Pens from packing cases...

[bluntchisel]

Hi Guys,

I started a thread on Brian's old channel after posting a nice-looking pen I'd made from a pallet slat. The discussion revolved around what the wood was. Opinion seemed to favour Meranti as being the likely candidate. This is also known as Philippines Mahogany, although not related to mahogany. It's a hardwood, with a colour range from cream, beige, brown and up to deep brown. I was given some slats by a guy who'd just broken up a pallet, and I saw the potential immediately. I've made a few from the stock, and knocked out another pair today. I reckon it's a bloody shame turning wood like this into packing crates and pallets, and then binned or burnt. Do you agree? (Sorry about the reflections from the scanner glass!)
Regards,
Bob.

 

[Woody]

Very nice Bob well done again mate

 

[Jimjam66]

Bob, pallets can't be made from softwood because they would break under the sort of load they cope with on a daily basis. We can just count ourselves lucky we get to salvage them before they end up in the fire! A lovely pair, matron, I might add!

 

[bluntchisel]

Thnks, Woody. Actually, it was you who finally clinched what this wood is. You posted a piccy of a large stack of the stuff which exactly matched what I've got.

Thanks, David. "A lovely pair", did you say? Jeez, I must've sat on the scanner with me flies open!!!

Bob.

 

[stevenw1963]

Thnks, Woody. Actually, it was you who finally clinched what this wood is. You posted a piccy of a large stack of the stuff which exactly matched what I've got.

Thanks, David. "A lovely pair", did you say? Jeez, I must've sat on the scanner with me flies open!!!

Bob.

The dogs danglies Bob, the pens, not what you thought you scanned!!!

 

[Grump]

Bob youv'e nearly nailed with a decentish picture well done mate.
Lovely pair of pens there, that pallet wood just gets better with every pen you show from it.

 

[edlea]

Lovely pair Bob...like you say ,it's such a shame that wood like this gets misused .

 

[Jim]

It is hard to believe that this wood came from a pallet, both pens look very nice Bob, with a nice story to them.

 

[lignaterrae]

Nice job, Bob, I'm really beginning to appreciate the great skill in pen making.
Never underestimate pallets as a source of timber, albeit in small sizes and thicknesses. Sure, most are just muck softwood but look carefully and gems can be found. Pallets that have come from the USA can especially interesting as in the past I've found cherry, butternut, maple, red oak, white oak, hickory, elm, tulip-poplar, spalted birch, red alder and other species amongst them. One of my little diversions is making decorative boxes. Some years ago, a pallet from the USA came my way on which the boards were Brazilian mahogany that was quarter sawn and beautifully figured. That mahogany lived again as a games compendium that won first place in a nationwide Practical Woodworking competition. A pure example of Northern Thrift!
So I say - Yay to pallets!!

Dave

 

[edlea]

Never though pallets could be so diverse..The most exotic that have seen was the horse chestnut pallet that my Axminster lathe came on. Must keep my eyes open from now on ..

 

[Woody]

Ive got two pallets in the front garden best check them out before Sat

 

[Jim]

Ive got two pallets in the front garden best check them out before Sat

I hope you are not planning on palletising us and shipping us out to a Gulag camp ...

 

[bluntchisel]

Many thanks for your comments, everyone!

Hi Dave, It looks as if you've had some rich pickings from "bonfire" wood. Someone working in an import warehouse would never need to buy blanks, that's for sure!

Hey, Ed, They often sell horse chestnut at my local Axminster - how perverse is that?

Bob.

 

[bluntchisel]

Whatever they're made of, Woody, you'll turn every inch of 'em into works of art!
Bob.

 

[wm460]

Very interesting grain, great looking pair Bob.

 

[rowdyyates115]

They are a pair of Beauts. Bob, well done. I will surely watch out for old pallets now

 

[edlea]

Many thanks for your comments, everyone!

Hi Dave, It looks as if you've had some rich pickings from "bonfire" wood. Someone working in an import warehouse would never need to buy blanks, that's for sure!

Hey, Ed, They often sell horse chestnut at my local Axminster - how perverse is that?


Bob.

In the words of the great Roy Jay ...spook ! ...slither!

 

[sbwertz]

Philippine Mahogany is called lauan (with four meranti colours) here in US. It has tremendous chatoyancy, especially in sunlight. (looks almost like 3D, like you can look "into" the wood.) My house is 50 years old, and all the interior wood is done in dark red meranti lauan. When we built the house, they built the cabinets in place, and I kept all the scrap lauan. Now it is almost extinct, having all been cut down for lumber in the Phillipines. At one time it was so plentiful that it was the primary wood used in the center of plywood. Now you pay a small fortune for sheets of veneer.

 

[bluntchisel]

Hello sbwertz,
Many thanks for the info - most interesting! So there they are, somewhere in SE Asia, chopping these trees down for packing cases and pallets, and yet elsewhere it's becoming extinct. Crazy, ennit! My stuff came from a landscaper who'd ordered some Indian stone direct from, yep you've guessed it, India, and this is a part of the pallets they were shipped on.
Best regards, and THANKS again!
Bob.

 

[sbwertz]

What is out there now is not from the Philippines, and is a little different from the original "Philippine mahogany" It is in the "extremely endangered" list.

From the Wood Database:"Meranti is not listed in the CITES Appendices, but many species in the Shorea genus are on the IUCN Red List. The majority of Shorea species are listed as being critically endangered due to a population reduction of over 80% in the past three generations, caused by a decline in its natural range, and exploitation."

It's possible that the pallets were reused many times and were made when the wood was plentiful. At any rate, don't use it for firewood. It is pretty rare.

Sharon

Hello sbwertz,
Many thanks for the info - most interesting! So there they are, somewhere in SE Asia, chopping these trees down for packing cases and pallets, and yet elsewhere it's becoming extinct. Crazy, ennit! My stuff came from a landscaper who'd ordered some Indian stone direct from, yep you've guessed it, India, and this is a part of the pallets they were shipped on.
Best regards, and THANKS again!
Bob.