Free pallets near makerspace?

I guess I read your comment as its ok to thickness sand dirty wood to clean it if you didn’t want to power wash it

It’s better to wash before sanding, but only because if wood has any unpleasant whatever on it, one may as well get it off before it turns into airborne particulates. The drum sander fulfills basic use as thickness planer, just not as efficiently or with as much power.

That’s what I missed, I thought you meant sand down to thickness to get rid of stuff then use it with other machines. I’m bad at reading

In the end it’s just best to not bring pallet wood into the woodshop. I made a pallet wall at home and power washed the crap out of it, but I still wouldn’t run it through a planer or drum sander.

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Woodshop policy is that pallets may not be used with the woodshop power tools in their raw form. If they are washed and hand-scraped clean (with a scraper not a chisel) and pass a metal detector test, they may be used with machines. Also they can not have been treated and you must be able to ensure that.

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I would point out that the planer knives get nicked frequently, just by running wood through them. Carbide is brittle - it doesn’t take a nail or staple to destroy it, a knot or feeding wrong, or just bad luck can lead to damage. And if its policy, then Andrew Woodshop Chair) and I ignored it when all the duct work came in last year - I spent a day salvaging the pallets - don’t know if they ever got used or not, but the intention was to do it.

Marshall, I appreciate you offering a way to actually do it. And Zachary, what I’d like to recommend is get with someone experienced who can talk you through what to do. You might also consider, for instance, if you chip a jointer or planer blade, be prepared to replace it, and definitely be willing to pay for it. (If memory serves, these machines use individual carbide inserts that can be bought in sets of 10 for about $30- $40 bucks).

Things I see “experienced” woodworkers do can make me nervous as hell but, short of doing something that could do irrevocable harm to machine or person, I’m gonna say, hey, this is not my business. I’m sure others feel the same way about some things I do…

Yes, there are inherent risks of using pallet woods, yes it is definitely not recommended, especially for newbies and those that “think” they know what they are doing… If you you are willing to listen, learn, and be willing to assume the risk, then my preference is to help make something happen.

My guess is that most of us who are experienced? We learned by making mistakes - 40 years experience and, sure enough, I set off the Sawstop in the first few months because I didn’t realize the adjustable fancy miter gauge with a aluminum fence was out 1/4" too far. It is a humbling experience and one I keep in mind before I say no.

And if this is “policy” rather than a guideline, I’ll stand as corrected, but I’ll also stand by my beliefs :slight_smile:

Make sure you give yourself more time than you expect to need when replacing a blade as well. What should be simple can become a giant pita and cause you and others aggravation. As learned in the most recent planer issue.

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Sorry Court, that was meant to be a post reply not to your comment