Cut Offs, Do they have real value?

[dusty]

Yes, they absolutely do. You can buy hard wood cutoffs at the Tucson Woodcraft Stores for only $3.00 per pound.

I have been calling that big box of cutoffs that I have in the shop "scrap wood". Scrape Wood they are NO LONGER!

I would guess my once scrap is now worth about $120.00.

It gets in the way now and then but that's OK. I now have more respect for it than I once did.

[charlese]

I'm glad your cutoffs have more "value" than they once did! I agree, almost all cutoffs are not scrap.

An exception in my shop: those thin strips left on the floor, as the result of trimming plywood immediately are scrap.

Any piece of solid wood, large enough to keep my hands away from blades are saved for future use. They often become trial pieces during a set-up. Once a cutoff becomes routed on all edges and/or is too small to safely make another block - it becomes scrap.

Another way a cutoff becomes scrap is if has been stored for a while and the need for my limited storage room dictates it is a poorer piece than the new one(s) I want to store in its place.

Also if my Daughter-in-law wants a supply of more wood pieces cutoffs then get another use outside of my shop. That's a good thing, because then there is ore room for more cutoffs.

[reible]

Gee I have a 20 gallon trash can of hardwood scrap I brought with me when we moved here 28 years ago... hey maybe I'm rich... sell the stuff on ebay for hundreds of $$$ and retire!!!! Oh, that's not going to work, I retired 8 years ago... well it sounded good there for a few seconds.

Ed

[beeg]

AH but Ed. You might be able to BUY some tools on your waiting list.

[fiatben]

Well, maybe I'm hijacking an old thread, but I hate starting a new thread when I feel a topic has probably been covered.

Anyway....

I'm tired of tripping over odd boxes and buckets of "scraps." But I can't bring myself to burn good wood that can be used in doing set-ups and test cuts or on small toys, etc.

I want to know how you guys store/organize/manage your cutoff piles. Pictures would help greatly.

Seems like most of my stuff is small sticks of wood, nothing over 3' long or a few inches wide (otherwise it would be a board and in the lumber racks).

[SDSSmith]

When they get to bad this is what I do.

[JPG]

When they get to bad this is what I do.]http://household-tips.thefuntimesguide. ... razy79.jpg[/IMG]

Farmer calls his scrap bin 'HEAT'.

Yours looks like 'Ambiance'! No heat needed in 'Sunny Southern Callyfonia'!;)

[kalynzoo]

I enjoy intrasia, thus, there is no such thing as scrap wood. Large cutoffs are kept in tubs, as they get smaller they are moved to clear draws, then small containers. I used to try to sort them into light wood, medium color, and dark wood, but that became too time consuming, so now it is just light and dark. If it is about 5 inches long and about 3/4x3/4 it may become a pen. I saw some of your recent posts of pepper mills, and I am putting aside pieces for a glue up rectangle to make a mill. I remember seeing a coffee table with a mosaic made from wood remnants.
To paraphase or poach a famous phrase:
Give me your tired your poor your well grained masses of wood yearning to be put to artistic use, the wretched refuse of your teeming tools send these the homeless tempest tossed cuts offs to me.

Hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season. Happy New Years to All.

[dlbristol]

Gary, that is pretty creative!! I kept a bunch of red oak scrap from a bed I made for three years. My daughter gave me a book about making "old time reproductions". One idea was a candle holder made from 3/4 in stock. I made a bout 15 for fun and band saw practice/ setup/ messing around. They were a big hit. I nearly burned them.

[fiatben]

I'm really interested in ideas on how to organize this huge pile of cutoffs. Or has no one come up with a good solution yet?