I’ve been collecting cut-offs for a few years now (storage is shrinking fast) and I’m reluctant to throw them out (no fireplace or wood stove). The pieces I keep need to measure at least 6″x12″x3/4″ minimum to make it into my storage bins, to make them eligible for rails, etc. I don’t keep soft woods or red oak anymore, just the more expensive woods.
What do you folks do with them?
Replies
benchdog ,
It really depends on how much room you have . Have you been able to use the shorts you have already saved ? Generally my short scraps have some defect or grain not desirable for door rails . I do have a wood stove in the house. Before that I used to bag them up and donate them to seniors who could use the kindling. Find a hobby shop Grandpa type , they may pay you a few bucks per pile and be happy to get it . I can only keep so much before it can become in the way.
dusty
I used to try to give them away, I'd save a pickup truck load of nothing less than two feet long, some up to six or seven feet long black walnut, cherry, white oak, etc.. most serious thickness (four to 12 inches) and width ( six to 18 inches) but eventually I couldn't find anyplace/anybody that wanted them..
My fireplace got most of them untill I could no longer walk around the fireplace or even get to it to start a fire and now they all wind up in the trash..
Doesn't Sarge use them in his yearly gift-making effort for needy kids? I seem to remember that he and a group of other WWers make dozens and dozens of Christmas gifts which they donate. I think they decide in September or so what their project of the year will be and off they go.
I'll drop him a line, get him to pitch in here.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
I used to save a lot of cut-offs. Currently I am trying to break out of my pack rat thinking. I have come to realize that I spend much too much time going through the saved stuff, looking for just the right piece. I'll still save substantial pieces (to be assessed on the spot, no specific specs), and discard the rest. This winter I am burning off much of my collection in the fireplace. BTW, I don't woodwork for a living. I do other stuff to support my taste for woodworking!
I glue mine up and make toys,bowls, knobs etc.
In that case I can see the value of saving them. My projects usually call for bigger pieces than most of what I have saved.
I don't keep soft woods or red oak anymore..
Gee I love RED OAK.. What's wrong with me?
There's nothing wrong with oak, it's just so readily available and inexpensive that saving off-cuts becomes more of a burden, especially sifting through the piles to find the right piece. It also reminds me of cheaper projects (quick moneymakers) that I'd sooner forget about.
Figure out how to get the red oak to the Colorado Front Range and you could make some real money.
Ells
I am pretty ruthless about keeping my scraps cleaned out; I have 3-4 people who gladly accept whatever hardwood scraps I have -- for their fireplaces. I cut everything up so it will fit into a paper grocery sack, and truss it up. Sometimes they use it for kindling, but some just throw the whole sack into the fireplace. As somebody else said -- don't include anything that has been glued, any softwoods, and especially, no treated wood. I give all my planer shavings (except walnut) to people who keep horses. Apparently, it is prized as bedding, since they are always willing to pick it up when I have accumulated 2-3 garbage bags.
This is just out of curiosity, but why not walnut?
Apparently walnut can harm horses, but I have a waiting list for my walnut chips - it prevents seeds from germinating, which makes it ideal mulch for rose beds where the only seeds are weeds. ________________________Charlie Plesums Austin, Texashttp://www.plesums.com/wood
I keep the shavings for mulch. I think I read somewhere that only black walnut is bad for horses, no horses here, so I pour it all in.
Thank for posting.
benchdog
Got an e-mail from FG alerting me of your problem with the left-overs. A local group effort turns out over 600 Xmas toys for the needy for several years now. But, that is a finely tuned group of not only volunteer WW's, but civic minded folks with various skills with time to contribute. Graphics, engineers, etc., etc. It takes on the project early August collecting and sorting and then analyzing what you got and what you can do with it. Then the WW's take over and run 14-16 hour days with their other jobs till just before Xmas. Distribution to the various outlets that can get it to those kids in need gets it a few days before Xmas and play Santa.
This is time consuming and requires co-ordination from August till Xmas. Just a labor of love for those that have the time and willing to make the effort. The only reward is a kid that has nothing to smile about smiling.
May I suggest checking to see if their are local "Scroll-saw Clubs" as their are here in Atlanta. They may be interested. Also check with Cub and Brownee groups as the size you mention could be the making of bird-houses or other similar sized small projects that kids of that age can handle. The local industrial arts teachers could be a source of deposit, even though that seems to be a vanishing breed as the main emphasis seems to be computer oreinted instead of what we had when we were in school.
As suggested before me, if you can't find any sources donate them to family's in need that have a wood-burner of some nature. I hate to see it happen as I hate wasting anything, but you are faced with reality at a certain point. I build mostly with others scrap at this point. But most is larger than what you mentioned. I donate simple stuff like tables, stands, shelving, etc. to various shelters that don't care if it's red oak or mahogany. Function is their criteria, not grain matching or elaborate joints. They're just happy to get it. :>)
Good luck in your journey...
