I chide my wife all the time because she’s a pack-rat. SHE KEEPS EVERYTHING!!! Every old receipt, magazine articles, recipes, clothes, momentos, etc. etc.
But now, in my workshop, it seems that I’m the pack-rat. I can’t seem to let go of all my old scraps. Every damned little cut-off gets thrown in a pile. With wood prices so high, I just keep telling myself “I’ll find a use for it.” But the pile just keeps getting bigger.
When is it time to say “goodbye” to a scrap?? Are some more worth saving than others?
– Toolfreak
Replies
I keep mine too. I hate to part with anything because I know that even if it is small it could be put to good use making a jig of some sort. Also, I know how quickly that I run out of kindling in the winter so even if I don't use it in my shop I can feed it to start my fires. I think you'll find a lot more packrats out there...
Regards,
Buzzsaw
Exotics are kept. all else goes into the wood stove.
Exotic to me is Maple, black walnut. I'll save even small pieces of that stuff. Everthing else goes into empty cat litter buckets. I give the buckets to friends who have fireplaces and need kindling.Now remember the neighbors who grow zucchini squash? Towards the end of the summer, you come home and find bushel baskes of squash on your front step? That's what some of my friends deal with now.... "What the hell am I going to do with all this squash (kindling)?"I just had to throw a 30gal barrel of kindling out because I could't find a home for it. Kills me to pay to get rid of the stuff...Mark
Measure it with a micrometer, mark it with chalk, cut it with an ax.
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Maybe I'm living in fantasy land, but I have plans to get a bandsaw in a few months, and I am saving my exotics and agree with mark on exotic and plan to try my hand at some inlays and marquetry. I plan to resaw the cutoffs to be used in these projects.
A nice inlaid jewelry/music box for my wife for xmas. and some other ideas
1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Tried that, I now have a bucket full of thin scraps
Lack of shop space forces me to burn more than I would like to. Now if were talking spalted maple, that's a different story.
Every so often, the hardwood store near my house puts out a pile of rippings left over from the process of squaring up the lumber. It's a huge pile of exotic hardwoods, but the dimensions leave something to be desired. most are eight feet long by 3/4", but the third dimension goes from anywhere around 1" down to nothing. I'm always trying to come up with a project for these maddening wedges, because it's beautiful wood, and it's free. Usually, I'll take home a bundle, stare at it 'till the weather gets cold, then throw it in the chopsaw for some seriously overqualified kindling (Bubinga?!). This time, though, I was just about to burn a hand full when it hit me; Chopsticks. I may have just figured out what everyone's getting for christmas for the rest of my life.
You might try turning pens.
Dan
I like making small chessboards if i have plenty of small strips... I love chess, so it's fun, and it's a good way to experiment with different woods, seeing how they look together, how they finish together, and they make great gifts. Jesse David
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before," Bokonon tells us. "He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
>"You might try turning pens."I thought of that, Dan, but the really good turning scraps don't get put out. The majority of the free wedges is less exotic; maple, ash, oak...I was just thinking, I wonder if that stuff could be pulverized and made into OSB or some other sheet material - it would be heavy, but I bet there'd be some good applications.
I make simple building blocks for the kids, grand kids, neighborhood kids. Make them up in sets and give them to goodwill and write it off.
BBQ. best tasting lamb, beef and fish
To heck with the carcingens, smoked/wood fired meat is the best
Hmmm...mahogany smoked brisket? Dunno....I save pretty much all of the hardwood. Anything near 3/4"x3/4" gets turned into stickers for stacking wood, and also is used for miter slot runners. At this point I'm accumulating more than I'm using but its still reasonable.I did smoke 13 lbs. of tri-tip this weekend, but I used oak whisky barrel. Yum!!!RogerI'd rather be making cabinets and friends....
Be careful BBQing with some of those scraps - some woods, especially any that have been pressure treated or coated with some kinds of preservatives/chemicals/paint can be poisonous and the smoke can impart some real dangerous stuff into the food you're smoking. This is especially true if you pick up any scraps that have come off other pieces that may have been treated prior to being cut, if you don't know where the wood is coming from, or if you purchase your wood anywhere other than a mill (eg Home Depot, Lowes, etc.) I considered using some of my scraps for BBQ but I've opted instead to enjoy only the heat from the scraps I burn.
