McChooky
Free Ranging
Pallet wood has lots of crevices and hiding places for mites but they hate vinegar.
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I'm hoping to free range my girls in this when its finished. The wheels & an electric fence will be attached next.
The stain was made out of rusty nails in a apple cider vinegar solution.
Any hints or tips on making the stain?
An old jar filled with rusty nails filled with apple cider vinegar.The longer it sits the better it will look .Strain it before using it to get dirt and debri out.You can use vinegar by itself which is darker or add rusty nails to give it an orange red tint.
I know what tool I'm going to buy next! That nail pulling plier is ingenious! Never seen or heard of one before. Thanks for the info, @gtaus.
Has anyone had a pallet that had long staples instead of nails? DH had an oak pallet that he made into a neat drawer under our bed. He said the staples were a pain, but he got them out somehow. I didn't see how he did it, so I don't know if he did something other than pry boards apart and hammer the staples back out of the boards.
BTW, do the rusty nails and screws come out rust free, partial rust removed, or no difference? I know vinegar has acid in it and I was wondering if it would eat away at the rust on the metal.
My chickens only free range in the chicken tractor during the day so its empty when I lower the door in the morning to let them free range inside. They don't sit on the roost when its rolling on the ground so when I roll it back to the coop in the evening there's little risk of them getting wonked when I go to let them out. All I have to do is push them off the roost before I open the door. Btw the rust dissolves and colors the stain so I add more rusty nails from time to time and refill the jar with vinegar when I use it.The vinegar will also make new galvanized steel rust .It eats away at the finish when wet.Nice looking coop. Love the color of the pallet wood. How did you do it? Interesting, the pop door opens up and goes down inside the coop. Do you ever bonk a chicken on the head when you open it?
OK, glad you posted this. I was wondering how you did it, too. Love that color stain on the pallet wood. Very nice.
Good thing that I have been saving my rusty nails and screws! Never know when I might need them. Sounds like making stain is a good use for them.
BTW, do the rusty nails and screws come out rust free, partial rust removed, or no difference? I know vinegar has acid in it and I was wondering if it would eat away at the rust on the metal
Thank you!!!Nice looking coop. Love the color of the pallet wood. How did you do it? Interesting, the pop door opens up and goes down inside the coop. Do you ever bonk a chicken on the head when you open it?
OK, glad you posted this. I was wondering how you did it, too. Love that color stain on the pallet wood. Very nice.
Good thing that I have been saving my rusty nails and screws! Never know when I might need them. Sounds like making stain is a good use for them.
BTW, do the rusty nails and screws come out rust free, partial rust removed, or no difference? I know vinegar has acid in it and I was wondering if it would eat away at the rust on the metal.
GAH! My biggest pet peeve at my house currently is there is no where to store the tools!!!!I don't have a place to keep my tools. that's why I cannot be organized. but I do plan to make a shed in the future.
That's AMAZING abt the stain!!! I am tucking that idea back!!!Thank you! It has a milk crate nest box in the back corner, one sunny roost and one under the roof. The stain was made out of rusty nails in a apple cider vinegar solution.
Me too!!! I don't even get notifications for this thread all the time!!! It's so frustrating!! I am watching it...but I will bookmark as well!I liked the suggestions on how to "Watch" or "Bookmark" threads. I plan on using that myself.
Thanks so much for sharing this!!!An old jar filled with rusty nails filled with apple cider vinegar.The longer it sits the better it will look .Strain it before using it to get dirt and debri out.You can use vinegar by itself which is darker or add rusty nails to give it an orange tint.
On the whole subject of pulling nails. I am probably the only weirdo that LOVES the look of the nail heads in the wood I think it gives it character and makes it look old and used and rustic... yep, I am a weirdo. I love the holes left behind by some nails..I love how no piece really is ever the same bc of all of these little imperfections. Idk lol....I love embracing imperfections I guess lol
Me too!!! I don't even get notifications for this thread all the time!!! It's so frustrating!! I am watching it...but I will bookmark as well!
I totally love the spice rack!!!No, you are not alone. There are lots of pallet projects that proudly display either the nail holes and/or the nail heads. If you have a project like that in mind, then I think the best method to breakdown a pallet is to use the Sawzall method, where you can keep the nail heads in the wood or easily remove them by using a punch.
On my long project list is building a better spice rack for Dear Wife. I was looking online for ideas and inspirations. I found this Repurposed Pallet Spice Rack on Etsy for $60.00.
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How easy would it be to build this pallet wood spice rack? You can see that the nail holes are proudly displayed in the used wood. Looks like he added some stain to darken up the wood just a bit, to bring out the character of the wood and to enhance the effect of looking old and rustic.
I don't have enough room for a big spice rack like this in our kitchen, but your comments reminded me of this specific spice rack which uses the nails holes as a feature in the build. I think it looks nice. You can bet that I would build my own spice rack like this instead of paying someone else $60.00. But I started this thread with the idea of promoting DIY pallet projects that people can do at home.
As to removing pallet nails, I do it because the current projects I have been building require me to cut boards down to size and i don't want any nails in wood near my spinning saw blades. I hope people are not under the impression that they must remove the nails or try to hide the nail holes in their pallet projects. That was certainly not my intention.
FWIW, when I made the roof of my pallet wood storage bin, using the board on board method, I just used the Sawzall method to cut off planks and kept the nail heads in the boards to fill the holes.
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