Heat Treated Packing Crate Safe for Woodworking?

pessen · Post by **pessen** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:17 pm

The first Tractor Supply Company to come to central New Mexico opened up about 5 minutes from my home. Decided to go by today and get a few bolts that I needed. Had noticed driving by earlier that they had a bunch of pallets stacked out back, and it just so happens I could use some for stacking hay on this coming summer. After getting my bolts I tracked down an employee who looked like he knew what he was doing, and inquired if the pallets were free for the taking. Was told that the ones stacked against the store were off limits as they needed to be returned/re-used, but that anything that was near a stack of cardboard bales they had put out could be taken for free.

I drove around back to investigate, and found a few slightly damaged pallets that I may be able to use....will need to go back with my trailer to pick them up. However, there was also a wooden packing crate next to this pile that had tags on it indicating it had been used to package the log splitters that had been shipped in. The crate was constructed out of boards 3/4 inch thick, 3-1/4 inch wide, and various lengths from 38" on up. I noticed a "HT" stamp on some of the boards which means they were heat treated.

As I was loading up some of the boards, the employee I had talked to came out and said that if I was going to come by regularly he would make sure that the "trash" wood crates would continue to be put in that same spot.

My only concern is that I want to make sure that the wood is safe for woodworking. Does anyone know of any reason heat treated wood shouldn't be used? From what I could find online there aren't any chemicals used in heat treatment....just heat. While this wood is not "high quality", it could prove to be useful for small projects, jigs, shop storage units...who knows; and it looks like I could have a somewhat steady supply of it available. Plus, as a young woodworker with a limited budget available to put towards my shop, I can't afford to be picky about free wood!

Anyone have any good reasons why I shouldn't use HT wood? If it ends up being ok, will have to think of some good uses for it.

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Thanks!

Paul

eagleta2 · Post by **eagleta2** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 12:32 am

Hi Paul...

The bottom line is that you're safe to use ht wood for woodworking...

The long version is that import and export between mexico and USA requires heat treated lumber. My company does a lot of this and I had to look into this extensively. Crates marked as best treated were manufactured with lumber that has been in an oven at a certain temp for a period of time to ensure that no insects or larvae survive.
It's a heat only process...so the wood is safe to use
Hope this helps

Geo

holsgo · Post by **holsgo** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:29 am

That certainly doent look like heat treated lumber. Unless they have a different process than what we have available. But the wood I get is called Cambia Eukalyptus or Poplar and is much much darker than what you have there...or they cook it at a lower temp.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:12 am

Here's some additional information on the subject of heat treating crate lumber -- http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showpos ... stcount=11

pessen · Post by **pessen** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:38 am

Hi Paul...

The bottom line is that you're safe to use ht wood for woodworking...

The long version is that import and export between mexico and USA requires heat treated lumber. My company does a lot of this and I had to look into this extensively. Crates marked as best treated were manufactured with lumber that has been in an oven at a certain temp for a period of time to ensure that no insects or larvae survive.
It's a heat only process...so the wood is safe to use
Hope this helps

Geo
Reply With Quote

Thanks, that is what I thought, but figured it couldn't hurt to double check.

holsgo wrote:That certainly doent look like heat treated lumber. Unless they have a different process than what we have available. But the wood I get is called Cambia Eukalyptus or Poplar and is much much darker than what you have there...or they cook it at a lower temp.

I'm not sure what kind of wood it is that I got, but it is pretty light colored. It does feel lighter and drier than I would have expected from normal wood though which is probably due to the extra moisture being removed due to the HT process.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 2:44 pm

Looks a lot like plain old pine to me!

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:36 pm

I can almost guarantee you that it is "tree"...

.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 5:49 pm

pessen wrote:The first Tractor Supply Company to come to central New Mexico opened up about 5 minutes from my home. Decided to go by today and get a few bolts that I needed. Had noticed driving by earlier that they had a bunch of pallets stacked out back, and it just so happens I could use some for stacking hay on this coming summer. After getting my bolts I tracked down an employee who looked like he knew what he was doing, and inquired if the pallets were free for the taking. Was told that the ones stacked against the store were off limits as they needed to be returned/re-used, but that anything that was near a stack of cardboard bales they had put out could be taken for free.

I drove around back to investigate, and found a few slightly damaged pallets that I may be able to use....will need to go back with my trailer to pick them up. However, there was also a wooden packing crate next to this pile that had tags on it indicating it had been used to package the log splitters that had been shipped in. The crate was constructed out of boards 3/4 inch thick, 3-1/4 inch wide, and various lengths from 38" on up. I noticed a "HT" stamp on some of the boards which means they were heat treated.

As I was loading up some of the boards, the employee I had talked to came out and said that if I was going to come by regularly he would make sure that the "trash" wood crates would continue to be put in that same spot.

My only concern is that I want to make sure that the wood is safe for woodworking. Does anyone know of any reason heat treated wood shouldn't be used? From what I could find online there aren't any chemicals used in heat treatment....just heat. While this wood is not "high quality", it could prove to be useful for small projects, jigs, shop storage units...who knows]15805[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]15806[/ATTACH]

Thanks!

Paul

You most likely will not build any classic furniture out of this wood but it will be good to have around. Just try real, real hard NOT to discover any of the staples or nails with a saw blade or router bit.

The profit margin will go to zero in a hurry.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:00 pm

You do realize that wood is haunted!:eek: Look at all those 'orbs'!:rolleyes:

More lens internal reflections.

reible · Post by **reible** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:52 pm

The wood looks fir to me.

A couple quick comments then I'm done here.

The problem with any pallet is you don't know where they have been and what might have spilled on them, what they sat in, and what type of chemicals they have on them. PCB's are no long very common on loading docks and truck/train/cargo hole but they are a lot of other no so good for you things that you can not see or smell but can be present in the wood.

I've been to a presentation on the subject and I personally stay away from all things pallet. Wouldn't even use it to burn.

Next subject is "heat treated wood". Some not so many years ago I purchased some wood that was preserved by heat treating (baking) and was an alternative to pressure treated wood for outdoor projects. It was designed for woodworking but it wasn't the easiest wood for the project I wanted to build out of it. A lot of splintering etc. I have not purchased any more of it.

Ed