I have many scraps that are large enough for smaller projects like birdhouses, small boxes, etc. I use a lot of my scraps for shims, and anytime I'm trying a new tool/cut/procedure, I practice on a few of the larger scraps before I take it to my workpiece. Also I try to keep a few scraps to apply finish and stain to so I can judge color and lustre prior to slapping the stuff all over my workpiece.
I really like the idea of the building blocks. You could use different wood scraps for different colors, and I always have little bits of finish/paint/stains around that usually end up being dispensed of because there isn't enough for a larger piece and I don't get around to using it before its shelf life expires. Great Christmas and baby presents!!
Does anyone else sort their scraps? Not only am I pack rat, I'm anal retentive too. I have a "block box" (cut offs from the miter saw), a scrap box (usually larger pieces and ripped pieces from the table saw) and my small piece box (larger pieces that can be reasonably used or glued up to make small projects). It drives my wife crazy - she's a tosser. Anything that doesn't get used in a few days goes in the garbage!
I built a 4' wide by 1' deep box that is tapered from 3' at one end to 6" at the other
I put casters on the bottom and hardboard dividers inside every 10" (leaving 8" at the end.
I sort my leavings into that, with a 5 gal bucket nearby for the smaller blocks.
I have been toying with the idea of multiple buckets with lids ( I can get them from a painter friend for nothing) so that they can stack and then have species names written on the bucket in big black letters. Then when I am working with a particular type of wood I can haul the appropriate bucket nearby for the scraps.
How is that for "anal retentive "?
Mine is bigger than yours!1 - measure the board twice, 2 - cut it once, 3 - measure the space where it is supposed to go 4 - get a new board and go back to step 1
Count me in on the BBQ useage. I keep all my cherry offcuts and use it to BBQ with. I have a grill that is also a smoker and when I want to smoke food ( salmon usually) I use the cherry for that too. If I find myself short of sizeable chunks of cherry Ill go to the wood pile and pick a nice piece of maple and cut it up on the bandsaw. I keep all sizeable scraps handy for the wood stove which I hate to admit is still being used. Global warming ??.its 45 and raining...again! I cant imagine paying someone to take scraps away.Wicked Decent Woodworks
(oldest woodworking shop in NH)
Rochester NH
" If the women dont find you handsome, they should at least find you handy........yessa!"
Man, am I so glad to find I'm not the only one...
Lessee... Shims, inlays, splines, backer boards for chopping out waste or drilling holes, etc.
That said, I'd never be able to exhaust all my saved scrap with those uses. I'm thinking of one day making some kind of "grab bag" piece, but I'd have to figure out how to account for the differences in wood movement first. But hey, where there's a will, there's a way!
Mitch
"I'm always humbled by how much I DON'T know..."
All my Brazilian Rosewood scraps are kept! Everything else goes in the trash.
PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)
PlaneWood
At least one publisher has come out with a project book for scraps:
TITLE: "The Wood Stash Project Book" (from Popular Woodworking books)
https://www.popularwoodworking.com/store/books/display.asp?id=2013
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"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."
-- Bertrand Russell
I build small simple boxes give them away,
make jigs, cut thin pieces and make stir sticks out of them
make things out of the usuable pieces....when I have time which I dont
the non usuable wood Im going to burn in a outdoor fire place I have this summer
I was saving it for camping (campfire)
But no exotics and I try to save as much hardwood as I can
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When I had more time to work in the shop, I turned pens with the small ones. It got the point where I was running out of room (I'm not a neat freak anyway so the place seems smaller than it is.). At this point, I've found some people who like scraps and I've been offering them. I also burn them along with the brush we've been burning this year. I've still got several large boxes that I need to get out of the shop. Having teenagers and a decent day job and other hobbies really takes a lot of time. :>)
It's good when life is full!
Kell
I save all my scraps for kindling. There is always enough for me, so, I give the remainder to the eldery, in my neighborhood. It helps to heat their homes as well as myu heart.
If, at first, you fricascee, fry, fry a hen!
