Pallets are NOT Worth It!

As I know many people have done at some point, I recently dragged some pallets home.  I was out on an errand that turned out to be a job site and there were five rather nice looking pallets in the dumpster.  With permission, I tossed the pallets into my truck for the trip home.  Today I decided I really should pull those pallets out of the truck so I hauled them into the shop.  I didn't want them just cluttering up the place so I set to breaking them down.  This is where I soon realized that they are just not worth it.

I will say that on occasion a person can snag pallets that are made from some exotic hard wood and for that I'd go the extra mile but for commonly available woods, there is no savings.  I figure it cost me $5 to $10 per pallet to get them to the place where the lumber can be used.  The problem now is two fold.  I now have probably $50 worth of effort into a pile of short, thin, scrappy lumber that has nail holes in it and I can't even run it through a saw or planer because there's so much grit and debris on it.  The only thing I can do with it is sand and glue it...I can't even cut it without incurring even more cost in blades and knives.

I guess if I were heating my shop with a wood stove, there might be some value in pallets as a heating fuel but even then, you get so little material out of a pallet that they are still a lot of work.  I would rather spend that time building things that will make me money.

For the most part, pallets are just not worth it.  Stick to patronizing your local lumber yard...they are always there when you need something and their lumber is way nicer than any old pallets will ever be.

Dominos???

While working in the shop today I was visited by a young neighbour who is taking a woodworking class in high school.  Since I have no formal education in the subject, and I am genuinely interested in what he has learned, I was asking him about his big project...he built a cabinet of sorts...I haven't seen it so I'm not certain what it is.  While asking about the details of how he constructed the cabinet I asked him what type of joinery he used.  He told me he used Dominos.  I was mortified.

I'm sure the casual reader won't know what a "Domino" is, in the woodworking context, so I'll describe it at a high level.  Basically it's a very easy and accurate way to make woodworking joints in furniture and cabinetry...the down side is, you need over $1000 worth of equipment to do it.  My objection to the use of a Domino in scholastic joinery is that it doesn't teach the student anything at all.  I asked the young man, "How long did it take you to learn how to use Dominos?" and his reply was, "About ten seconds!"  While this reply does speak well for the Festool Domino system of joinery, it also shows that the inclusion of this option in the learning process is of no value to the student whatsoever.  I asked him if he had ever chopped a mortise with a mallet and chisel or cut a tenon with a tenon saw...he had no idea how to do those things.  He chuckled at my objection to the whole Domino thing so we did have some fun with the issue.

In short, I feel that to learn anything, a person should start by looking at the foundations and fundamentals of it.  If we only know how to use the technology then we are missing 99% of the depth of the subject.

Would I ever use Dominos?  I would certainly use Dominos but only under two conditions.  1. If I were working in a production environment where time is money and 2. I could justify the $1000 or more to get into the Domino system.

Dominos...pfft!

The Foundation of the Wood Shop

As every woodworker knows, as well as most other professionals for that matter, or at least learns really early on, you need somewhere to work.  You not only need "space" but you also need a structure of some kind to work upon.  I suppose a person could work flat on the floor but that's really not practical for the majority.  Most people prefer to work on something, a bench preferably.

For many years, because I wasn't woodworking regularly nor was I shooting for any great degree of finish quality, I worked on a humble Black & Decker Workmate model 200.  My first workmate I got as a gift...Christmas or Birthday, and I kept it for decades.  Later on, I found that I needed a bit more space so I bought myself a larger Workmate 400.  With the two, I was able to do much more, and work on larger projects.

Since my old Workmates have long since gone to the great woodworking shop in the sky, when I decided to take this woodworking thing more seriously, I knew the first thing I needed was a workbench.  At the time, I was enamoured by the "Woodsmith Shop" TV show...as my long suffering wife will attest.  Woodsmith had an episode where they built two styles of workbench.  One was a classic Shaker style bench, which looked a bit out of my league at the time but the other was what they called a "Weekend Workbench"...meaning, a person could likely build it in a weekend...a normal person...perhaps not me.  

Woodsmith's Shaker Style Workbench

 

The bench is constructed of Douglas Fir "two-by stock" and MDF...two of the heavier materials known to man.  This combination produced a bench that wouldn't break the bank, would be heavy, stable and yield a reasonably flat work top surface.

Perhaps not in a weekend but I built the weekend workbench and I love it!  The bench is big and tough and HEAVY...it's surprising how heavy it is.  I bet it's closing in on 500 lbs!  It's no Roubo and it wasn't built in a weekend but I think it turned out just fine.  I added a good quality Jorgenson vice with hard maple chops and a replaceable 1/4" hardboard work surface (akin to projects built by Norm Abram)

Roubo style workbench...revered as the "ultimate" woodworking bench (especially for hand tool woodworking)

The next project was to install some bench storage.  Since I don't have any shop storage to speak of, yet, I wanted somewhere to put things, somewhere near the bench, where they'd be handy.  Once again, Woodsmith magazine came to the rescue.

I modified their workbench storage plans into one that worked for me.  All in all it turned out just fine, and now I have some nice drawer storage in my workbench.  Oh, I also added retractable wheels so I can move it around the shop when need be.

I think this bench will serve me well for a long time.

My Woodworking Journey

As far back as I can recall, I've had an urge to bang two pieces of wood together.  I remember one time, as a very small boy, gathering up a couple pieces of scrap wood, wood left over from one of my Father's renovation projects, and proceeding to tack them together with a hammer and nail.  I remember feeling how great it was that I had just built something.  As time went on and I grew a little older, and able to help with projects around the house, I took pleasure in building things, sometimes with my Father, sometimes alone, and sometimes in our neighbour's workshop.  As my interest in woodworking showed through, I attended a 4-H woodworking class for a season.  I don't remember much about it, I do remember a couple of the projects I built though.  Around this time, I remember getting, probably for Christmas or Birthday, the "Mr. Chips 101 Plans"  I loved this book, as I loved watching Mr. Chips on TV...this is when Bill Brown was Mr. Chips!  Being a young person, with no budget and limited materials and tools, I don't recall ever having built anything from the 101 Plans book.  I'll have to dig it out and see what I can manage.

That was decades ago and life seems to get in the way of our dreams and passions.  In recent years, my "woodworking" has mostly fallen into the category of "carpentry" in the form of household renovations and yard projects.  Insulating my house, building a deck, or two, etc.  In the last year or so, I've refined things some and have begun doing some real woodworking.  Once again, I have more plans than enough and I'm often not sure where to go next.  This is where this blog begins, my woodworking journey.  I hope it's an interesting read for you all, I'll do my best to make it worth your time.