallet wood.

[BigAshW]

Hi all

I've been making floors, crown boards and roofs from pallet wood for a while now and with the incredible increase in the cost of boxes I'm thinking of building my own from pallets as well.

I use commercial kit currently and measuring a box I have in the garage give a wall thickness of 24mm and a rebate of 14mm.

Measuring the pallets I have left over the timber thickness varies from 14mm to 18mm.

So my current thinking, (and please bear with me as I'm not a carpenter by trade), is to find a second hand biscuit jointer and glue and sash clamp boards into boards to cut down to size. As long as I keep the sides matched up one face of the board will be flat which will form the inner wall.

I can then use a strip of stripwood on the top edge of the box to give enough thickness to cut the rebate into.

I always pack the crownboard with celotex on my hives but it will mean the sidewalls are a bit thinner for winter.

Obviously they won't last as long as a ceder box but will be a hell of a lot cheaper.

Any of you woodworkers see any problems I've missed?

 

[Murox]

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.

 

[BigAshW]

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.

Would it be worth disassembly of the pallet and stacking the wood flat in advance for a while to let it settle?

 

[Murox]

Would it be worth disassembly of the pallet and stacking the wood flat in advance for a while to let it settle?

I would, then at least you will know how many useable planks you have per pallet on average etc etc...............

 

[BigAshW]

I would, then at least you will know how many useable planks you have per pallet on average etc etc...............

Any thoughts on how long it would need to settle?

 

[Murox]

Any thoughts on how long it would need to settle?

Depends how wet it is beforehand I suppose - short answer - as long as possible. I occasionally use pallet wood, the pallets are usually sodden, can see water oozing when they are pried apart, they get stood in an airy undercover space for at least a month or two. When used they are sometimes rather damp.

 

[Wilco]

I have a stockpile of pallets in various states of disassembly. Most of the wood is approx. 18mm so thick enough for sides, I occasionally get lucky with 150mm wide boards which are wide enough for supers. Have experimented with using dowels and glue to attach narrower ones together, biscuit jointer would probably work better.

Some pallets locally have a different design to standard ones which makes the bottom boards ideal to cut down with a table saw to make the rails for nationals.

.

I'm also lucky in that they often have pallets with a base of cheap 18mm ply so have a free stockpile of that too!

 

[BigAshW]

I have a stockpile of pallets in various states of disassembly. Most of the wood is approx. 18mm so thick enough for sides, I occasionally get lucky with 150mm wide boards which are wide enough for supers. Have experimented with using dowels and glue to attach narrower ones together, biscuit jointer would probably work better.

Some pallets locally have a different design to standard ones which makes the bottom boards ideal to cut down with a table saw to make the rails for nationals.

View attachment 30078.

I'm also lucky in that they often have pallets with a base of cheap 18mm ply so have a free stockpile of that too!

I get a free supply of pallets from work although none have a ply base.

 

[deemann1]

Biscuit jointer

 

[E&MBees]

Biscuit jointer

Hubby has one of those, he finds it very useful for making my bee kit!

 

[Newbeeneil]

Biscuit jointer

I thought that was the cream in a bourbon

 

[Curly green finger's]

Not made any boxes as yet with pallets, but I have used pallets for landing boards,shelves, coubourds, doors.

 

[Ian123]

Not made any boxes as yet with pallets, but I have used pallets for landing boards,shelves, coubourds, doors. View attachment 30082

Your knobs aren’t level

 

[wightbees]

Biscuit jointer is a great tool but there is no more strength in the biscuit than a good quality glue in most cases I have read. Dowel jig joint is stronger joint if that’s the purpose of your jointing.

 

[pargyle]

Your knobs aren’t level

That's been said before ...

 

[Newbeeneil]

A biscuit jointer relies on the fact you create approx 50% more area for glue and you increase the shear of the joint.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Your knobs aren’t level

Na you've been on the pop

 

[pargyle]

Hi all

I've been making floors, crown boards and roofs from pallet wood for a while now and with the incredible increase in the cost of boxes I'm thinking of building my own from pallets as well.

I use commercial kit currently and measuring a box I have in the garage give a wall thickness of 24mm and a rebate of 14mm.

Measuring the pallets I have left over the timber thickness varies from 14mm to 18mm.

So my current thinking, (and please bear with me as I'm not a carpenter by trade), is to find a second hand biscuit jointer and glue and sash clamp boards into boards to cut down to size. As long as I keep the sides matched up one face of the board will be flat which will form the inner wall.

I can then use a strip of stripwood on the top edge of the box to give enough thickness to cut the rebate into.

I always pack the crownboard with celotex on my hives but it will mean the sidewalls are a bit thinner for winter.

Obviously they won't last as long as a ceder box but will be a hell of a lot cheaper.

Any of you woodworkers see any problems I've missed?

I've made Nucs out of palletwood but, I have a planer jointer, I edge glued the pallet slats together into planks with waterproof glue - didn't bother with biscuits or dowels . I used a double layer for the hive walls - the external layer horizontal and the internal layer vertical with glue between the two layers and screws. It makes the boxes a bit heavier but I found there was no warping or shrinkage.

Some of them are nearly 10 years old - a coat of paint once in a while is all they need. The bees don't seem to mind them although mine are now only used occasionally as I have enough poly nucs to cope most of the time (famous last words ?).

 

[Garry R]

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.

 

[pargyle]

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.

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