the home depot i go to sells 4 foot cut offs from damagen wood for .51 cents each... i get 4x4s, 2x4s plywood, shelfing boards... all sorts of stuff. I love raiding that bin!
the home depot i go to sells 4 foot cut offs from damagen wood for .51 cents each... i get 4x4s, 2x4s plywood, shelfing boards... all sorts of stuff. I love raiding that bin!
I have watched you trying to push the nails back with your hammer all the way, You only need about a 1/4 inch so you can catch from the other side with a claw hammer, ( Use a board to pry no, will help a lot. Use a 5/32 1/4 drive deep socket to straighten the nails, regular 5/32 socket and old extension will help push nails back out enough to get a claw under it
You may want to invest in an air hammer, the kind that fits in the palm of your hand. It will drive the nails back in seconds and do a better job than anyone can with a hammer. Trust me on this one, I spent ten years teaching construction methods at a community college and prefer to swing a hammer to using an air nailer, but the palm air hammer is a tool I like.
Are you ever good with those hammers!!!!!! I have used the two bar trick I saw on another video. I sure will try this method. Great video, Thank you... Are you ever good with those hammers!!!!!
The pallets that I've gotten don't look like this. Sure wish I had those square chunks. I guess it depends on what they're made to hold originally. I've been cutting them in half to make a 'picket fence'. I've realized that only the half with two of the spines(for lack of another word) was going to work. Now I get to figure out what to do with all the little pieces. hmmm.
Thanks for the vid. showed me that I don't have to cut the thing up to use it.
try dismantling pallets with spiral nails...;) it's easy when it is put together with strait nails, but with spirals you will have a heck of a job... looks like to me you had a pretty easy-low value/quality palette...
I totally needed to see this! I kept breaking the boards when I tried to pry them up. This looks like it works much better!! I'll give it a try this weekend.
Great Job! Have you considered an instructable at Instructables-dot-com? Another tool I've used was a small floor jack, and also a hydraulic port-a-power... for the really difficult ones.
dont want to be a smart ass or anything but their actually is an easier was see i work for a company that my job is pallet teardown i actually deal with chep pallets and military palletes the easiest way is to actually use a band saw because thats what we actually use but the pallet u have its actually easier to lay it the way you did and hit the decking boards which will pull them off pushing the runners of and the cross decking then to take the nails out u just us a grinder.
Gotta get up off the floor dude. Man your back would be killing you after all that hammering. Great video . I remember my dad taking apart a lot of pallets when I was a kid. Looks like A great way to use up some unused energy too.I think I will try to do the same and save some money. Thanks.
set up a work area on saw horses. as depicted that's stoop labor and is hard on your back. Wear ear plugs (you don't want your ears ringing for the rest of your life) and safety glases (nails have a way of being flung up when extracted)
When I saw your description on the instructables website I didn't understand what you where trying to say - but then I watched you video and even though it contains no words I understood perfectly. Videos are obviously your strong point and a lot of people will benefit from watching them. Thank You
LA PALETA PARA QUE NO SE LE DOBLEN LOS CLAVOS UD ME ENTIENDE TIENE QUE MANTENERLOS GUIADOS CON UN ALICATE ME ENTIENDE SINO LOS 25 CLAVITOS QUE SE VA A GANAR LE COSTARA MEDIA HORA DE TRABAJO
SU MARTILLO CULIAO ES MUY CHICO Y MALO CON LA CBEZA REDONDA ME ENTIENDE COJA UN MAZO CHINO DE LUCA Y LE VA A COSTAR MENOS SE ACABO EL CONCEPTO DEL MARTILLITO CULIAO TIPO CARPINTERO ME ENTIENDE PRA SACAR LOS CLAVOS LO MEJOR ES UN DIABLITO ME ENTIENDE CON EL QUE UD HACE PALANCA Y NO SE CAGA LOS DEDOS
I built some shelves with oak skid boards that I thickness planed. . Came out great! I used steel rod to connect 2" high thin panels together like an open mesh chopping block. Put plants on them. I plugged the holes where the rods were installed. I even polyurethane coated it. About a year later, the plugs were pushed out and the steel rod exposed. The woo was not kiln dried and after time, it really shrunk.
I tried using a hydraulic jack on some really big ones; the wood gave out before the nails. lol.. Cheers for the vid. As for the time taken - I'm not worried about that - my own time is free and new wood is expensive!
Wish the pallets I had were that easy. You can whallop all you like with a hammer and those skids just will not come off. You're barely hitting them in the vid and they're off.
