i know he swapped a part in a movie (dont ask me witch one) for a house

Yes, for a house in Saskatchewan. I heard about that.

wheres that

Where's Saskatchewan? It's a province in Canada, in between Alberta and Manitoba.

They are only available to Pro members.

I once had a neighbor who made his living as a carpenter, but his hobby was furniture making. He dismantled oak pallets and ran them through his "Planer" to put a like "brand new" surface on all 4 sides. Due to the incredible cost / expense of Planer blades damaged or destroyed by nails, he bought a set of SMALL "Hole Saw" bits. They look like small diameter pieces of pipe but with "teeth" on the business end. He would select a hole saw sized just slightly larger than the head of the pallet nail heads, and drill through the pallet boards around the nailheads, and then simply lifted the board off. BEFORE runnig the boardsthrough the Planer, he would very carefully and THOUROUGHLY, check every square inch of each board with a "treasure hunter's type of Metal Detector to find any nails, screws, brads, staples, or the like and either pull them, or drill them out also. After planing, he would then use a "plug" drill to make plugs of the same wood and glue and plug the holes. Although the plugs did show somewhat, they added to the appearance and uniqueness of the finished furniture.

yep...and those blue painted pallets are gold sometimes they're left abandoned for whatever reason..and they're called "Cheps" and they'll have "Property of Chep" painted on the side of them...they're actually worth money...take them to a warehouse or factory and they might pay you $60 a pallet.....they're all hardwood.

You are correct. It is INSANE the kinds of hardwoods that come in as pallete wood. I once found some Cocobolo wood on a pallete of Bananas and I made my Daughter a nice little standing Jewel Case out of it. The material is over $2.00 a lin ft up here is Washington State. It was almost like finding $40.00 on the ground (where the palletes were.) Palletes are a great surprise.

I agree with you guys, that sure is some sturdy, nice wood they use. Made some little shelves out of it. Only "downside" so far was that it took me quite a while and several sheets of sandpaper to get out the beauty part - as coarse as they may look like at first sight - they sure are a diamond in the rough :)

Sometimes what you think is discarded is simply a stack of pallets that are waiting to be returned to shipper to reuse. You might want to ask the store if they are discarded.

At least where I am the stacks of pallets are usually labeled. Usually there is a sign on some of the pallets that says "free." But sometimes some stores put up signs to keep people away like "Do Not Touch/Do Not Discard"

Would those be untreated, do you know?

I've been "scrounging" pallets for over 40 years and I've never seen a "treated" wood pallet. The only treatment I've seen is paint.

And as several other posts have warned, many large chain outfits [like Walmart] REUSE their pallets, and in Texas, WILL PROSECUTE anyone stealing them.

Be forwarned, ASK PERMISSION of the STORE MANAGEMENT BEFORE taking anything from behind a store. It's better to ask rather than be presecuted and get a criminal blot on your record.

Not only that, but the CITY OF DALLAS, Texas years ago passed an ordinance making it unlawful to "dumpster dive" OR recovery anything placed for garbage or trash/rubbish pickup. Their stated reasoning is that too many citizens were complaining about scavangers scattering rubbish all around while sorting through the rubbish, and THEN NOT neatly putting the rubbish back into a dumpster, OR repiling it neatly.

For the safety of your record, be certain you're not doing something illegal.

in britain we dont have a "dumpster dive" law

I believe pallets are made from pine rather than hardwoods because of the cost difference. If you know of a place that uses hardwood rather than pine in making pallets I would be curious to know about it.

The Wood on the pallets are mostly left overs from the main cuts of the tree. All kinds of scraps are found in pallets, from ALL kinds of trees. It depends on where they make the pallet (What Country).After pallets you get OSB (Oriented Strand Board) plywood, for construction and then toothpicks, sort of. Have a Great Day. The cost difference is that they use scrap.

In the Dallas, Texas area in years past I have picked up pallets and shipping crates made from Mahagony [sp?], teak, and other exotic woods.

