My wife says I need professional help...

[Chris Barton]

OK, so here's the problem. I can't trown away my scrap pieces of wood. I keep thinking, "sure, I will need a 1/16" by 4" piece of sycamore some day" and just can't bring myself to put it in the trash. My wife says I need to get professional help for this, as well as several behavioral problems I won't get into here. But, I keep telling her that all wood workers do this... right?

Chris

[Keith Hooks]

I hear you. The only scraps I've been able to throw away in good conscience are pieces of framing shims and tiny plywood cutoffs. If it's hardwood, I'm "sure" I'll find a use for it later.

[Jim Dunn]

Build a fire place:eek: But not out of the wood scraps:D

[Doug Shepard]

Is she insane??:confused: If she forces you to get rid of all that trash, I'll email you my shipping address and add it to my own pile of cant-throw-aways.;)

[Christian Aufreiter]

I even keep smaller pieces. Just throw the scrap pieces away and two days later you'll discover that you need some of them. :mad: :mad:

Regards,

Christian

[Steve Rowe]

Chris - I used to do this but no more. Some of your pieces I would keep but not many. I found I seldom used small pieces and they just took up valuable space. Additionally, looking back on all my woodworking accidents, every one of them started with a small piece of wood. :eek:

Steve

[lou sansone]

Chris - I used to do this but no more. Some of your pieces I would keep but not many. I found I seldom used small pieces and they just took up valuable space. Additionally, looking back on all my woodworking accidents, every one of them started with a small piece of wood. :eek:

Steve

I agree with steve on this one. good advise
lou

[Jason Tuinstra]

Chris, maybe we can get a group discount :p :D

[Tom Hintz]

Chris,
I am a professional (writer, she didn't say what discipline) and I refuse to help. I have to get back to restacking my scrap pile!

[Ron Robinson]

Chris,

I got myself one of those copper outdoor firebowls. Now I have a large box with all the small scrap in it and I tell SWMBO it is "firewood." She's happy and I have a new storage place in "her" part of the garage to store my small scrap. I may actually light a fire some day...

Ron

[yw shun]

1. Maybe you can update her on the price of different lumber these days.
2. Avoid mentioning the word "scrap" or replace it with word "curly" when you two are talking anything about the wood :)
3. Tidy up the place and cover up the smaller pieces in a box.

With all these done, probably the complaint will be gone.

Have i mentioned i even keep a few cups of fine sawdust which may become handy one day

[Glen Blanchard]

I hear ya. I even have a hard time tossing scraps of MDF!! Now how sick is that?

[Scott Parks]

Jeez, I've had scraps laying around for years. And I DON"T USE them. I keep a few (about 5 peices), just in case I need a small scrap, but I TOSS OUT THE REST. I know, lumber aint cheap anymore. If it's sheet goods, anything over 24" square is a keeper. Exotics are also keepers...

When I buy lumber for a next project, I have to buy enough to finish the project anyway, and end up with even MORE SCRAP.

A few months ago, I hauled away at least a half pickup load of odd's and ends scrap that I'll never use.... LOML was very happy...

[Alden Miller]

Done that, been there, still fight with myself to keep from getting overwhelmed by scraps. I had to do a couple major cleanups and set rules for minimum scrap sizes to keep it from getting out of control again.

One thing about belonging to a local woodworkers guild, you never have to throw scraps away. Just take them to a meeting and tell the guys there's free wood in the truck. Usually the truck is empty in just a couple minutes.

-Alden

[Mike Stanton]

I too keep all my scrap to much but I try to use as much as possible. If I ever move I will put out a sign free wood and someone will want most of it I think. :rolleyes: :D

[Michael Gabbay]

I keep pieces that are larger than a foot and use them for test cuts or clamp blocks. For certain hardwoods (cherry, walnut, maple) I'll keep most everything in a large box and use it for kindling in the winter. When the box fills up I throw out the scraps.

I was in the shop the other night thinking it was time to throw out larger scraps. Add that to the to-do list. :)

Mike

[Bob Noles]

Common hobby..... Common habits :cool:


I just know the right piece is in there someday when I REALLY need it.

[Kurt Aebi]

Twice a year, I hoe out the shop and take the scraps to my wife's cousin to use in his Maple Syrup evaporator! It is usually a full pick-up load - Each time!

