Gad, I have to clean the shop - inundated with cut-offs I can't part with

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  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    Gad, I have to clean the shop - inundated with cut-offs I can't part with

    I hauled most of them out onto the patio. Here are the piles. I think I still have one more box.
    It's come to the point where I have piles of scrap woods and No clean space to work on. Moving piles of scraps back and forth from the table saw to the router to the jointer to be able to use one tool
    And jigs I made, test joints and little assemblies that look too cool to dump

    I think I need to toss out 2/3 of this at least.

    Anyone else have this problem? What do you do about it? Scrap bin organizer?
    Attached Files
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 02-08-2021, 01:46 PM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions
  • Jim Frye
    Veteran Member
    • Dec 2002
    • 1051
    • Maumee, OH, USA.
    • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

    #2
    The smaller the shop, the bigger the problem. When we moved to the new home, I was faced with a similar problem. I tossed all but the best and longest of what was cluttering my shop. It was painful, but it had to be done. Now four years later, even with a larger shop, I'm beginning to find the stuff piling up again. The wood rack in my shop is beginning to fill with short scraps. One guideline I'm going to try is to cull the leftovers of each project when it's finished. Another thing I'm going to do is toss anything less than 16" long or less than 3" wide. I tried to offer my scraps to a local composting/mulch company, but it was not worth it to them.
    Jim Frye
    The Nut in the Cellar.
    ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

    Comment

    • twistsol
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2002
      • 2893
      • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
      • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

      #3
      Sadly, I just keep building bigger woodshops.
      Chr's
      __________
      An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
      A moral man does it.

      Comment

      • Dedpedal
        Established Member
        • Feb 2020
        • 255
        • Palm Coast Florida
        • One BT3000 in use and one for parts. Plus a BT3100

        #4
        Find someone like me who is still learning and honing skills. One mans scrap is another’s treasure. I get lots of pieces from a friend who builds custom guitars. Once I have cut them to the point of fire pit time I give them to a lady who burns them.

        Comment

        • cwsmith
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 2737
          • NY Southern Tier, USA.
          • BT3100-1

          #5
          I keep all kinds of cut offs, left over scraps of ply, pine, red oak, and even some hardwood floor scraps. They're here there and everywhere, and I do only a handful of projects compared to most members here. You just never know when a smaller piece might serve a new need.

          Several years ago, at the Painted Post house, I came upon a bunch of unfinished hardwood flooring at the beginning of the on ramp to the highway. It appeared someone took the corner too fast and dumped more than a dozen or so pieces and didn't bother to go back and pick them up. I stopped in and in just a few minutes time had them in the back of the van. My wife thought I was nuts as some pieces were damaged. But, I made a bench top cross-cut jig to use with my circular saw, and I put together two, foot-wide or so panels which I've used for everything from a portable bench top to loading ramps for the van. Nice when I need to take the snow blower for service or transport the lawn mower.

          Scraps are a great benefit for those times when the imagination is working and you don't want to cut up new stock,

          CWS
          Last edited by cwsmith; 02-08-2021, 08:05 PM.
          Think it Through Before You Do!

          Comment

          • capncarl
            Veteran Member
            • Jan 2007
            • 3564
            • Leesburg Georgia USA
            • SawStop CTS

            #6
            CWS, I do the same thing with my cut off scraps, using them as proof of concept before I cut up good wood only to find out it wasn’t what I needed. My compound sliding miter saw cabinet base is used for nothing but cut-off storage...... and it is full and running over.

            Comment

            • capncarl
              Veteran Member
              • Jan 2007
              • 3564
              • Leesburg Georgia USA
              • SawStop CTS

              #7
              Last year I cut out a box of pen blanks from my scraps for one of our forum members. That didn’t account for much of my scraps, but it helped.
              For Christmas presents I used up some more scraps making wooden butter spreaders with a companion slice of bread shaped wood. Really well recieved gifts.
              I also used up a bunch of scraps trying to make wooden pie servers. When I finally got the combination of curve of handle, handle size and size of server to my satisfaction I eliminated quite a bit of scrap wood. Click image for larger version

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              Comment

              • LCHIEN
                Internet Fact Checker
                • Dec 2002
                • 20914
                • Katy, TX, USA.
                • BT3000 vintage 1999

                #8
                I like those. Looks time consuming, though.
                Loring in Katy, TX USA
                If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                Comment

                • LCHIEN
                  Internet Fact Checker
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 20914
                  • Katy, TX, USA.
                  • BT3000 vintage 1999

                  #9
                  cut offs good for
                  • testing router profiles, techniques
                  • testing finish on like wood species
                  • testing branding iron temperature and dwell times and technique on like wood species
                  • testing table saw
                    • dado width
                    • dado or grooving cut depth
                    • rip width
                    • blade tilt angle setting
                  • testing router
                    • depth
                    • fence distance
                    • cut technique
                  • Drill press setup
                  • Testing joinery setup and techniques -dovetail, mortise/tenon, Kreg pocket holes, but, half laps, etc.
                  • Backup pieces to prevent tearout while routing, drilling
                  • support pieces when drilling of working on uneven items that need a fixed height support under one end to make them level.
                  • Measurement transfer "story sticks"
                  • Capn Carl says paint stirrers
                  Last edited by LCHIEN; 02-11-2021, 01:14 AM.
                  Loring in Katy, TX USA
                  If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                  BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                  Comment

                  • capncarl
                    Veteran Member
                    • Jan 2007
                    • 3564
                    • Leesburg Georgia USA
                    • SawStop CTS

                    #10
                    Add paint stirrers to your good for list!

                    Comment

                    • Pappy
                      The Full Monte
                      • Dec 2002
                      • 10453
                      • San Marcos, TX, USA.
                      • BT3000 (x2)

                      #11
                      I'd offer to take them off your hands but i would have to build another outbuilding to put them in.
                      Don, aka Pappy,

                      Wise men talk because they have something to say,
                      Fools because they have to say something.
                      Plato

                      Comment

                      • LCHIEN
                        Internet Fact Checker
                        • Dec 2002
                        • 20914
                        • Katy, TX, USA.
                        • BT3000 vintage 1999

                        #12
                        Tossed out about trash can's worth. Still working on it.

                        Click image for larger version

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                        Loring in Katy, TX USA
                        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                        Comment

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