The cheapest and most available woods are used in whatever country the pallets or packing crates are fabricated. In the Far East, the Phillipines, and Brazil for example, they commonly use exotic woods for pallets and crates. Or at least they have in the past.

Actually this isn't necessarily the case. When I worked for a pallet mill we used red oak fresh from the mill. I used to cringe at some of the wood that we resawed for use on pallets.

Actually plenty of pallets are made of hardwood.  For many years one could find pallets made of mahogany and even teak.  Now most hardwood pallets found are oak.  Great for "eco freindly" craft projects.  Great way to reuse and re-purpose.

it depends on where you live, in a way. when i lived in arizona they made them from some type of cheap splintery wood. even the new ones. here in kentucky theyre made of a lighter, smoother type of wood.

Check for pallets shipped from overseas. They may be mahogany (Swietenia sp.).

And, of course, shipping crates from overseas. You might find these behind a motorcycle dealer.

it's hardwood for the majority, I've cut up and collected many pallets and for the most part they are hardwood

While most pallets are made from pine, there are hardwood pallets out there. It depends upon where the pallet originates from. In certain parts of the world, pine isn't as common as other more exotic woods. Even here, in Canada and the US, there are pallet factories that buy logs up without caring if they are hardwood or soft wood. I live near Toronto and Maple is very common.

1) very few if any pallets are made of pine.
2) most pallets are made of popular.
3) pallets for heavy machinery are made of OAK.
4) NO factory would by a log without knowing what type of wood it was;
especially without knowing if it was hardwood or softwood.

And before someone tells me I don't have a clue. I've worked in mills that cut
bolts, cants and boards. I've also worked in a mill that cut, built and shipped
pallets all over north america.

Oak gives itself away by it's radial lines running out from the center of the tree. These can be easily seen at the ends of the boards.

also the grain is a lot more visible too. Pin Oak has a lot of dark freckles in the grain. My grandfather and I had a logging business. I got to keep all the firewood we didn't need, to sell it. I had a lot of oak and hickory, wild cherry, hackberry, hedge, old pine logs before the tar hardens and you will dull a chainsaw blade before you can drop it... Sycamore, and Locust is real hardwood, very dense and very heavy. Can burn it green, and it will burn like coal, very long burn time, as it also has very little sap. Female locust trees are the one with thorns.

You are right about the ends of the boards as we usually cut it lengthwise down the log. Most pallets used rough cut wood from large circular portable saws or sawmills. Please don't use treated wood, as it is pressure treated with arsenic to kill insects that are wood boring.

Don't all plants have both male and female organs?

No. I am no expert on the subject, but there are male and female plants.

That's why plants disperse pollen in the wind, or get carried by bee's, that much I do know. I know there are male and female plants, I don't dispute that at all. Nature has a way of sustaining itself just like anything else. Bald cypress trees, the male does not produce seeds, only the female tree. I gather them and go plant them near lakes, as they use the water to grow huge and rapidly. They are among the tallest and largest trees in the central midwest. The roots go out into the water, even stick up out of the water in places. I really don't want to waste time debating an off topic subject. I know there are male and female plants from what I have dealt with. If there are A-sexual plants out there, a botonist would know. I won't be so arrogant to say it isn't possible. Frogs are A-sexual in some species where they can be either gender. thepelton and I agree there are male and female plants. The pollens carried by the wind from trees, grass, plants, clearly show us, some via allergies, the plant life is mating. I would have to say it doesn't apply to all species of plant life in this case about being A-sexual and able to chose what gender it prefers, if such is even possible. I learned long ago, never say something is impossible, someone may show you differently. I showed a friend I met on here that lives in Kansas near me, a poster I have of a picture take via satelite very high above our north pole, to give a full view of the universe and how huge it is. There is a mark that says, "you are here." You can't even see our sun in that spot, yet many other suns appear. Kinda keeps me in perspective how small we really are in the realm of life.