Ok, I know this is an issue that everyone of us deals with one time or another and I definitely need some intelligent (?) insight here. Over the many years that I have done woodworking, I have always been a bit of a packrat with any cutoff pieces from projects. Now with more of the detailed models being done, I find that I have boxes and 5 gal pails of 1/16" 1/8" 3/8" and so on pieces of all sorts of species that I assume I will use, maybe, in some future project. I finish a project, clean up the shop and carefully toss the cutoffs into a bucket or a box, knowing in my heart I might need them in the next project. Sometimes I do; most times I don't.
I will also say some of the pieces are small, say 2x2" or stripes of 1/8" thick and maybe 12 inches long. What I have found is while I am working on a new project, I usually don't use any of those saved pieces because I dont know where the hell they are. SO, here is my question: What you all do with these bits and pieces? I can safely say that there are strips and pieces in my wood rack that are years old but never really used.
I AM A HOARDER and I NEED HELP. My shop is 24x26 and there are at least TEN 5 gal buckets with cutoffs, various cardboard boxes fulfilling the same purpose, and a portable wood rack that holds things I don't even know about. I don't have a fireplace or woodburing stove. But I just can't seem to bring myself to dump them.
Though you do models and can use small bits, I don't, but I still save most anything over 3" in length (with the grain).
I have a lot of sturdy small boxes, about 14"x10"x10". I keep same-species wood in each box if it will fit, Some woods (namely walnut), I have a box for < 1/4", 1/4" to 1/2", 1/2" to 3/4", etc. Having them separated by species makes it easy to find the small bits that can be used in a project. Exotics are all more or less kept together, but for the ones I don't recognize, I'll write in pencil the species.
Longer thin scraps are stored on a shelf, bigger scraps are stored in 55-gallon plastic barrels, separated by species.
It is OCD and getting out of hand, but at the start of every heating season I'll cull out wood for the stove.
mine are stored in these bins above my miter saw bench by species. i only save pieces that are about a foot long. exotic woods ill go down to about several inches, anything shorter usually gets tossed.
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
If we lived in a bigger city, I'd make my money bundling these cutoffs into "craft-packs". Kinda like what they do with shrink wrapped firewood., four 4" x 16" pine "logs" for $5.
I'm a saver and recently got more organized - have mine sorted into plastic totes by type. This past weekend I needed some walnut so looked through the two containers (haha...little extra for my favorite walnut). Found a section of book matched left from a prior project plus some smaller sections for support pieces that were attached on the back...and ended up with this birthday present for my pup.
Nice addition in our garage and was from "leftovers." So supports my habit of keeping cutoffs.
that is awesome barb !!! he, she seems to being paying respect to those that have left maybe ? so how did you cut it out, scroll saw, and what was the material for the silouette ?
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Papa I used to keep them in 5 gallon buckets according to species. Sometimes I would weed through just to thin the herd. I mean how many White Oak offcuts do ya need?
To thin them I would try to make a smallish project of them, box, cutting boards, set of wooden coasters, for a quick gift.
Not sure when but about 10 years ago I quit doing by species, and started keeping them by color range. A lot of time ya need a little chunk of something dark to use for a?????????? Not necessarily a particular species.
I find going by color I use them a lot more, because you can decide on the color you want, then all you need to do is look for pieces of just about the right size. Pull 3 or 15 of them out, sort through them looking at what ya already have, and then try to tie in grain matches, or direct opposites.
he, she seems to being paying respect to those that have left maybe ? so how did you cut it out, scroll saw, and what was the material for the silouette ?
Actually, was hot here in Missouri so she was ready to head inside to the AC.
The silhouette is a 3D print that I attached with CA (taped off few areas when applied the oil so it would stick to the raw wood). Did the same on a water dish holder that we repainted. So many great prints on Bambu Makerworld.
every few years I throw away, or give away, all the little pieces I think I will need someday, that someday hasn't been here yet, but the little boxes of scraps keep coming.
There's roosters laying chickens,and chickens laying eggs... John Prine
I too have found it difficult to lessen the cutoff boxes, shelf etc. However I and most of you are mere amateurs compared to my daughter and her friends who are knitters! Boxes, closets, shelves full of unused yarn. Makes my cutoffs seem almost a mere handful. Saw the same at the knit shop she goes to, back room absolutely full, stuffed with left over yarn from past projects. So compact and dense no one knows for sure what is there. At least my cutoffs are where I "might" use them! Makes me feel okay with it.
I filled two 5 gallon buckets and this container twice today. Gave offcuts to two different people.
They got Black Walnut, Black Cherry, Sapele, curly maple, cypress, heart pine, and other stuff. It came from here: Doesn’t look like I made a dent!
Also gave away a number of turning tools, a Craftsman 6” diameter dado set, a Grizzly slow-speed wet grinder, and some turning bowl blanks. Trying to redistribute stuff I’m not likely to ever use.
