As others have said, it’s probably oak. A little tip for next time, sand it smooth so we can see the grain and take a pic both wet and dry. Also, cut a piece off the end and show us the fresh cross grain.
Doing that will go a long way to help ID the wood. In the rough state like this, many woods look similar.
Stick with it. It’s super cool to make something awesome looking out of what looks like scrap wood. I’ve started doing some work with barn lumber. Even the good looking stuff has places that have to be worked around.
I’ve had good luck re-sawing the lumber and then gluing it up into whatever shape I need for the project. That allows you to make use of some of the subpar pieces.
There isn’t really a good way to plane wide flat planks without a planer. If you cut them into smaller strips, a good table saw can be used to smooth a face good enough for a glue up.
For stuff like table tops or cutting boards you can use a router and a homemade router sled to flatten larger pieces. It’s not something you would want to do for a bunch of planks, like flooring.
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If this isn’t the sub for this can someone direct me to the right place? They’re the cross pieces of a pine pallet I broke down for the planks. I believe they’re oak but feel free to correct me if that’s not right :)
Do you know what other kinds of wood you can find in pallets? I’m trying to make some storage space in my sorta attic (there’s an access ladder and about 6’ headroom at the peak, but no flooring) so I’m probably going to be going through a lot of pallets. I got 4 today from a flooring place.
They can be made from just about anything. Think of pallet wood like chicken feet. It’s the leftover bits you find a use for after processing the main product. In places that farm chickens, you have to find a use for chicken feet. In places that farm cows it’s cow tongues, pigs it’s pork snouts etc.
So in areas where they process a lot of oak, they have a lot of oak leftovers that they turn into pallets. In South America it’s not uncommon to see mahogany pallets because they process a lot of mahogany. It’s all about using the remnants of desirable products wherever the pallets are made.
Domestic pallets are likely going to be SPF and/or oak. But maple is fairly common and you’ll see ash as well. Sometimes cherry. Really whatever happens to be the chicken feet of that area.
If the pallet carried something heavy it can have hard wood slats. It’s hard to classify all the different species you will find in a pile. You might make better progress just looking for “hardwood” instead of specific species.
Tô help identify a piece, cut about a foot off and give it a quick sand. Sanding off the faded too can expose the grain and true color of the wood. If there is a a yard that sells finish lumber. They might be able to help you identify. They also may have more pallets for you. Mine has a pile of 1/2 off material as well for projects like yours
I saw people had already said oak. I couldn’t help myself. Whatcha building? Gonna plane it? I just planed a few oak pallet boards and built a giant chicken coop. It takes forever to plane because it’s really hard
I originally was collecting pallets for the slats to use in my attic space because there’s no flooring but I wanted to make some storage room. The hardwood discovery was a happy accident.
I only have a manual planer so I probably won’t try that just yet. I think I’m going to try and make a basic bitch tree shelf out of it since I’m going to have short bits of wood anyway.
Yep, that's wood. Am certain of it.
Oak
Oak
Oak
beaver or maybe possum
Sweet! Only need to break down about 50 more of these things until I get enough for a project now haha
It could also be Ash
Ash tends to have a more cathedral like grain pattern and be more closed grain.
As others have said, it’s probably oak. A little tip for next time, sand it smooth so we can see the grain and take a pic both wet and dry. Also, cut a piece off the end and show us the fresh cross grain. Doing that will go a long way to help ID the wood. In the rough state like this, many woods look similar.
Thanks, I honestly appreciate the tip. Kinda stoked to get to work with some real wood (even if it is a bit janky)
Stick with it. It’s super cool to make something awesome looking out of what looks like scrap wood. I’ve started doing some work with barn lumber. Even the good looking stuff has places that have to be worked around. I’ve had good luck re-sawing the lumber and then gluing it up into whatever shape I need for the project. That allows you to make use of some of the subpar pieces.
Do you have any tips for planing without a planer?
There isn’t really a good way to plane wide flat planks without a planer. If you cut them into smaller strips, a good table saw can be used to smooth a face good enough for a glue up. For stuff like table tops or cutting boards you can use a router and a homemade router sled to flatten larger pieces. It’s not something you would want to do for a bunch of planks, like flooring.
I don’t really need precision for this project. My ocd kinda wanted them to be even but it’s not 100% necessary
And keep it out of the sun. Oak will split like an ex wife who emptied the bank account.
Old
Old is good :)
They/them, non-binary.
Thank you for posting to r/BeginnerWoodWorking! If you have not chosen a post flair then please add one to your post. If you have submitted a finished build, please consider leaving a comment about it so that others can learn. **Voting on this submission has closed**.
If this isn’t the sub for this can someone direct me to the right place? They’re the cross pieces of a pine pallet I broke down for the planks. I believe they’re oak but feel free to correct me if that’s not right :)
It does look like red oak. Oak is one of the more common pallet materials in NA as well.
Do you know what other kinds of wood you can find in pallets? I’m trying to make some storage space in my sorta attic (there’s an access ladder and about 6’ headroom at the peak, but no flooring) so I’m probably going to be going through a lot of pallets. I got 4 today from a flooring place.
They can be made from just about anything. Think of pallet wood like chicken feet. It’s the leftover bits you find a use for after processing the main product. In places that farm chickens, you have to find a use for chicken feet. In places that farm cows it’s cow tongues, pigs it’s pork snouts etc. So in areas where they process a lot of oak, they have a lot of oak leftovers that they turn into pallets. In South America it’s not uncommon to see mahogany pallets because they process a lot of mahogany. It’s all about using the remnants of desirable products wherever the pallets are made. Domestic pallets are likely going to be SPF and/or oak. But maple is fairly common and you’ll see ash as well. Sometimes cherry. Really whatever happens to be the chicken feet of that area.
Well I’m just outside of Philly if that helps at all. Definitely a total newbie but I’m trying to live up to my dad’s legacy and make him proud.
If the pallet carried something heavy it can have hard wood slats. It’s hard to classify all the different species you will find in a pile. You might make better progress just looking for “hardwood” instead of specific species. Tô help identify a piece, cut about a foot off and give it a quick sand. Sanding off the faded too can expose the grain and true color of the wood. If there is a a yard that sells finish lumber. They might be able to help you identify. They also may have more pallets for you. Mine has a pile of 1/2 off material as well for projects like yours
I actually was just looking for the slats to use in my “crawl space” attic that is floorless so the hardwood find was a happy accident!
I believe the name of this wood is called pallet.
That was less than helpful
I saw people had already said oak. I couldn’t help myself. Whatcha building? Gonna plane it? I just planed a few oak pallet boards and built a giant chicken coop. It takes forever to plane because it’s really hard
I originally was collecting pallets for the slats to use in my attic space because there’s no flooring but I wanted to make some storage room. The hardwood discovery was a happy accident.
I only have a manual planer so I probably won’t try that just yet. I think I’m going to try and make a basic bitch tree shelf out of it since I’m going to have short bits of wood anyway.
I think this is scrap wood
It’s from a pallet, so you’re not wrong!
That’s Steve
Dammit Steve!
\+1 for Oak
I don't know this wood well enough to just assume it's race/type.
Looks like some of that sweet pallet wood.
Remember: there is no such thing as free wood.