The Pallet Shelf.

This is a simple little wall shelf. It has somewhat mission-like lines, square edges, simple corbels, a solid back. The only thing that's different about it is that it's made entirely of red oak from a shipping pallet. I think the pallet was from a shipment of auto parts dad ordered, or maybe his heat pump.

Anyway, lots of pallets are made of low grade red oak. It's durable, and the pallet can be in use for quite a while. Eventually though, they crack, or come apart and get thrown away. I don't know if anyone recycles pallets. They're put together with spiral nails shot by air guns and those are very difficult to get out. Especially with oak, it's tenacious about holding on to nails, once they've been driven in.

You would have to have equipment that could handle cutting through lots of metal, and then you'd probably only be able to make mulch with the remains. Unless you were willing to spend the time prying or cutting a pallet apart by hand for the salvageable parts, like me.

I can't help but at least try to do things the hard way. I'm not right.

After some planeing and sanding, the parts for the shelf looked quite nice. You never know what's hidden under the dirt and grit on an old piece of oak. Most of the pallet just wasn't salvageable, too many splits and knots, but enough was solid for a small project. The rest of it fed the wood stove in the shop.

You never know though, when a piece of material that looks usable only for heating, may have a hidden beauty underneath the grime. Here's to diamonds in the rough.