Scrap wood

[capehorn3]

How much scrap wood do you keep? I can't seem to throw ANY out as I'm sure I'll need it to set up a dado or router bit, its become a problem in my shop. I need an intervention guys! How much is too much?

Richard

[cpw]

How much scrap wood do you keep? I can't seem to throw ANY out as I'm sure I'll need it to set up a dado or router bit, its become a problem in my shop. I need an intervention guys! How much is too much?

Richard
I throw out odd shaped plywood and MDF. I have a bucket (overflowing) with odd shaped real wood scraps that will be burnt come the fall/winter. I keep all of my square/rectangle off cuts.

[VASandy]

I keep all my scrap. It's a problem. I need professional help.

[wbrooks]

I used to keep everything as well but since moving to the country, scraps find the fire pit

[garager]

If it ain't sawdust, then I'll keep it.....

[Gofor]

Scrap wood? That's the stuff in the shop vac, right? I throw it in the woods.

Go

[Frankiarmz]

Scrap wood? That's the stuff in the shop vac, right? I throw it in the woods.

Go

I think they make those pellets for wood stoves from saw dust, you might be throwing away something of value?

[cpw]

I think they make those pellets for wood stoves from saw dust, you might be throwing away something of value?
I like sheet goods, so I wouldn't want to burn my sawdust (b/c of the glue mixed in).

[Frankiarmz]

I like sheet goods, so I wouldn't want to burn my sawdust (b/c of the glue mixed in).

I tried to research the composition of wood pellets used in pellet stoves and discovered some interesting facts along the way. There are premium brands made from hardwoods, no adhesives are used in the process, and some brands are made from scrap wood and sawdust. There are processes which remove contiminates such as glass and rocks from the wood, but there was no mention of adhesives in the scrap woods? I gather the sawdust used is only from milled lumber and not processed woods such as plywood.

[Velosapien]

Throw away scraps? I thought that's what the pool table was for. Stacking every bit of scrap on top. I only throw some out when the stack is in danger of overflowing and colapsing :D

[capehorn3]

Good, I see I'm not alone. I do have a 5 gal bucket for 1-2" cut offs and small curved cut pieces.

[bubbabear]

I keep all my scrap. It's a problem. I need professional help.

Sounds like a Dr Phil show to me :)

[Gofor]

Good, I see I'm not alone. I do have a 5 gal bucket for 1-2" cut offs and small curved cut pieces.

I confess that I finally broke down and hauled three 32 gal garbage cans full of pine/cheap plywood scrap to the dump. Still holding on to all the hardwood, tho!!

Go

[BobR]

I throw the very small scraps out right away. The kids like to burn those in the fire pit. The larger stuff I keep (and keep tripping over). I'm waiting for an idea of what to build with those smaller pieces. Sometimes after repeatly tripping over them I throw them out for the kids to burn. Needless to say, but I still have quite a large pile of scraps some small some larger. Actually i'm thinking of building onto my garage so I can store all of the smaller pieces that I will need later on.

I have some neighbors who use my sawdust for compost or bedding for their gerbils etc.

Hope this helps. Haha!

Bob R

[papadan]

No such thing as scrap hardwood or exotics. All I use is hardwoods and exotics! I keep em all. Never know when ya need a small inlay or accent piece.:cool::D I built a cabinet just to hold my small pieces of cutoffs.

[Faboo]

Gentlemen, there is no such thing as throwing away hardwood pieces. I save mine and when the box gets too full, I force myself to come up with some small projects. Intarsia pieces make great gifts. And I have started to make small kits for my grand kids to put together, this is great fun and a good bonding experiance. Helping them do a final sand and then glueing up with a few nails. They get a real kick out of it. I started them with their own tool boxes and we are now working on some wooden toys.

[Darius Inspired Woodworks]

I agree there is not such thing as scrap hardwood....I just build things like bird houses or something to use them up when they get to over flowing. I have built racks on my shop wall that holds different woods, like walnut, cedar, hackberry, hickory, and oak, that I use most of the time. When I build drawers and cabinets I try to make myself look thur the bin before I just cut something out of a long board.

[JJCiesla]

I can't throw it away.
I can't throw it away.
I can't throw it away.
Building another scrap box! :smack-head:

[Wood_Junkie]

My first "major" project was a scrap bin on wheels. Darn thing is full and overflowing.

I have since implemented several rules:
- Thin cutoffs of common wood get tossed (pine, oak, mdf, etc) because the waste there is overwhelming... I tend to turn 2x4 cutoffs 5" and longer into assemble stands and jigs.

- Most things over 3 x 3 that is 3/4" thick gets saved as a jig, scrap filler, shim, etc because of the standard thickness being useful.

- Plywood cutoffs more than 6" long or about 4 x 4" get saved and usually used as backer boards to prevent tearout on the router or drill press, etc. I find the longer plywood scraps (6-12") useful as backerboards for the dovetail jig.

- Anything exotic gets saved and becomes either an accent pieces, a cutting board, or pens.

Speaking of pens... I got in to pen turning specifically to do something with the interesting scrap pieces. I couldn't do to part with, what, $5 worth of walnut or maple... So, $400 later, I have a lathe, tools, turning kits, mandrels, face shield, apron, and a whole host of finishing materials, etc... all to save pennies worth of scrap, AND now I buy exotics (pen blanks) specifically to make pens!!!

Sometimes my wife appears to be right in the lunacy of this hobby. ;)