Thread: Scrap Wood and Offcuts

Is there such a thing as scrap wood?

I suffer from the same problem as you…

cheers,

ajw

EB71

As ajw has implied it may be a prerequisite for a woodworker to be a hoarder. I find it difficult to discard anything that has a halfway reasonable shape or size. However, much depends on the type of woodworking you enjoy. Also a single piece of timber by itself might be next to useless without a few similar pieces.

I hurriedly took a few shots of some (by no means all) of my "scraps", which are primarily stored in 20L buckets. They are not always that small. There are also more buckets behind the buckets that are visible!

Timber 1.jpgTimber 2.jpgTimber 3.jpgTimber 4.jpg

As I said, much depends on what you do. These are my "scraps" for making saw handles which can be as small as 200 x 150, although most of these are larger. They will become smaller as time goes on and the currently endless tasks SWMBO has for me start to diminish:

Timber 7.jpgTimber 8.jpg

These ply offcuts were not even mine but salvaged from the scaffolding during maintenance at my workplace. I do have a specific project for them. When I have used what I want I will give the rest to a woodworker in town who makes bird boxes.

Timber 5.jpgTimber 6.jpg

I am a little fortunate in having some space to store this, but I have to tell you I have run out of room. It actually doesn't matter how much space you have, you will fill it. Every so often I have a cull: Not that a casual observer would notice.

Regards
Paul

Edit: I meant to say that the Casuarina Oaks I have (Hairy Oak, Bull Oak) are rarely discarded. If they are larger enough to become a scale for a knife handle, they are keepers.

There is an infallible rule in all this.

You keep an offcut for ten years, and then, the week after you throw it out, you find a dire need for it.

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

EB71

As ajw has implied it may be a prerequisite for a woodworker to be a hoarder. I find it difficult to discard anything that has a halfway reasonable shape or size.

Thanks Paul, you've made me feel much better after seeing all that.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

There is an infallible rule in all this.

You keep an offcut for ten years, and then, the week after you throw it out, you find a dire need for it.

Yep, that happened to me last week!.

As far as solid timber goes, I'll keep strip offcuts which are around 1000mm. Eventually I'll glue them into boards. I'd chuck em out, but they fill up the bin pretty quick.
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Solid boards that are 500mm+ long are good to keep, especially if they are nicer timbers (not pine or vic ash).
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Manufactured boards are good when they are 500x300ish. I don't seem to have many smaller pieces at the moment as they seem to get used up pretty quick on jigs, templates and bog mixing boards.
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Storing jigs and templates that you will need again becomes a problem of its own!
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I used to be quite diciplined about discarding small offcuts when we had the cumbustion stove. Now we have gas the outlook has changed and I am becoming a wood packrat. At least I have a firewood shed to store it in.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by Kuffy

Storing jigs and templates that you will need again becomes a problem of its own!
20230214_150745.jpg

Nice jig collection!, I've just subscribed to your channel.

Small MDF is used between the work and my clamps.
Small Ply pieces are currently used for kid school projects.
Unfortunately I have little space so have not managed to collect a lot of random piece but I am aspiring to improve my pack rat inclinations.

I'm a turner so scraps are smaller than 15*15*50, but then again I have laminated end cuts of pen blanks into full size pen blanks, so I don't have scrap timber, I have stock for laminating.

I too have officially (So I say) ran out of storage room for timber . . . but why listen to such negativity

Originally Posted by Pat

I'm a turner so scraps are smaller than 15*15*50

Same - until I watched Richard Raffin turning beads (YouTube in the last week or so). With several granddaughters who like to make stuff I think the demand might be high. But the actual amount used is tiny.

But seriously my workshop is tiny so I have a few defined spaces for scraps. I only keep a few small pieces of MDF - it is not really wood for my purposes - just occasionally useful for packing.


Bruce

I have no such problem. I give all my off cuts to a woodworking friend of mine, he is a true artisan, guy appeared on NZ's local magazine sometime back. he built a bicycle from wood.

one exception, MDF will go in bin. I dont use MDF anyhow but sometimes they are here.

My scrap wood / offcuts / mistakes are kept in a pile up in the corner just inside the back gate, and are used to keep the shed warm when I am working out there in the colder months.

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I have 2 huge boxes full of Qld Maple/Acacia off cuts bound for the tip tomorrow
Wish some of you folk lived closer...does seem a waste
BUT...I am starved for storage atm
The container and every other spare bit of room brimming with wood...dang

Log Dog

Originally Posted by Log Dog

I have 2 huge boxes full of Qld Maple/Acacia off cuts bound for the tip tomorrow
Wish some of you folk lived closer...does seem a waste
BUT...I am starved for storage atm
The container and every other spare bit of room brimming with wood...dang

Log Dog

Wow I'd take it but I'm in Victoria!.

Damn, see there I go again, collecting more timber!.