@therealdunketh I was lucky with this pallet. It was still tought to break apart (and film at the same time) but I have worked on ones which are really difficult. If you can clamp the pallet to a heavy bench or use an engineers vice with the final pieces it can really help.
@therealdunketh ow man , i have an easier way , if you dont mind the head of the nails in the boards. just just a breaker bar, and slide it where the nail would be , and hit it with the hammer , and the bar will sheer the nails. but if ur going to be doing alot of cutting on the ends i wouldnt , cuz sawing thru nails is a bitch . ow and ur boards really didnt break that much when u hit them from behind , mine tend to thas why i use a breaker bar , and just pry them up , works much better .
I'm going to try a 4" metal blad in my jig saw and cut the nails off. I also saw in an old Mother Earth News mag where someone just cut the wood off next to the nails. You only get small pieces though.
@zekehooper You can use a jig saw or a reciprocal saw works really well. It is only worth using the same method as I did if you plan to plane the wood or pass it through a thicknesser!
This works ok for those pallets of course. When the pallets have full-length 4x4 inch base-bars underneath the lump hammer doesn't have much effect. I tried it, and ruined more pallets than enough! A car-jack between the base members might have worked better between the bigger timbers.
A nail bar is a very handy tool for this kind of task...instead of pecking those nails through. And you can pry the boards apart with it as well. If you're worried about marking the boards, use a small board under the nail bar. There are any number of good ways of doing this task, but working on a table or something else that's stable and not on the ground can sure make it easier on your back.
@terrybake Ah sounds like a challenge? I tried using a nail bar but because the nails are driven in so deep with some kind of compressed air nail gun, it can be quite tricky and sometimes really damaging to the timber. Thanks for the comment.
THANK YOU! I followed your video here from Instructables, and it's been a huge time (and finger) saver. I've been rebuilding a work shed with pallet-wood, but I've lost so much wood through my splitting/damaging it that I've been wondering if it's worth it. I picked up a club hammer (Canadian name) and using your method I'm now 3/4 done. Bonus: extra wood blocks for under deck-pots. Nicely done!
I have pallets where the slats are actually going in the opposite direction. The support beams in the center are, let's say, horizontal, whereas the slats are vertical. Any suggestions besides using electrical devices that I may not have. (What'd I give for a Sawzall)
MAN this vid helped me sooo much! i was taking like 30 mins to get cracked and broken boards off of pallets!... me and my cuz are building a cabin and its done exept for the outside so we decided to use the wood from pallets and it looks sweet!
I was givern a book "Build It With Pallets" by Joe Jacobs detailing projects that you can knock up with pallet timber. I have made some nice staging for my seed trays in the greenhouse. you can get the book from Amazon.
Great video, very detailed and love all the close ups. I especially would of never thought to use a mallet against a hammer to straighten a nail. I will be making tons of yard furniture this year from pallet material as I live in Michigan and the big three and all their suppliers give away tons of these a year. Most people don't know that most pallets are made of grade A wood, once sanded and stained is some of the most beautiful oak you can't afford these days. I usually buy grade C
@flippermac OAK! Your post had me jog outside to check my pallet-pile. No, just pine or fir - wood's too soft and the grain too large to be anything else (not that I'm complaining!). Hmmm....never thought I'd envy people living in Michigan! ;)
Yeah, don't give up on that little nail :0) Very helpful video, especially because my dismantled pallets usually look like I've used dynamite in the process
the pallets i got from work were built diffrently, but i used a nail puller and got all the nails out , the wood on mine had a rougher finish to it too, but when i spend a ton of time sanding it its beatiful oak underneath, i wish there were more videos focusing on building furniture from pallets
I have dismantled a number of pallets for projects and the easiest and less destructive way I found was cutting through the nails with a hacksaw but your method is better and quicker. I wish I'd found this video sooner. Never mind, I will do my next lot your way. Thanks for posting the video.