Regards...
sarge..jt
Proud member of the : "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Thank you Sarge and forestgirl for the info. Your suggestion is something that had eluded me, I had never thought about donating the pieces to the boy scouts. I will contact a friend who is a scout master and see if he wants them. At this point I'm willing to part with all of them.
Thank you once again, great advise.
Keeping or not all depends on the wood. Expesnive and figured wood like Tiger maple I use for handles and keep most of it. Rockhard maple and birch I'll keep for engineering type use-like camera supports. The rest of it I'll sort out and keep the longer ones-usually two feet or more.
Everything else goes into bins for camping. I've got it down to where I'll take a couple of Staples file boxes packed with cutoffs and clear packing tape tying it into a tight bundle. Then when I'm camping I can quickly build a fire-(that is the envy of all the duffers trying to burn half drid split logs they've just paid $6 for)-and as I'm building the fire I can still do a final sort and take home any pieces that I changed my mind about. I never burn plywood, MDF or anything glued.
If you have too many unusable short ends you're not a pack rat you just aren't camping enough.
Benchdog,
If you didn't already know it, cherry is great for smoking meats. When a chunk of cherry gets too small to be of any use, it goes in the box for my smoker. Maple is also good for smoking, but you have to be careful not to use too much -- it's smoke is pretty strong.
Regards,
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting
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Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Good idea. Now all I need is an ordinance variance, a permit, pay the fees, buy a smoker, buy some meat and cherry, and I'm in business!
"Good idea. Now all I need is an ordinance variance, a permit, pay the fees, buy a smoker, buy some meat and cherry, and I'm in business!"
Well! You don't have to get all testy on me!
lol
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Netsuke and lace bobbins.
Probably explains why my cutoffs go down to 8cm.
Saw some netsuke in woodwork magazine, pretty amazing stuff. Got pics?
Bill and Jeff got me really hungry, got to go raid the fridge!
Ah...
The reason (or one of them) my cuttoff bin is full is that Netsuke are a bit of an aspirational project.
I used to do carvings this size but mostly things like horses and small animals when I was a young Infantry officer. They lived in my right hand basic pouch and one blade of my knife was at carving sharpness. I am not sure what happened to them all because none have survived. I thought that I would start again by trying to replicate the Belgian chocolate sea shells.
As for the lace bobbins - 10 minutes work and the great aunts think I've earn't another scone.
Most of the small offcuts actually turn into little boats and obscure spacecraft with many guns and arials (wire nails).
Bill
I'm an avid pheasant hunter, and smoke all my pheasant with cherry cutoffs. Outstanding!! Just writing about it is making me hungry.
Jeff
I've only had pheasant stewed, but smoked sounds very tasty as well. Isn't it tough?
benchdog
As long as you don't dry it out too much, then it isn't too tough. I (o.k., my wife!!) cut it into small pieces, and a box of Club crackers, and I'm in heaven. Wash it down with your favorite beverage (suds) and your ready for anything.
Jeff
J,
The only hunting I do is to hunt for the right size turkey and then grab a big butt -- er, ah Boston butt -- well, the pork variety. Am I getting myself in deeper here???
I noticed someone asked if your pheasant gets dry when smoking. I wouldn't know what do with pheasant. I get the cheapest turkeys I can find (usually $0.58/pound at WallMart). Then I brew up a marinade with citrus (orange, lemon and lime) plus cajun-type seasonings and let that cook for a while. I strain the marinade, add some butter and inject it into the bird just as I put it in the smoker. Keep the smoke rolling and the temperature around 275 for 10-12 hours and the meat is juicy and falls off the bones!!!
Yeah, I'm drooling too!!!
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Bill
Oh Yeah!! I used to make up my own brine to soak the pheasant, and salmon, over night in a bucket. Now, I buy ready mixed brines (they have several, depending on your taste buds) from Gander Mountain, a hunting and fishing store very common in the midwest. I love smoked pheasant and salmon!! My mouth is watering, so I'm off to the fridge!!
Jeff
Oh, yeah....we've done a brined turkey also. Very heavy brine with lots of citrus in the solution as well. Since I'm basically a very lazy person, I experimented with the marinade I described earlier and found it got about the same results.
Hey, if'n youse is ever down this way, mebbe we should get together. Ain't no way I'm headin' into the North Country...
lol
Bill Arnold - Custom Woodcrafting Click Here if you're interested in a good,inexpensive website host.
Food for Thought: The Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Bill
I only head north and west, but hopefully I'll run into you at Montanafest. It sounds like a lot of fun. Let me knows iffin youse gonna beese dere. I'll brings da pheasant.
Jeff
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