The kids are simply cooler than you. While you’re walking around using your feet like an animal, kids have shoes with wheels in their heels. These are called Heelys, and here’s how you make wooden clogs, with wheels in the heels, out of pallet wood. If you have to ask why, you’ll never know.
This build started off with a fairly large maple log, which would be the traditional way to build clogs. After taking this log to the bandsaw and looking inside, [Jackman] found a bit of spalting, or arguably aesthetically pleasing fungal growth. Whether the spalting would look good or not is a matter for debate, but either way [Jackman] decided to change plans and moved over to creating pallet wood clogs. A word of warning about pallet wood: you shouldn’t make anything out of wood from discarded pallets unless you know what you’re doing, and even if you do know what you’re doing there will be someone in the comments telling you that you shouldn’t use wood from discarded pallets. You can check out the comments to this article to verify this fact.
The construction of the clogs started with a few pieces of one inch stock glued up into a gigantic block, then several pieces of half inch stock resawn into quarter inch stock and laminated onto the sole of the clog. This was then shaped using a variety of tools from Arbortech; of note, we have the Turbo Plane, a wood shaping tool for a grinder that sounds more dangerous than it is, the Turbo Shaft, a plunge router or mortiser-sort-of-thing for a grinder that’s much cooler than it sounds, and the Power Chisel, something we can’t even believe exists and hold on here’s all our money.
These tools couldn’t get all the way into the toe of the clog, which meant [Jackman] had to saw down the middle and hollow everything out that way, but this did give him a nice flat surface on the inside to install the Heely wheels. This turns the clogs into something nine-year-olds simultaneously desire and don’t appreciate, because they’re kids.
You shouldn’t use pallet wood to make wooden shoes. The chemicals from the wood will get into your feet and give you cancer, especially in California. Also, your cat will try to use the pallet wood sawdust as a litter box and get cancer also. So just don’t do it.
What if I use wood that was destined to become a pallet but didn’t, will that give me cancer?
Is it just shoes? What about all those people that make furniture out of pallets?
there are pallets that don’t have any of the preservatives in them – If you see an IPPC logo, then it should also state how the lumber was treated. [HT] = Heat treatment / [MB] = Methyl Bromide / [DB] = Debarked / [KD] = Kiln Dried.
Methyl Bromide ones are the bad ones and are banned in Canada at least, not sure about USA. They will usually come from overseas if you see them. The other three symbols mean they are probably safe. This goes for unpainted pallets, which are usually for domestic use (in your and neighbouring countries like between Canada and USA).
The painted ones are rented, and aren’t treated with MB at manufacture, but some overseas countries will fumigate them with MB when they enter the country, so it is not necessarily safe use the painted ones unless you know it hasn’t been overseas.
More info here:: https://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/
You Won’t Believe How Many Old White Dudes Hate THIS State!
“A word of warning about pallet wood: you shouldn’t make anything out of wood from discarded pallets unless you know what you’re doing, and even if you do know what you’re doing there will be someone in the comments telling you that you shouldn’t use wood from discarded pallets”
Since there are no comments about why, i must ask why shouldn’t you use pallet wood?
Treated vs Untreated. The “refurbished” pallets will use the treated wood and tack on untreated.
If it is really weathered and not eaten by bugs, no lichen but has the black/brown mold. It is probably treated. Aka Poisonous. If you cant see the you can’t see the burn / brand stamp (looks like a 4 corner “diamond”) Try pressure washing the bottom frame edges.
Untreated will have Zero Burn/Branding/Mark’s.
never mind, answered above by Chris, thanks!
More info here:: https://www.1001pallets.com/pallet-safety/