Pallet Furniture is a Scam

REFERENCED VIDEOS

ABOUT THIS VIDEO
There are lots of videos on YouTube where a person takes a pallet and turns it into a desk, or a coffee table, and sells it for a lot of money. Well...I put that to the test in this video to see if it's actually possible...and if it's actually worth it!
#palletfurniture #palletproject #woodworking

WOODWORKING PLANS / PROJECT COURSES

MATERIALS

TOOLS

COMMISSION A PIECE OF CUSTOM FURNITURE

FOLLOW

0:00 Intro
2:03 Pallet Breakdown
4:27 First Problem
5:19 Are Pallet Wood Projects a Scam?
7:38 Second Problem
8:15 An Unfortunate Story
9:21 Money - all the costs
10:32 Time - keeping track of everything
12:22 A weird thing to say
15:42 Auctioning off the pieces
19:47 The Results

[timothydalton]

I'd never thought to see somebody build a table top with one side walnut and the other side pallet wood and then putting the walnut on the underside

[yaboui]

Worked in a warehouse, spent a few months setting aside the best pallets that came through. That stack of pallets now exists as the desk I use everyday. Material was free, but working with pallets is a true pain and time sink.

[pbylok]

What I think is that the pallet furniture movement started as a way to upcycle old wood, which would be otherwise burned, but nowadays you find brand new pallets sold in hobby markets specifically as pallets for furniture building. That's like the opposite to how it should be. That's like using brand new paper to maked recycled paper just so you can say you use recycled paper.

[michaelbonet]

I appreciate that the pallet you used clearly looked old and used. My big problem with the other video creators is that many times their pallets look brand new, which to me goes against the idea of finding free wood to turn into something sellable. I used to work in shops and warehouses and the pallets I was around were usually ugly.

[SchwachsinnProduzent]

Another big advantage of pallet furniture is, that if you do not sell it, but make something for yourself as a beginner, you don't need to have such high standards. When I moved into my first own apartment, I built my own custom bed with very very basic tools out of fairly mediocre old wood. Not typical pallet wood, but rather wooden shipping crate wood (so much longer pieces). I was able to save a ton of money this way, since getting a bed with 1, 4mx2, 4m would be fairly difficult and expensive and I used mostly scraps.

[wulfleyn]

I think the reason the pallet table sold for more is just because it's a very interesting looking and beautiful table with a variety of colour in it, the lines going through the middle very much helped it with the colours not just jumbling together.

[skyinsession]

there are a ton of furniture flipping channels and a few months ago i came across a kind of 'tell all' video from one of them. standard story, stay at home mom wants to try and do something at home that makes a bit of money, tries flipping something small and films it, slowly does more and eventually a few of her videos go viral. and finally shes explains that she doesnt sell, and doesnt even try to sell anything she makes, and only sold a few things early on for not very much. her business is making youtube videos, furniture flipping just happens to be the content.

[evilcake]

I've worked for a few places that would give away about 50 pallets a week. Sounded like you were saying it would be hard to find pallets, but many places just want to get rid of them for free, without paying to get rid of it as waste. Thing is, I know at the last place I worked, a guy in a truck would come and get them for free, drive them down to the local pallet making shop and they would by good ones for $25 and bad ones for $10. seems like a much easier way to make money from pallets.

[southurnstar]

We use old pallets as raised flower garden edges. It's cheap, doesn't need to look amazing and it's easily replaced when it degrades too much

[oldfreddyfrenchfry]

I’ve pulled apart between 20 and 30 pallets. The cost of your time and frustration should definitely be considered, along with all the milling and prep work needed to have useable pieces. Pallet wood is great for projects that don’t need to be smooth, perfectly flat, etc. I use it for utility projects like garage shelves, braces, storage platforms, etc.

[dafoex]

I think your pallet wood looked better, just because the way you had to align the pieces to cope with the limited lengths looked more appealing than the straight planks. I'm not a woodworker, so what do I know, but you could potentially use pallet wood as a more decorative element than a structural one, if that's the case.

[braystar]

Kinda sucks seeing so much AI generated art (that looks really bad), because the actual content of the video is really damn good.

[wombatdk]

Asking ChatGPT any serious question is like trying to make poo into gourmet food. LOL

[Prowler]

So one thing i'd say about working with salvaged materials is this: when you make a design, but then you run out of a particular material, or don't have enough, etc, etc, you often spark some creativity (after the frustration, usually)

I sew costumes, and the number of times that a design has changed, and evolved, and been better for it, is basically every time, because i only use materials source from thrift stores.

The packaging won't tell you that "this piece of cloth has some really weird pieces cut out of it" it just shows you a dimension.

I can think of several different pieces that i unrolled when i got home and had to change a plan specifically because it had an oddly shaped cut out in the middle.

The same thing happens with your pallets: you get them home, disassemble them, and in the process, some boards split, or tear out happens, or they wind up too thin, and every single time that happened, it made you add more detail.

The pattern being made up of 4 quarters made for some cool designs. Being too thin added a contrasting colour to the underside, and the entire edge of the tabletop. The inlaid section to hide the joinery lines, and the various patched sections, all add detail and interest to the final piece

That's probably the biggest benefit of all in working with pallets or other salvaged materials - the product will *never* turn out the same way no matter how many times you make a table from the same plan, and you will always have to get creative. 😊

[dorfone]

In my little town, a local sheltered workshop for adults with mental handicaps, collects wooden pallets from several factories in the area and cuts them up into kindling which is sold all winter long for people who have wood stoves. Ironically, another sheltered workshop in another town nearby, actual builds wooden pallets from scratch and sells them to various shipping companies around the province. .

[AdirondackRuby]

I live down the road from a pallet building company. Any time they have broken or just imperfect pallets, they dump them outside the building in the little turn-around parking lot space. Sometimes they are already broken apart, sometimes they are whole. LA few months back, they had dozens of pieces of wood that were 1.5 inches thick, 3.5 feet long, varying from 4 to 10 inches wide. I snagged all of them and will be building new raised beds for my garden.

[allenellisdewitt]

The bigger concern with pallets is that ones you find thrown away has a HUGE chance of them being contaminated, and are honestly dangerous to have all the dust kicking up in the air, let alone in your home.

[Fred-lrwd]

Pallet wood is also treated with tons of toxic chemicals to protect it from rot, mold, and insects during its primary purpose of transporting goods around the world. And while I’m sure it’s safe to be around for short durations while unpacking a pallet. I personally don’t want it around my family or I permanently as a coffee table

[petercollin]

When I took up woodworking, the acquisition of lumber became just as fun as the building itself. I don't use pallet wood, but chancing upon sources for logs and old lumber becomes a quest. I have stories behind each batch that I got.

[RuiShu]

I love watching your videos because I enjoy looking at your woodworking process while listening to your stories. It's very soothing! I'm glad that you're experimenting with your visual style, but I genuinely find the AI art very distracting and kicks me out of the meditative trance I enter when I watch your videos.