Pallet Culture

I've made a few knicknacks for my smokin' hot little barefoot gardening squaw over the years from pallets. It's amazing the wood that people just throw away. I happen to be employed at a company that does just that at times and I try to grab it when possible. So far I've built an outdoor coffee table on casters, a oak bar top for Cabin 4B, a 4 quadrant storage box for the garden, and a bad ass Texas Flag. All of it came from free pallet wood. There's tons of the stuff out there if you know what you're looking for. I suggest some of you grab a few and experiment with them. After all,  they're free right?

There are several things that you should learn about pallets before you start filling up your truck bed and hauling them to the house to build your dreams. The purpose of pallet markings is to communicate information about pallets or the timber from which they are constructed. Wood markings can indicate the grade of lumber as well. The standard is a 2 letter country code (xx), a unique number (000) assigned by the International Plant Protection Organization (IPPO), HT for Heat Treatment or MB for Methyl Bromide, and DB to signify debarked. I do know one thing for sure, and that is to make sure you use heat treated (HT) pallets rather than Methyl Bromide (MB) fumigated pallets if you are going to grow anything consumable in it. You've been warned. If you don't see an IPPC logo on it, don't use it. There is no telling what's in it. Basically, if you are going by what I've told you and you don't make a damn butcher block out of pallet wood, you're probably cool with using them for just about any project.

Now, get to building neat stuff and send me pictures to post!!!