My Major Shop Issue (handicap)

[john]

Chuck:

You seem to have the same disease that we all do, "collectitis". The only difference is that you are much more organized than I am in dealing with it.

About once a month I give a large bag of offcuts to friends to use in their fireplace. I also use scraps to make some of the smallers toys that I sell, but even with these moves, my scrap pile(s) seem to grow with each attempted or planned project.

John

[Ed in Tampa]

I think my buddy that has a door manufacturing operation does it right. He hires a company to come in an empty his scrape pile. One day he was doing something and needed a scrap and went over to the pile and picked up a piece. I laughingly asked him if he ever sorted through the pile and kept any.

He told me absolutely not that is why he hired the company to come in the haul it away. He knew he could fill his shop with scrape wood if he didn't. I found out the arrangement with the company that hauls it away is to take everything but to leave a very small assortment of various sizes and shapes in case he needed something.

I would guess you could make a few dozen pens from the maghoney, teak, walnut and etc that he has hauled.

Incidently you can't move in his shop most of the time, he has it filled with doors he is manufacturing, salvaging or reconditioning. usually there is a tiny path way through the doors to his office and from his office to a little corner work area. To bring a door in or take one out you have to turn it sideways or it won't go. What is really wild is he knows where every door is within a door or two. What is even wilder is having a junk door worth absolutely nothing to anyone but him right beside a $10,000 special request door.
Ed

[wgander]

I keep a small supply of pine boards in the rafters, sorted by width. I try not to keep too much scrap. I remember a shop supervisor telling me he didn't have enough time for his crew to look through a scrap pile, so they didn't keep any scraps.
I usually have a small box with scraps standing on end. Once in awhile, there will be a piece I can use, and avoid cutting a board for a small piece. More often, the neighbor children will use the scraps to saw or hammer.

[nuhobby]

This is a good, entertaining discussion.

I've found about twice a year I must trash some scrap, even if I think there's a 25% or more chance I would use it one day. It seems to be "psychological." If there is too much scrap, then the scrap is the master over me. If there's just a modicum of scrap, then I'm the master over the scrap (at least in my basement). The workshop environment can have its own type of "writer's block" sometimes, so I have to keep it as sort of a blank slate.

[flashbacpt]

Chuck,
Well, I could not find the photos of my scrap sorter that I thought that I had taken during the construction phase. I wanted those because they would clearly show the various depths of the shelfs, and the depths in the back.
As indicated earlier, I used to use buckets also but got "tired of kicking the buckets" around so I built this.
I took a couple of new photos, and as one can see, my scrap sorter is now overloaded. This is one of the reasons that I am trying to focus on using up a lot of the scraps for current projects (Christmas gifts), and future projects (that I have no idea of what they will be) by gluing up pieces and setting them aside.

Save Those Scraps!
John
FlashbacPT

[charlese]

Thanks for the photos John! and thanks for taking the trouble to snap them. I see you have developed generally the same shapes of scrap that I have.

I like your rolling storage bin. I had thought of building one of those myself, but stuck with the ceiling mounted tubes and shelves. The volume , or number of pieces I can keep is the limiting factor. If I built a bin - I'd just wind up keeping more.

I'm now coming to the conclusion - there has to be a better method of determining which cutoffs to keep and which ones to toss. I've tried a couple of rules, but they have resulted in no improvement. (width - straight grain - species - length of narrow pieces) If I could bring my self to sort by species and size, that might help in keeping volumes down.

I have always thought I should keep long narrow pieces for facing on plywood edges, but have used very little of that stuff (maybe one or two pieces). So guess I"ll toss the long narrow stuff (out of the tubes). Short 6" to 10" pieces with some width and thickness have been very useful for router set up tests, saw fence tests and small jigs. Can't seem to fall out of love with my 1/2" and 1/4" pieces. They also have been useful in during set ups. I've planed down some uneven scrap to make 1/2" and 1/4" square stock. With longer 1/2" cutoffs, I have made a couple of length of 3/8" floating tenon stock. There looks like enough 1/4" plywood scrap on my to shelf to make some more magazine holders. The least useful scrap to me is the long stuff in the ceiling tubes.

I should buy some plans for toys - that way I'd have a better idea of what sizes of scrap to look for.

This thread has turned out quite entertaining as well as informative. Full of ideas, observations, thoughts and humor. Everyone has their own issues and methods of handling scrap. I wish more guys would show pictures of their scrap

P.S. After this rambling - just came up with a rule that might work for me: If I can envision a use for the scrap - keep it. If not - throw it. In any event, if the scrap gets overwhelming - sort and toss. Yeah, sure! That'll work:rolleyes:! Been there- done that!!

[beeg]

Chuck
You should be able to get some toy plan books from the library.

[dusty]

We mentioned the subject of scrap wood in a couple of other threads. I am interested in photos of how others deal with their cuttoffs and scrap.

You asked for these or I would never have made it a point to show them. This constitutes a real eye sore and a nuisance in my shop but I cannot bring myself to discard these.[ATTACH]2225[/ATTACH]

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[fjimp]

Dusty,

That's what I like to see. Recycle bins full of sceap ready to be used on demand. I am a lucky fellow my wife hoards fabric for her quilting hobby and firmly supports saving scrap's of wood, steel and most shop byproducts.

In my shop there is a 10' long shelf near the ceiling for longer scrap pieces. A closet under the stairs where sheet goods and some of my larger prized hardwoods are stored. Behind my red steel Shopsmith cabinet are numerous wood scraps from a cabinet that was never completed. Several boxes of various scrap awaiting turning projects. And a 35 gallon barrel stuffed to the point of over flowing with odd scrap pieces. Several weeks ago I posted pictures of shop cabinet built primarily from scrap. Soon I will build a cabinet for storing nuts, bolts, screws, nails and other assorted fasteners. It will be built from scrap. As I begin the process of retiring in a few years those dollars for wood are becoming harder to come by thus I am becoming far more frugal about what's tossed. Okay thats crap, I have never been able to discard a scrap of wood. I just know there is a treasure waiting to get out of every piece. fjimp:D

[flashbacpt]

Dusty,

Looking at your scrap pile (photos), I would save each and every piece that you have. I would be very leary of tossing out any of those pieces. Just too much money invested there, and the strong chance of needing one of those pieces after you toss it out!
Now there...............you have all the justification in the world to hold onto those pieces. Projects???? Save Those Scraps.......They will come!

Chuck,
Your thoughts about size and shape, along with grain are right on the money. I have to agree with you about saving the long pieces for possible fronts. My thin long pieces have been saved for a long time.
One thing that I wished that I had more of is 1/4 plywood. I am recognizing the need for boxes to hold various tool parts, accessories, etc. to keep them together, clean, and organized. I visualize a stack of boxes all marked and organized!

Save Those Scraps!

FlashbacPT:)