Thread: Keeping Offcuts /timber hoarding

'it would save time and be easier to buy exactly what I needed for each project and I must admit it has been liberating.'

That's pretty much the conclusion I came to as well.
Good to hear I'm not the only one

Ian,
I just noticed your picture of the gauges. Awesome work, i want to make one some day, where did you get the brass knobs and caps from or did you make the whole lot?

My criteria is if it goes the way of the dusty then I don't want t back..in most cases



Steve

Originally Posted by fineboxes

My criteria is if it goes the way of the dusty then I don't want t back..in most cases



Steve

Yep, well, that's a pretty good criterion in my book!
Cheers,

Originally Posted by Andrew from AWC

Ian,
I just noticed your picture of the gauges. Awesome work, i want to make one some day, where did you get the brass knobs and caps from or did you make the whole lot?

Andrew, I made them from raw materials - I have a small metal lathe and a knurling tool, plus a pretty comprehensive set of taps & dies, so that part is not much of a challenge. You can buy Brass screws wiith knurled caps and their associated inserts from Lee Valley (Carbatec also carry them), so it's a quite feasible project even without a lathe. My only caveat as I've said elswewhere, is that these screws use a coarse (Whitworth) thread, and in this application, don't lock as easily as I'd like. I found that by using very soft brass for the 'shoe' between screw & the beam of the gauge, the lockability was improved, but not as much as by using a finer thread. The M6 thread I use is ~25 tpi, compared with the Whitworth 20, not a lot on paper, but it makes for much smoother & more positive locking.

Cheers,

Ian's delightful marking gauges beautifully illustrate the value in keeping those special resources.

My experience is rather different. The perfect piece of timber for that special little job is always the bit you threw away last week!

Fair Winds

Graeme

Yesterday, I think I learned what to keep and what to toss.
This is from a wood carving perspective:

Toss = wood of any size, shape or description which is simply unworkable.
Knots, splits, rot, big twists. Log pieces, milled wood, all of it.

Keep = any and all sizes of clear, straight-grained wood, 6mm x 25mm and bigger,
just about any length.

I didn't have enough birch (Betula sp.) for a set of carvings. Enough if I resorted to glue-ups.
So I decided to carve a pair of mock-ups in western red cedar to explore any carving puzzles,
sizes and shapes I might run in to. Soft & easily worked, should be quick.
This and this and that and those, a little smoothing, a little glue and I have my two WRC carving blanks
without needing to split into a full-sized shake block from my stash (approx 6" x 8" x 24").

Maybe the consideration might be: what are you likely to build? Boxes, benches, wardrobes, chairs. etc?????

Personally Im ruthless. Any piece smaller than a postage stamp and thinner than a matchstick gets tossed. No questions asked,

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Personally Im ruthless. Any piece smaller than a postage stamp and thinner than a matchstick gets tossed. No questions asked,

Hey they’re valuable! As a spin top maker I get some of my best timber from somebody else’s bowl & platter blank off cuts.

Just take your discards to the local club or men’s shed, often there are pensioners who would welcome your discards esp if they are unusual timbers. Then it becomes SEP – somebody else’s problem.

Maybe we could start something here an annual shed clean out in SEPtimber!

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Personally Im ruthless. Any piece smaller than a postage stamp and thinner than a matchstick gets tossed. No questions asked,

You reckon that's ruthless? This is ruthless!
"When its too small to drill a hole in... then you throw it out!"

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

....My experience is rather different. The perfect piece of timber for that special little job is always the bit you threw away last week!.....

I think a lot of us have had that experience, Graeme!

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Sebastiaan56

Personally Im ruthless. Any piece smaller than a postage stamp and thinner than a matchstick gets tossed. No questions asked,

Now that really is wasting timber. I had a commission to make this - 20mm x 20mm x 20mm, wall thickness no more than 1.5mm.Magic Box.jpg

Originally Posted by AlexS

Now that really is wasting timber. I had a commission to make this - 20mm x 20mm x 20mm, wall thickness no more than 1.5mm.Magic Box.jpg

And I hope you've found a good use for the ssawdust from this project, Alex!

Originally Posted by IanW

And I hope you've found a good use for the ssawdust from this project, Alex!

Carving blanks.