Reclaiming Pallet Wood & Storage Challenge

(July 1, 2012)

So I have this little workstation going on. I've shared this picture with you before. See the pallet laying there with the blue arrow pointing to it? This little guy gave me some issues. He just did not want to be taken apart. 

Here's a little closer look at him. Seems harmless enough, doesn't he? Well... let me tell you.. He wasn't. I don't know what kind of wood that is that those boards are nailed to but I could not get those boards off with out destroying them completely. After I removed two boards, and cracked them all the way up and down, I tried to get the nails out. They would not budge. So I don't know if it's the boards or the nails. BUT... these nails are the same nails that I've seen before. They are the spiral ones but I've removed them before with no problem. 

Well... I decided that I had enough. And this pallet wood looked pretty good so I didn't want to just write it off as a loss and I didn't want to keep destroying the boards. So I got the Jigsaw out. Actually... I went with the Skilsaw first, but I soon found that I needed to put it on the charger. But the Jigsaw actually worked just fine. So I cut the boards off along the rails. 

Now I have this nice stack of boards that I can actually do something with. And... while they aren't square... they are all in pretty good shape. I have already sanded some of them down.

 And I've also cut the other boards off. All that's left are the sides. Since I can't get the nails out, I guess they are bound for the junk pile. I'm not sure what I will do with that wood yet. I've always lived in the town so I don't know about building bonfires. I would assume that the nails wouldn't be a problem and that someone could use the wood in their bonfire and clean the nails up the next day. ??? I just don't know. 

 Anyhow... the hubby can't tell the difference between the boards that I want to keep and the ones that are "scrap". These boards... are not scrap. They are what I consider usable and I want to make something with them. My "scrap" pile is a pile of wood that maybe has cracks in it or some other defect. I want to use it for testing out my tools or for shims or for whatever. It's wood I just don't care about but that I don't want to throw away. Most of the stuff I throw away in my "junk" bin is stuff that has nails in that I cant get out. Or some other defect that I feel like I can't really use for anything.
So what does the hubby do...? He keeps trying to use these boards that I just spent forever salvaging and he wants to use them as scrap wood or junk wood. He tried to take them to use as block stops for his trailer even.

My point isn't to complain about my dear hubby. He's not trying to irritate me (at least I don't think so LOL), but he just doesn't know. So... what do I do about it? I have my own system of knowing which wood is which... but it's really only known to me and not obvious enough, I guess. So I need to come up with an idea of separating my "good wood" and my "scrap wood". I would love some suggestions. Keep in mind that some of the wood is small boards like the ones in the picture above. Maybe 12" long. And other boards are longer. Also, some are thinner and then I also have some 2"x4"s.

So consider it a challenge. I don't care if you share an idea that you've done on your own or something you've seen on a blog somewhere or on Pinterest. I wish I had a price to give away to motivate... but for now... it's just a plain ole personal challenge. LOL... wouldn't it be nice to have some stuff to give away? LOL

I look forward to your suggestions. :)