Recently picked up a Walnut 3x3x8 (some sapwood) dropoff from a bed I built in 1968, and turned four large cabinet door knobs for some new storage in garage. I keep all my hardwood dropoffs/leftovers, now in the clear plastic hinged/fliptop bins, sorted by species, planks or turning squares, bowl blanks, thins ... etc. Previously, they were so dusty as to prevent easy identity, and kept in solid sided boxes otherwise full of saw chips. Now, most are clearly marked, and all remain relatively dust free. In the back of my mind, I know nearly everyone of them, as I used to sort through those big boxes of them time and time again, dusting them off each time. Eight totes full stack nicely and the suggestion of clutter is gone. (Clutter remains my worst enemy, however.)
I can't justify throwing them away, as I find a use every week; besides, I recall the time when I couldn't afford to buy hardwood! Additionally, there's some real "sleepers" amongst 'em .... like the walnut burls & stump planks, now 30 years dry. I just can't figure what to do with that basketball-size solid Mesquite burl I keep tripping over .... don't have the nerve yet to mount it up in the lathe!
John in Texas
I just can't figure what to do with that basketball-size solid Mesquite burl I keep tripping over .... don't have the nerve yet to mount it up in the lathe!
Gee GO FOR IT! Ya may surprise yourself and make something BEAUTIFUL!
I miss my woodstove.
My old shop had a cast iron box stove that took care of all of my softwood scraps, I usually hang on to the hardwoods as long as I can.
Nowadays, I give the softwood scraps to my dad, he has place outside of town, and a stove in his shop.
Tom
I'll take all of these scraps you have:
1.) Pink Ivory
2.) Rosewood
3.) Ligmun Vite
hehe
I kind of envy you guys living in these places where you say wood prices are high. I live in Japan and I'd take your prices any day of the week. That said, you can now understand why I keep all my scraps. I now have a mental inventory of all my scraps. (Don't ask me if that is a little nuts.) I have burned some but always have regrets as I throw them in the fire.
An interesting note for you bbq guys/gals: Charcoal here doesn't come in little square briquets. It comes in the original shape of the branch. How it is made is they burn the wood and before it burns completely they cover it with a sheet of metal and cover it with dirt. I've tried this (with untreated wood) and instead of covering it I've doused it with water. The result was charcoal for my bbq.
I have a second story floor in my shop for storage of lumber, jigs etc. Every nook and cranny seams to be stuffed with cutoffs and scaraps.
I now have a burn barrel. It does not matter how much space one has, it is never enough.
http://www.superwoodworks.com
Trash most of it now. The rest in a year or so.
I save enough small pieces for M&T gages.
toolfreak, go and get some orange or apple boxes from grocery store. then sort out your woods.. exotic, figure, plain and so on. pieces should fit in box neatly. for example: gaboon ebony, rosewood, cocobolo,etc.. weigh the box and times 1 pound equals (lets say 25 dollars) then you can put a price on the entire box of exotics.so the box weighs 10 pounds times 25 equals $250.00 what a bargain. someone who makes small items boxes etc.. will jump on it.. if you have alot of different species and sizes . you will have a captive audience.
that is what i do with my scraps. i have a garage sale and contact wood working clubs and notify members about the great deals of exotics in a box. good luck, woody
I save my wood scraps to distribute to my elderly, neighbors. Winters are cold up here. The next time you see these scraps destined for the dump or fire, put them in a bag or box and put them on a needy doorstop. Chuck
If, at first, you fricascee, fry, fry a hen!
It bothers me but I throw it away all the time, otherwise I'd drown in it. We fill a dumpster every 2 weeks (yes, I said fill) with scraps, a lot of it plywood but also hardwoods. One good thing I did establish - we have 2 or 3 teachers of kids' crafts groups in the area who come by regularly whenever they need a pile of interesting wood pieces. In winter time the bigger pieces of oak etc go to the wood-burning stoves. And cut-offs of teak, wenge, padauk go to a friendly turner who occasionally returns the favor. But 90% is in the trash...
DR
I've used some scraps for bookmarks and also small wooden puzzles. Most gets burned up.
There are more old drunkards than old doctors. Ben Franklin
I TRIP over alot of mine I leave around on the floor.. NOT A GOOD IDEA!
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