Here is a great pallet to use – nice thick wood and untreated.
Working with pallets – the first thing we realized early on is it is nearly impossible and too time consuming to worry yourselves with pulling out the nails. It is too easy to damage the wood with the claw and hammer or pry bar.
Instead, we opt for our sawzall method – which can disassemble a pallet in less than two minutes into 10 or more pieces of great usable wood. Besides – the left over embedded nail fragments actually add a ton of character to pieces when either stained or painted.
1st Tip – Invest in a reciprocating saw (sawzall).
They are the key to quickly destructing a pallet – and without damaging or splintering the wood. Yes, it’s an expense – but the inexpensive ones will work just fine with pallets.
2nd Tip – Forget about the little 5″ blade that comes with your sawzall.
That will only frustrate you. Buy a couple of 12″ construction blades (trust me – the few bucks are worth it – and they last forever).
3rd Tip – How to disassemble.
You can follow below with the pictorial below on how we do it – but in a nutshell – set it on its side and simply slice through the nails on each end. Then – head down the middle row doing the same thing and in no time you have a lot of great pallet wood for all of your crafts! We have made everything from our custom mailbox, to a wine rack, raised bed stand and more – all for virtually free with pallets.
First Step – take your sawzall and cut down through one side of the smaller boards all the way to the bottom.
Next cut down the opposite side – followed by the middle if there is one – the boards simply fall off.
Once you have the front side finished – repeat for the back side – which are usually the largest of the boards.
This is what you are left with – great boards to get building with!
