I had hoped to have this post up yesterday, but sadly I just didn't have the time. As some of you may know from a previous post I am trying to start a small business making furniture, wooden signs and things like that, and with no budget I had to be creative, so I went with old pallets as a source of material. The issue with pallets is the wood is far from perfect, and as of right now the only power tools I have is a reciprocating saw and a drill, so I had to prep each piece by hand. Several sheets of sandpaper, 3,562 splinters, and a ton of dust later I'm finally done with what I need for now. 

![IMG_1768.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQ6njX3eRNJYMHn3Jp3xfTxysNFfnfQSqTzDxSeGdd8Hb/IMG_1768.jpg)

To start I used my reciprocating saw to cut through the nails, because trying to tear the pallet apart with a pry bar would have likely damaged a lot of the wood, and I wanted to salvage as much as possible. This leaves in a lot of nails, so first thing you have to do is remove them, I used a small allen wrench (I know not the correct tool, but its all I had) to back the nail out a bit so you can pull them out. *Don't discard the nails, I will show you a way to repurpose those in a later post* 

![IMG_1721.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSybXzecGbw7VybxPCHaV6a3d3TTotPxEJae3MTYqFabu/IMG_1721.jpg)

Now that you have the nails out, you want to clean the wood up a bit before starting to sand. I used a wire brush to get off some of the dirt, you can also use a steel wool pad. Once you have cleaned the wood a bit use a rag to wipe it down.

![IMG_1776.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWvZmjgCQvYguzr3jZLLhqReeWnxaysuehSz7j8KiCZCD/IMG_1776.jpg)

Now the fun part, start sanding, and sanding, and sanding! Some spots like the nail holes and along the edges will be hard to get with a sanding block, so you can just use and old piece of sandpaper and your hands *Watch out for splinters* 

![IMG_1773.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcRbLkYemn3NRu84uj9nMZJ2Ai3kPhFcqet4zfekFRmBc/IMG_1773.jpg)

Now that you've done the sanding clean the wood again, I used a nylon brush and rag for this, but you can use a wire brush also.

![IMG_1775.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbouBVXWFagRhYnwNjQEvNspVEorNL1aQBdjxuvtRs6Pp/IMG_1775.jpg)

Now its sanded and clean, you can apply some stain. If you saw my DIY stain post and you're curious how it looks, well here is a finished board using it. I haven't sealed it yet. 

![IMG_1752.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmP3Tchku2VUstthd81WwQKXhyeWSjWgmAm8vie93dkW24/IMG_1752.jpg)


![IMG_1754.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWWM3xCAGrVbuUbQ6hFGyHPMMLcRFciEGFDxv7LmwRSAG/IMG_1754.jpg)