When using pallets for your projects, you will find that pallets are
usually sturdily built and sometimes hard to… click on the arrow below
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Slide 2
Slide 2
When using pallets for your projects, you will find that pallets are usually sturdily built and sometimes hard to disassemble.
Hammer and Pry Bar Method - One
option is to manually remove the nails. To do this, the best tools to
use are a pry bar and a hammer. A pry bar to wedge between and seperate
the top slats of the pallet from the bottom rail pieces and then the
claw of the hammer to remove the nails.
You will quickly find that removing all
the nails with the claw of a hammer and a pry bar can be difficult and
time consuming, and you risk damaging the wood, however it is an option.
Sawzall Method - Other
options for disassembling pallets include different types of saws,
which can make the job easier. The preferred type of saw when working
with pallets is a reciprocating saw (commonly known as a “Sawzall”).
A Sawzall has a metal cutting blade
that can cut through nails, so you can simply use a pry bar or hammer
claw and pry the boards apart just enough to insert the blade of the
sawzall and easily cut through the nails, preserving the entire pallet
and making disassembly of the pallet an easy job. Plus, the left over
embedded nail fragments in the wood actually can add a nice touch of
character to your project.
Other options - You
can also choose to use a circular saw or chainsaw to remove the wood
slats from the rails of the pallet. This will yield shorter pieces of
wood (about 18″ slats from a 42″ pallet). One important thing to
remember when using chain saws or circular saws is to not let the chain
or blade make contact with the nails. You could damage the saw or be
injured by a flying shard of metal.
Pallet wood is rough and nails are
dangerous, so no matter how you disassemble your pallets, be sure to
wear safety glasses and work gloves.