This has been flagged as spam show
the home depot i go to sells 4 foot cut offs from damagen wood for .51 cents each... i get 4x4s, 2x4s plywood, shelfing boards... all sorts of stuff. I love raiding that bin!
hdrjunkie 2 days ago
the home depot i go to sells 4 foot cut offs from damagen wood for .51 cents each... i get 4x4s, 2x4s plywood, shelfing boards... all sorts of stuff. I love raiding that bin!
hdrjunkie 2 days ago
I have watched you trying to push the nails back with your hammer all the way, You only need about a 1/4 inch so you can catch from the other side with a claw hammer, ( Use a board to pry no, will help a lot. Use a 5/32 1/4 drive deep socket to straighten the nails, regular 5/32 socket and old extension will help push nails back out enough to get a claw under it
TheJjeeffhhaarrddyy 3 weeks ago
BTW did you know that was an antique hammer? my guess is that it was produced before 1900
edward1960hotmail 1 month ago
You may want to invest in an air hammer, the kind that fits in the palm of your hand. It will drive the nails back in seconds and do a better job than anyone can with a hammer. Trust me on this one, I spent ten years teaching construction methods at a community college and prefer to swing a hammer to using an air nailer, but the palm air hammer is a tool I like.
edward1960hotmail 1 month ago
usefule vidio chack out my channel for cod vids and more ways to dismatle thing
v
FlexileCinema 1 month ago
Are you ever good with those hammers!!!!!! I have used the two bar trick I saw on another video. I sure will try this method. Great video, Thank you... Are you ever good with those hammers!!!!!
brendahodgins 1 month ago
awsome photography
skswig1 1 month ago
Zen and the Art of Pallet Dismantling. This video is very meditative and relaxing to watch. There should be more tutorial videos like this one.
skyylao 1 month ago
Cool I love this. I'm getting some tomorrow and I knew I had to dismantle it. Now I know the right way. I bet I could recycle the nails to.
citippett 1 month ago
I am really impressed by this. I knew there had to be a better way than I was doing it.
miloandotisfan 2 months ago
I dissmantle pallets to load for the great fire wood. I usually don't spend one minute per nail haha!
ChubbaBoastinTone766 3 months ago
The pallets that I've gotten don't look like this. Sure wish I had those square chunks. I guess it depends on what they're made to hold originally. I've been cutting them in half to make a 'picket fence'. I've realized that only the half with two of the spines(for lack of another word) was going to work. Now I get to figure out what to do with all the little pieces. hmmm.
Thanks for the vid. showed me that I don't have to cut the thing up to use it.
mommyrottie 4 months ago
Thank you so much for this video, I have been trying to figure out how to take them apart without damaging the wood as much as possible.
LuLuSLipstickParty 4 months ago
Looks like alot of hard work. For what?
melvinvswaldo 5 months ago
@melvinvswaldo free wood?
infamouscrook 1 month ago
Nice Job! Thanks for sharing!
MrAnthonyRizzo 5 months ago
try dismantling pallets with spiral nails...;) it's easy when it is put together with strait nails, but with spirals you will have a heck of a job... looks like to me you had a pretty easy-low value/quality palette...
Frenchmania206 5 months ago
WHY???
Crifstar 5 months ago
I only wish I could get those type pallets in my area. The ones that make and use here are made differently and won't come apart that way.
galanie 6 months ago
I totally needed to see this! I kept breaking the boards when I tried to pry them up. This looks like it works much better!! I'll give it a try this weekend.
Thanks.
DianeVautier 6 months ago
Great Job! Have you considered an instructable at Instructables-dot-com? Another tool I've used was a small floor jack, and also a hydraulic port-a-power... for the really difficult ones.
Again... Great Job. Peace Gill
whotoinfinity 7 months ago
Nice
davidsquall351 7 months ago
Now that's a mallet.... O.O
abeoetebaris 7 months ago
using that mallet to straighten up the nail was genius! Thanks for the video.
mommyrottie 7 months ago
the lesson of this video comes at 4:01, at times the dismantlement of the pallet of the state requires its nails to break!
cb285000 8 months ago
dont want to be a smart ass or anything but their actually is an easier was see i work for a company that my job is pallet teardown i actually deal with chep pallets and military palletes the easiest way is to actually use a band saw because thats what we actually use but the pallet u have its actually easier to lay it the way you did and hit the decking boards which will pull them off pushing the runners of and the cross decking then to take the nails out u just us a grinder.
chit1103421 9 months ago
μπράβο σου. μου έδωσες ιδέες. θα φτιάξω ένα δεντρόσπιτο και μου λείπουν ξύλα. δεν θέλω να αγοράσω τίποτε!
NixterinosPodilatis 9 months ago
Gotta get up off the floor dude. Man your back would be killing you after all that hammering. Great video . I remember my dad taking apart a lot of pallets when I was a kid. Looks like A great way to use up some unused energy too.I think I will try to do the same and save some money. Thanks.
lewandlo 9 months ago
wow thank you so much!!! this helped me so much!!! =)
locuchona154 9 months ago
I use an angle grinder (whizz cutter) with a diamond blade to cut nails. Very easy and fast.
