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Hi @Tyro,
Let me kick off this discussion by tagging some experienced pallet project creators in the community to see what tools they utilise when working with pallets.
@LePallet, @Yorky88, @lcantem, @nolifemanual, @Tara86, @Arcc, @Imenz, @prettyliving
Jason
Hi @Tyro,
You can get quite a reasonable finish on pallet timber by simply sanding it with an orbital or belt sander. The orbital sander is perfect for leaving some of the rustic charm, or the belt sander can be used for stripping the timber back completely. I've made many projects from pallet timber, most often working with the rustic styling, and I've never used an electric planer. When I use pallet timber, it's typically because it has such a unique character, and I want to preserve it in the final piece. There is a reasonable piece of advice going around that if you're going to mill pallet timber with an electric planer, it's likely easier to just use dressed timber in the first place. There are only a couple of benefits to using pallet timber in a project: its rustic nature and that it's free. It's a fair amount of work to remove all those nails and plane it smooth just to get free timber.
Just so you are aware, I've actually found it harder to use an electric planner than a manual planer. Obviously, a manual planner is more work, but it is easier to control. Other opinions might vary.
For a recommendation on a planer that is reliable and has a cord, I'd go with the Ryobi 780W 82mm Rebate Planer.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Hand planers are somewhat self-levelling @Tyro. They only shave off a very thin amount at a time and are quite easy to get the hang of. As you smooth the area, it will get flatter, and no great skill is involved. Electric planers can be a bit more unforgiving. I'll admit that I've only used one a handful of times, but I found that it was far easier to make a mistake and take off too much material. I suspect if you set it to the least aggressive setting, it would be manageable; perhaps I just had the cut set too deep.
Mitchell
I'd suggest a mid-range plane for use on pallets like the Trojan 235mm Bench Plane @Tyro. You need to be very careful as there are plenty of nails in pallets. Hitting one will do some real damage to the blade. If you are not familiar with how to re-profile and sharpen the edge of a plane blade after a chip has been taken out of it, that could be the end of the plane for you. This goes for powered planes too, but they do have replaceable blades. That's part of the reason why I use sanders, I'm too lazy to thoroughly check for nails and sometimes they're hidden.
Another very nice option would be the Stanley 245mm No. 4 Smoothing Bench Plane.
Mitchell
