Thread: Keeping Offcuts /timber hoarding

sadly, when (like me) you have buckets full of offcuts that "might be useful one day" and they have been sitting minding their own business for a year or more, they are sent to that giant woodpile in the sky... a single car garage that acts as my workshop has to be run like a tight ship, lest I drown in the detritus of the "I can't possibly throw that away" god. That said, I make mostly biggish stuff, so the scraps get tossed every now and again since there is no chance of them being turned into pens or other such stuff... I have yet to watch the garbage truck take away my bin and think "OH NO!!" Simple advice... be ruthless (no matter what Ruth thinks about it...) if you are making stuff all the time, you will always have handy bits that you can use for stirring paint, scratching whatever has an itch, testing finishes, throwing to the dog etc. Having said all that, however, there is always the regret of tossing something which is made of our friend timber....


cheers, Regan

Simply put be ruthless....

I had this same issue awhile back and then after watching one of those hoarding shows on TV I had to ask myself if I was a woodworker or a wood collector?

In the end I went through my stash and threw out a ton of wood that was really never going to be used and that I had collected from various sources as "that might come in handy one day" or "that is too good to throw out" in the end it was just taking up precious space and becoming a distraction from actually creating something.

I have never regretted the clean out and my father really appreciated the firewood.

Steve

Having recently culled 3 20ltr bucket loads of off cuts etc I know your dilemma, feel your pain and confusion its hard to toss some nice grained wood.

Having seen and done miniature turning doesn't help matters cause then nothing gets tossed. I had to I was running out of space finding it hard to locate bits n pieces even recall what some timbers were. Last one I changed habbits everything gets marked named.

Then this morning reading this I am not so sure tossing small bits is a good thing. Now I understand why Col Hemmings said his miniatures were priceless.

Oh storage I forgot.. I use old council waste/recycle bins or 55lt tubs or Farmers Direct cardboard boxes all marked as to whats in generally. A round 25lt tin for longer stuff I don't have much of that sort of thing some stored under benches flat. I do mostly turning so large blanks are just stacked.

Then there are those who see the waste differently

I like those sculptures, very clever.

Well it all went yesterday and it was a slightly cleansing experience. I certainly can't let it get to that level again.

Thanks for the support !

Hello Sam,
I collect all the offcuts from our men's shed and then I sort them. Pile A definitely keep. Pile B maybe keep. Pile C definitely throw.
Then I review Pile B - same process. I then have the keeps in Pile A and the remainder I give to two neighbours who burn wood. I have found some
wonderful pieces that I have used with my turnings, particularly finials. I also give some to a friend who turns pens. Got some african olive the other day
with beautiful markings - xGovernment House, I was told. Kept a piece for a finial and will give the rest to my pen turner mate. I have to admit that I am
slightly obsessive compulsive. Someone else would drop the slightly, ha ha. With limited space you may have to be a bit more severe as to the contents
of Pile A. Drillit.

I do chuck out offcuts after they have been around the shed for a few years.
Regards
John

Can't say I have solved the "too many scraps" problem, either. I don't make pens, but small boxes only need small bits, so the pile grows.
And grows.....

But here's something you can do with some of your scraps. When my kids were little, I started chucking any interesting small offcuts into a box. There were all sorts & sizes of bits & bobs, including short stubs off turned items. One rainy afternoon, with a couple of bored kids to amuse, I gave them the boxful and some out of date PVA and left them to it. They had a ton of fun and created some terrific things. Unfortunately, their engineering was not as good as their imaginations, & the only one that has survived time & various moves is this lion my youngest daughter created. It still makes me smile whenever I see it.

L1.jpg

When my kids grew past that phase, I used to give these 'good' scraps to a local daycare, and now I'm surrounded by young kids who can make 'use' of them. No grandchildren yet, but I hope that day will come.....

Cheers

My criterion is space.

I keep everything but the odd shaped and tiny scraps, but this means my two scrap boxes and my scrap shelf soon fill up. I don't allow myself to keep scrap anywhere else, or my shed would soon be a scrap depot. Once my three scrap locations are full I'll go through it and toss out some of the smaller bits.

Alen ... You need to keep SWMBO out of the shed. This sign on my shed door works for me.
IMAG0045.jpg

That Lion is a work of art. I would put it in an auction, it could go for thousands. I can see how a lion's face could be seen in that wavy grain.

Originally Posted by John Samuel

My criterion is space.

I keep everything but the odd shaped and tiny scraps, but this means my two scrap boxes and my scrap shelf soon fill up. I don't allow myself to keep scrap anywhere else, or my shed would soon be a scrap depot. Once my three scrap locations are full I'll go through it and toss out some of the smaller bits.

Alen ... You need to keep SWMBO out of the shed. This sign on my shed door works for me.
IMAG0045.jpg

Love it. Although both those things could be a huge distraction while using power tools. I guess you could turn off power and use your hands for that type of work, could get interesting if both came in at once.

Originally Posted by orraloon

I do chuck out offcuts after they have been around the shed for a few years.
Regards
John

Why? The really good stuff lasts & lasts!

By a strange coincidence, I just finished two 'mini' markng gauges today, from bits of Ebony & Ring Gidgee that were about 50mm square x 20mm thick. I have had these scraps for at least 15 years, while I figured out the best use for them. During a recent spate of making gauges, I decided this was a good use for them. The stocks are about 50 x 40 x 20mm and the beams are 150mm long by 13mm square.

Ebony & ring gidgee minis.jpg

I did keep pen-sized bits for a while, but decided to give that away, so my "keep" size went upa notch or two. Luckily, I kept the longer 'pen' bits, and they have become the beams for my little gauges.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Andrew from AWC

That Lion is a work of art. I would put it in an auction, it could go for thousands. I can see how a lion's face could be seen in that wavy grain.

Not on your life, Andrew! The memories that lion stirs are worth much more!

Cheers,