Your local seller of inexpensive Chinese made tools will fix you up for about $10 USD..
biminitwst 10 months ago
this sadly onlt works on some pallets :(
MrLuke6593 10 months ago
thx for the vid. Now i know the diference between desmantling and destroying a wooden palet.
zunzun73 10 months ago
i had some old pallets at my house. took a recip saw and got the job done very quickly. i love my recip saw. only € 99.95 :D
LeandroMuntendam 10 months ago
arg the nails in the pallets i have are rusted! and its difficult! i need the boreds in one piece because i build with them! help!
detestsleep 11 months ago
set up a work area on saw horses. as depicted that's stoop labor and is hard on your back. Wear ear plugs (you don't want your ears ringing for the rest of your life) and safety glases (nails have a way of being flung up when extracted)
SFConifer 11 months ago
When I saw your description on the instructables website I didn't understand what you where trying to say - but then I watched you video and even though it contains no words I understood perfectly. Videos are obviously your strong point and a lot of people will benefit from watching them. Thank You
MasterTenku 11 months ago
now put it back together again.
msgoods100 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
JESUS CHRIST IS KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS
bass109 1 year ago
in stage one if you bolted a board to the floor so it wouldn't slide around that would work well.
jianzha 1 year ago
LA PALETA PARA QUE NO SE LE DOBLEN LOS CLAVOS UD ME ENTIENDE TIENE QUE MANTENERLOS GUIADOS CON UN ALICATE ME ENTIENDE SINO LOS 25 CLAVITOS QUE SE VA A GANAR LE COSTARA MEDIA HORA DE TRABAJO
SU MARTILLO CULIAO ES MUY CHICO Y MALO CON LA CBEZA REDONDA ME ENTIENDE COJA UN MAZO CHINO DE LUCA Y LE VA A COSTAR MENOS SE ACABO EL CONCEPTO DEL MARTILLITO CULIAO TIPO CARPINTERO ME ENTIENDE PRA SACAR LOS CLAVOS LO MEJOR ES UN DIABLITO ME ENTIENDE CON EL QUE UD HACE PALANCA Y NO SE CAGA LOS DEDOS
aldo78372 1 year ago
try a reciprocating saw
SuperPalletKing 1 year ago 4
@SuperPalletKing this is the best way if you want to pass the pieces through a thicknesser.
miscpro 1 year ago
@SuperPalletKing
I built some shelves with oak skid boards that I thickness planed. . Came out great! I used steel rod to connect 2" high thin panels together like an open mesh chopping block. Put plants on them. I plugged the holes where the rods were installed. I even polyurethane coated it. About a year later, the plugs were pushed out and the steel rod exposed. The woo was not kiln dried and after time, it really shrunk.
TheConveyorman 1 month ago
Cheers.
I tried using a hydraulic jack on some really big ones; the wood gave out before the nails. lol.. Cheers for the vid. As for the time taken - I'm not worried about that - my own time is free and new wood is expensive!
therealdunketh 1 year ago
takes to long to break
caps124 1 year ago
Wish the pallets I had were that easy. You can whallop all you like with a hammer and those skids just will not come off. You're barely hitting them in the vid and they're off.
Careful you don't tread on them nails though!!
therealdunketh 1 year ago 10
@therealdunketh I was lucky with this pallet. It was still tought to break apart (and film at the same time) but I have worked on ones which are really difficult. If you can clamp the pallet to a heavy bench or use an engineers vice with the final pieces it can really help.
miscpro 1 year ago
@therealdunketh ow man , i have an easier way , if you dont mind the head of the nails in the boards. just just a breaker bar, and slide it where the nail would be , and hit it with the hammer , and the bar will sheer the nails. but if ur going to be doing alot of cutting on the ends i wouldnt , cuz sawing thru nails is a bitch . ow and ur boards really didnt break that much when u hit them from behind , mine tend to thas why i use a breaker bar , and just pry them up , works much better .
whatleymattu 8 months ago
I'm going to try a 4" metal blad in my jig saw and cut the nails off. I also saw in an old Mother Earth News mag where someone just cut the wood off next to the nails. You only get small pieces though.
zekehooper 1 year ago
@zekehooper You can use a jig saw or a reciprocal saw works really well. It is only worth using the same method as I did if you plan to plane the wood or pass it through a thicknesser!
miscpro 1 year ago
Great thanks!!
queeny107 1 year ago
This works ok for those pallets of course. When the pallets have full-length 4x4 inch base-bars underneath the lump hammer doesn't have much effect. I tried it, and ruined more pallets than enough! A car-jack between the base members might have worked better between the bigger timbers.
