Shopsmith Forums

I’ve got a bunch of pallets that I cut up to make a outdoor “Workbench” and yesterday I was running one of the shorter pieces through my Ridgid jointer and ended up with some really dull blades. What the heck do they make these pallets with. Nailing into the pallets was really difficult and drilling was also a pretty good challenge. My blades were sharp but wow this stuff is tough. It does make a great outdoor workbench and the price was right.

Might be Ash. A pic would help.

It isn't ironwood by chance. That stuff is bad once it dries. I have some here I cut for firewood and if it is green it is ok, but if it dries out about 3 cuts with the chain saw and you are resharpening the chain. The forester told me last spring they cut it for pallet wood. I know what I have left they will be cutting as I am done with it.

I'm going to run some of it through my Conical disc to see if it will be able to handle it.

Mesquite will do the same as Ironwood. I have seen sparks coming off of a chainsaw chain trying to cut dry Mesquite. It will dull blades very quick as well. With that said, I doubt they would make pallets out of Mesquite .... LOL

My outdoor work table can take just about anything and still looks decent with a coat of oil. Now to figure out what to make of all the cut up boards from the left over pallets. There must be a jig that needs this kind of toughness.

Mallet heads.

Safety tips for pallet wood:

http://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/

Maybe this is just my imagination, but maybe you blades are no longer sharp. I have witnessed immediate dulling of planer blades when used to plane down painted boards.

Perhaps this pallet wood was treated with a stabilizer/preservative that contained similar or the same oxides as paint.

Mallet heads. I've needed one of those for years. Perfect