Replies

1. 
   _mj_ | Mar 08, 2022 12:20pm | #1

   To me it seems like a lot of time and effort to risk on pallet wood. Pallets are usually made of the last-level timber, one step up from firewood. In my experience it is used for a pallet when it absolutely needs to be nailed to something thick to remain flat. If it would stay flat it would be sold as lumber for a better return.

   If the choice is a decorative one then mill the pallet wood thin and apply it to a backer.

1. 
   woodstock16 | Mar 08, 2022 01:23pm | #3

   That is my plan.

2. 
   Badger1805 | Mar 08, 2022 12:27pm | #2

   I agree, only do it if it's for aesthetic reasons. If you do, resaw it (or plane it) into very thin pieces and pick out the best ones for mounting to plywood, but be careful for nails, small stones and other grit that can easily get worked into the surface.

3. 
   EdWeber | Mar 08, 2022 01:37pm | #4

   If this is for a bathroom, I would definitely use a backer board.

4. 
   pantalones868 | Mar 09, 2022 01:09pm | #5

   I have this rental and a young couple there. He was a designer for x games and he wanted to do something about a fence and it turned out he wanted to do it himself. He ended up building this fence out of recycled material and it intentionally looked like it was recycled. Then I started noticing that look in places that 20 somethings frequent. Coffee houses, boutique interiors etc.
   This family moved into my neighborhood and became friends with my son and his family. It turns out he is a major rock star...."You know they had this song..." to which I replied "No" anyway the guy and I became acquainted and he invited me over to see his remodeled house. His entire house was done in that style,so I get it , it's a thing ! For a long time I've made use of pallets. I discovered that I could build temporary staging platforms for projects I was doing. The pallets are free and when I'm done they become kindling. Consequently I know my pallets. For example : cedar shingles come on pallets made of cedar. The pallets made for things like bricks or concrete are made of substantially heavier material than some others. Pallets that are stapled together are much more difficult to tear apart and clean up than the ones that are nailed.. What you should look for though are pallets that come from SE Asia. They're made of tropical hardwoods because that's what they have and it seems as though the pallet makers there take pride in their work, as opposed to our domestic pallet makers who pretty obviously are just phoning it in! Often the decks on those pallets are rough sawn material and more than 3/4" thick. I can't attest to how seasoned the material is -probably not very, but removing that as a factor I don't see why you couldn't use it just like any other lumber. You could glue or biscuit or lap or use the same pallet wood to cross lap at diagonals. Attaching it to plywood kind of defeats the design and if I'm reading this right a bit of a funky look is part of the point.

5. 
   rob_ss | Mar 09, 2022 02:46pm | #6

   I have never done this, but Michael Alm on YouTube does a lot of very similar work using plywood to make decorative panels. He often uses a herringbone design. No biscuits required.
   My first instinct would be to burn the pallets, and if I really had to, to glue to the backer, but as @Pantalones says, there are pallets and there are pallets - if you have good wood then this is one way to use the short bits you get out of the pallet.

   My wife has decided she likes the rough and ready look.

   This hurts my soul.

6. 
   pantalones868 | Mar 09, 2022 04:51pm | #7

   If your willing to rip to narrower pieces or an occasional nail hole doesn't bother you then they aren't necessarily that short. By the way where I came across the hardwood pallets was at a place that imported stone carvings. You know, like Buddhas and elephants.