woodlist 1 year ago
Thank you! This video was very helpful!
darkfireradiant 1 year ago
A nail bar is a very handy tool for this kind of task...instead of pecking those nails through. And you can pry the boards apart with it as well. If you're worried about marking the boards, use a small board under the nail bar. There are any number of good ways of doing this task, but working on a table or something else that's stable and not on the ground can sure make it easier on your back.
terrybake 1 year ago
@terrybake Ah sounds like a challenge? I tried using a nail bar but because the nails are driven in so deep with some kind of compressed air nail gun, it can be quite tricky and sometimes really damaging to the timber. Thanks for the comment.
miscpro 1 year ago
nice, sometimes it just takes watching someone do something to get that "ohhh thats how you do it easily" moment
dudusmcrudus 1 year ago
nice, sometimes it just takes watching someone do that to get that "of course thats how you do it" moment!!
dudusmcrudus 1 year ago
Simplicity and genius often go hand in hand, brilliant video..
danniekavanagh 1 year ago
good job learn how to straighten the nails
cowtorto 1 year ago
THANK YOU! I followed your video here from Instructables, and it's been a huge time (and finger) saver. I've been rebuilding a work shed with pallet-wood, but I've lost so much wood through my splitting/damaging it that I've been wondering if it's worth it. I picked up a club hammer (Canadian name) and using your method I'm now 3/4 done. Bonus: extra wood blocks for under deck-pots. Nicely done!
Merricat42 1 year ago
This is beautiful to watch. xD
BlueBerryWizard 1 year ago
Very useful. Thanks.
miasverypretty 1 year ago
nice job. way go, dude!
mariasafir 1 year ago
very helpful! thanks!
idahoredneck6 1 year ago
Great video! You can get quite a bit of free lumber from those things! It just takes a little effort. :D Thanks for posting!
Stormclouds777 1 year ago
I have pallets where the slats are actually going in the opposite direction. The support beams in the center are, let's say, horizontal, whereas the slats are vertical. Any suggestions besides using electrical devices that I may not have. (What'd I give for a Sawzall)
Lawknee 1 year ago
Very good vid thanks.
tezal 1 year ago
MAN this vid helped me sooo much! i was taking like 30 mins to get cracked and broken boards off of pallets!... me and my cuz are building a cabin and its done exept for the outside so we decided to use the wood from pallets and it looks sweet!
thanks man helped alot!
stabnkill 1 year ago
I was givern a book "Build It With Pallets" by Joe Jacobs detailing projects that you can knock up with pallet timber. I have made some nice staging for my seed trays in the greenhouse. you can get the book from Amazon.
surreyarborist 2 years ago
Great video, very detailed and love all the close ups. I especially would of never thought to use a mallet against a hammer to straighten a nail. I will be making tons of yard furniture this year from pallet material as I live in Michigan and the big three and all their suppliers give away tons of these a year. Most people don't know that most pallets are made of grade A wood, once sanded and stained is some of the most beautiful oak you can't afford these days. I usually buy grade C
Mary
flippermac 2 years ago 4
@flippermac OAK! Your post had me jog outside to check my pallet-pile. No, just pine or fir - wood's too soft and the grain too large to be anything else (not that I'm complaining!). Hmmm....never thought I'd envy people living in Michigan! ;)
- Bette in Canada
Merricat42 1 year ago
Fail!!
fondness1012 2 years ago
So what do you do when both top and bottom have slats?
busterpiggle 2 years ago
The bottom may have less slats then the top - prise a few strippes off with a crowbar and then get your lump hammer in there.
miscpro 2 years ago
Yeah, don't give up on that little nail :0) Very helpful video, especially because my dismantled pallets usually look like I've used dynamite in the process
GMPresents 2 years ago 14
the pallets i got from work were built diffrently, but i used a nail puller and got all the nails out , the wood on mine had a rougher finish to it too, but when i spend a ton of time sanding it its beatiful oak underneath, i wish there were more videos focusing on building furniture from pallets
MikeM298 2 years ago
good job man, well presented
xristaras 2 years ago
really nice dude, learnt a couple of things there
damopower 2 years ago
I have dismantled a number of pallets for projects and the easiest and less destructive way I found was cutting through the nails with a hacksaw but your method is better and quicker. I wish I'd found this video sooner. Never mind, I will do my next lot your way. Thanks for posting the video.
pastore0506 2 years ago
Thanks for this video. I used it today.
Wiegieboard 2 years ago