Itentifying wood by smell

[pyotr filipivich]

Yes, that is my quandary. I have a stack of pallets, and some rather nice (for some values of nice) boards in some of them. Hardwood, I think "oak" - but I do not know. One thing I do know, when I saw them loose, the wood gives off a pungent smell, similar to that of strong vinegar. (I hope it is the wood, and not the saw blade.) This is more for my Fund of General Knowledge than a necessity. I've used "pallet board" like this before to make so rather fine (IMOSHO) small wooden boxes and the like.

tschus pyotr

-- pyotr filipivich Just because they're invisible doesn't mean they are your friends.

[-MIKE-]

There are at least half a dozen woods I can identify by their smell when being cut. Oak, walnut, bubinga, cedar (duh!), hickory, purpleheart, white pine, probably more if I think about it.

[hubops]

Some pallets are used once and discarded. Some pallets are treated, used and re-used .. .. for who-knows-what .. Finder beware .. John T.

[Leon]

Not to mention the nasties that may have soaked into the wood from the chemicals that may have spilled onto them.

[pyotr filipivich]

Yeah, I can tell pine from "not pine"

But which one smells like vinegar?

[Leon]

Could be oak or arsenic. Pallets get drug along trailer floors that have had who knows what spilled on them.

[-MIKE-]

Probably the ones that held the crate of vinegar that sprang a leak. :-D

[hubops]

the really bad poisonous one .. .. or maybe not. it might be the other one ? .. Who really knows ? .. when it comes down to it. .. hope this helps..

[John Grossbohlin]

I recently toured the factory of Community Play Things. Their products are found in schools, day cares, hospitals, and other institutional places where children and babies can be found. While there I found out that they use a wood for their outdoor products that is pickled.

Though my memory of the details could be off, as I recall the wood itself is from Austria and the preservation is done in Norway... This not a finish but rather an impregnating process (I believe done under a vacuum like pressure treated wood). When I smelled the wood it had the scent of pickles/vinegar.

For pallet wood it might be cost effective compared to heat treated wood... perhaps this is what you have.

[Leon]

[John Grossbohlin]

Regarding this tread, I was thinking more along the lines of the requirements for pallets used in international shipments to be treated in some way to prevent invasive pests. The reference to the smell suggested to me it could be a product of this pickling process.

The efficacy of reusing pallets or pallet wood is certainly a valid issue... I've only recycled them into kindling or used them on the floor of my lumber shed as any other use would be too great of a time waster... especially with the access I've had to rough cut over the years. Now that I have an Alaskan chainsaw mill even more opportunities present themselves. For example, while removing beaver killed trees from a rail trail last fall I picked up 8 cherry logs. I milled four of them in my back yard over the past couple weekends... My lumber shed is overflowing and I am looking into ways to store and dry more wood... I guarantee you none of it will be pallet wood! LOL

[Leon]

Well that may very well be the case.

Yeah, those pallets we ended up with, we receive more than we shipped out, we had to pay to get rid of them. So I kept the oak ones to one side and only one time tried to dismantle it. The rest saw my recip saw and the fireplace.

[pyotr filipivich]

And those I tend to pass over. These hardly have the saw marks worn.

[pyotr filipivich]

"John Grossbohlin" on Mon, 12 Feb 2018 00:24:09 -0500 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

I doubt it. Pallets tend to be made of the cheapest stuff around

- at least the grade I'm snagging. The good ones rarely if ever show up outside the fence.

Years ago, I learned that there was a grade four lumber - 1 x 12 pine boards, each one guaranteed to have cup, warp, bark, knot holes, or pitch. Or any combination. We used them for shipping 'crates' for countertops - one way.

>

[pyotr filipivich]

Hmmm, that's a possibility. These are from a grocery store.

OTOH, the last batch were from a hardware store.

tschus pyotr

PS speaking of vinegar, I learned a few years ago, of a disaster for my great grandfather, and the probable Environmental Catastrophe involved as well. Seems he had a 3000 gallon tank full of apple cider/vinegar rupture. Total loss, and it flooded the creek too. No mention in the article about any fish kills though.

[Electric Comet]

smell helps but the grain and density is a big help too

some are treated with pesticidals some are toxic and some are not

mostly see oak and fir but have seen maple no doubt they source locally suitable wood too but i have not seen other than those

depends on the industry too

some pallets are better than others and some get used once because the cost of the pallet is so small compared to the cargo

i have never recovered pallet wood that had bugs or even any signs of bugs

but that will not let me make a conclusion because pallets in use are on the go and not much time for bugs to set up anyway

you pay more you get treated wood and pay less you get untreated

[Electric Comet]

interesting never knew that but it explains a lot

took a part a swing and tower set and could not figure out how the wood was treated

i think this pickling is the answer

it was also kiln dried and after twenty plus years no bugs and no rot just some warpage

this stuff had an odd smell and maybe it was vinegar

that does make sense because they want pallets to be cheap

[hubops]

3 000 gallon [US, liquid] = 11 356. liters = 22,712 500 ml bottles at $ 70 per bottle

He was a milionaire ! :-) John T.

[pyotr filipivich]

Leon on Mon, 12 Feb 2018 13:56:04 -0600 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

If you want a four inch wide by 12 inch or so board, they're perfect. Especially for small boxes.

[pyotr filipivich]

Electric Comet on Mon, 12 Feb 2018

14:10:06 -0800 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

I have some mahogany boards salvaged off a shipping crate.