Stickers out of pallet boards

clintnelms · July 10, 2016, 02:26:49 PM

Anyone ever used boards from pallets and made stickers out of them? I know they're not typically 1 inch thick, but I can get virtually an unlimited supply. I was thinking I could rip 1 inch strips off of them and use them. I think the boards on my pallets are about 3/4 inch thick. Just wanted to hear others thoughts on it.

DDW_OR · July 10, 2016, 03:19:09 PM

I cut my own from the scrap from the logs i cut.

I have never used Pallet wood, but it may stain the lumber.

WV Sawmiller · July 10, 2016, 05:51:55 PM

All my stickers come from my edgings or from scrap logs. I'll take a 3-4 foot top and rip into stickers. Actually, I use almost exclusively 3' long stickers to match my pallets. I cut up a bunch of odd 1' and 2' stickers out of broken ones and such for those oddball small stacks of lumber of slabs I generate along the way.

I'd think I could cut scrap and edgings faster and easier than cutting up old pallets and not have to worry about hitting nails and such and disposing of the other pallet remnants.

Magicman · July 10, 2016, 06:40:20 PM

Air flow is the key to drying. Much less than an inch would be sorta restrictive.

Kbeitz · July 10, 2016, 07:17:59 PM

I think after you try pulling a few boards off pallets that you will change your mind.
They put them on to stay...

clintnelms · July 11, 2016, 07:48:22 PM

Quote from: Kbeitz on July 10, 2016, 07:17:59 PM
I think after you try pulling a few boards off pallets that you will change your mind.
They put them on to stay...

I wouldn't be pulling them. I've got a buddy that sells pallets and he pulls the good boards from the bad pallets and has tons of boards already pulled. I just seem to always have to cut more stickers everytime and not have any that are already dry. So had just thought of the pallets one day and was wondering.

paul case · July 11, 2016, 09:34:39 PM

Wet boards and stickers that have metal fragments in them may cause blueing on your lumber.

I don't sticker that much lumber but I have always had enough from edging to make what I need. I would give you a log er 2 if you want to come get them to make stickers out of.

PC

Czech_Made · July 12, 2016, 07:10:17 AM

Go for it if it's worth your time, but I am afraid there will be too many nails left and from what I have seen, the pallet boards are far from uniform.

alanh · July 12, 2016, 08:15:37 AM

I was cutting them from scrap and flitches but patience isnt one of my strong points so one day I "sacrificed" a nice ash log and made a kijillion of them and put them on a pallet up on a rack, I`ll have enough for a while

clintnelms · July 16, 2016, 10:59:01 PM

Quote from: paul case on July 11, 2016, 09:34:39 PM
Wet boards and stickers that have metal fragments in them may cause blueing on your lumber.

I don't sticker that much lumber but I have always had enough from edging to make what I need. I would give you a log er 2 if you want to come get them to make stickers out of.

PC

Thanks Paul. I appreciate the offer. I'm in Southwest Georgia so I think I'm a bit far from ya. I'm down for a while because I just had carpal tunnel surgery a few weeks ago. Hopefully in a month or so I can get back to sawing. It's driving me nuts seeing my saw sitting there and can't use it. No one to help so I'll have to wait.

Magicman · July 17, 2016, 08:01:00 AM

It's too DanG hot to saw anyway.

POSTON WIDEHEAD · July 17, 2016, 10:13:39 AM

Quote from: Magicman on July 17, 2016, 08:01:00 AM
It's too DanG hot to saw anyway.

Yes it is.

red · July 17, 2016, 11:33:23 AM

Says the goat who has it made in the Shade

Carson-saws · July 17, 2016, 11:10:24 PM

Stickers are tricky. I have been told by buys not to sticker "their wood" at all. Seems many times no matter what you may use,, be it dried stock or cut from stock the staining occurs.

steamsawyer · July 21, 2016, 02:27:15 PM

I'd like to have the pallet wood to fire my boiler, sometimes I run short of slabs. I used to almost exclusively burn pallet wood in my steamboat. Hot, clean, and not too much ash.

clintnelms · July 22, 2016, 08:59:28 PM

Quote from: Carson-saws on July 17, 2016, 11:10:24 PM
Stickers are tricky. I have been told by buys not to sticker "their wood" at all. Seems many times no matter what you may use,, be it dried stock or cut from stock the staining occurs.

A little confused on what you mean. Are you saying that some guys say not to sticker wood at all? To just stack it with no stickers? I don't really care about staining at this stage right now. Most lumber I'm making is for use on the farm for outdoor shelters and stuff. I'm too new at milling to be worried about stained lumber. I'm a ways from making lumber for furniture or anything.

clintnelms · July 22, 2016, 09:00:52 PM

Quote from: Magicman on July 17, 2016, 08:01:00 AM
It's too DanG hot to saw anyway. smiley_sweat_drop

You are right about that! I don't even want to go out the house right now.

Carson-saws · July 25, 2016, 03:14:39 PM

clintnelms...yes...the buyers I have dealt with told me never to sticker "their" wood. any other time the wood IS stickered. Personally, depending on species, grade, length and application, I will not always stick to "protocol" or "sticker standards"
For what you are cutting for, like you said, your goals are to: learn more...what works for you...applications and I can say with confidence that pretty much everyone on this forum had to start somewhere. So with your intentions and use in mind, in my opinion, if you are building off the mill than no worries. If you have the intention of "somewhat" drying the wood for your use than sway a bit from "sticker standards". Again, as you gain your experience and find YOUR comfort zone build you knowledge you will enjoy you mill even more.

YellowHammer · July 26, 2016, 12:13:10 AM

Some buyers and sellers won't sticker wood, as improper sticking will begin to leave zebra stain that is hard to clear. It's much easier to coordinate the sawing time, dead stack, and then sticker properly when the packs get to the destination, where the dryer properly stickers them. I personally have bought many units of green wood from other sawyers and I always tell them not to sticker it. I also will coordinate their sawing times so I can get the dead stacked wood within a certain time window. Stickered wood is also difficult and dangerous to transport on a trailer. Sawing and dead stacking greatly depends on season and species and around here, the hardwood mills have a definate seasonal sawing rhythm. For example, very few mills locally (including me) will saw red maple or poplar in July and August, and much prefer the dead of winter. Oaks are summer sawing species, but do have a dead stack shelf life, while Walnut and cherry, which are extremely resistant to sticker stain, can be dead stacked for much longer before degrade begins.

If you are short on stickers, then it's time to chuck up a log or two and saw out a pallet full. You can never have too many stickers. I sticker 7 per row, 30 rows per pack, so 210 stickers per 840 Bdft pack. I try to saw several packs a week after work, so even only 4 packs will take 840 stickers per week, and if air drying on a cycle time of 6 weeks, that comes to over 5,000 stickers in the rotation. My point is that sawing stickers isn't fun, but it's part of the game.