[Chris Padilla]

Practice laminating your scraps together to make a bigger board...then you might find some use for it.

I try to toss anything smaller than a pen blank or if I can't get a pen blank out of the funny-shaped scrap. Scrap can also be useful for wedges, which I find a myriad of uses for around the shop.

[Don Baer]

And don't through away the sawdust. It can be mixed with a little glue and makes a fine wood putty....:D

[Lee DeRaud]

And don't through away the sawdust. It can be mixed with a little glue and makes a fine wood putty....:DBose Wave CD Player: $350
Woodworking Machinery Sound Effects CD: $18
Peltor 29dB Hearing Protectors: $25
A quart of sawdust on the floor: $0
An undisturbed afternoon nap: Priceless.
:cool:

[James Carmichael]

Maybe we should schedule a Creeker's scrap swap meet...or contact Dr. Phil with a suggestion for a future episode: "Hardwood Hoarders and the women who tolerate them". :eek:

[Dave Anderson NH]

There is no such thing as scrap anything. There are cutoffs, remnants, non-standard sizes, pen blanks, sample blocks, plaques and even a host of other combinations. It is an old tradition from colonial days to be thrifty-- you know, "waste not, want not." You just need some creative way of finding new places to store stuff.

[John Hemenway]

Scraps? NO! MDF on the hoof! Just needs a little processing...

[Charlie Plesums]

The shop instructor at the local middle school sure got excited when I asked if he wanted my scra... oops... off-cuts. Said he would take anything... even tiny pieces. Knowing they will have a good home, it is easier to "set that piece aside for the students. The trash can collecting the pieces for when school opens is getting quite a few contributions (including larger pieces of sapwood). We will see how he reacts when fall comes.

[John A. Williams]

I keep my scraps around also, just can't bear to throw them away. Also my son loves them. He is 8. His friends like to play (build) with them also.

John

[Tim Morton]

I put a fire pit up on my back deck....one a week or so I have a fire and that helps me toss away those small drops...

[Sam Blasco]

I have gotten professional help but the scrap piles grow larger every year. Don't bother. You never know when you'll need a 2 3/8" hole saw cut out. Leave it where it is.

[John Hart]

One day, I decided, "That's IT!! I'm throwing all this scrap away". (We're talking closets and cubby holes full of it) My wife said, "I can't believe you're throwing that away! Isn't there something you can do with it?" Back in the pile it went.

Well...I tried....once.:rolleyes:

[Jay Knepper]

Steve and Lou are right. No doubt about it.

But I feed my scraps to the fire pit only at the point of having to move tools out of the shop. Tools do come before scrap. One must have some standards.

[Charles McKinley]

Buy a lathe. ;)

They are now pen blanks and pieces for segmented turnings! There is now no piece over 1/2 X 2" or there abouts that cannot find a productive use. :D

Problem solved! :rolleyes:

[Michael Pfau]

Here is my take on this topic! I make alot of cutting boards in the winter with scraps that will work, they make great Christmas gifts. I also use the very small pieces for kindling for my stove. My Dad and a guy I work with smoke fish in the winter, and maple and cherry are great woods to smoke with, so I take a few hours and cut things up very small in the bandsaw, and deliver the wood, and in turn I recieve smoked fish, that is fabulous! Salmon, and Whitefish!!

[Lee DeRaud]

Scraps? NO! MDF on the hoof! Just needs a little processing...Feral toothpicks.
Free-range OSB.

[Pat Monahan]

I've tried to keep "leftovers" just in case I need something that small, but I just don't have the space in my 12 x 12 shed...er...um...shop. I make myself feel much better by taking all the oddball shaped pieces that are too small for anything and cutting plugs out of them.
Now if I just had a place to put a few dozen buckets of plugs...:p
Pat

[Alan Turner]

A local school shop is a great idea. but for the truly sick among us, a dowel plate will find a use from even the 1/8" by 1/8" offcuts. My step son and wife heat their whole house all winter in the Poconos with a wood burner, and my scrap is their favorite starter wood. Plus we have 2 fireplaces in the home. Still, I have too much.

Anyone want turning blanks as I oft have some 12/4 end cuts?

[Jay Kilpatrick]

The only thing I have is potential projects, and long build times. Now the LOML has drawn the line at adding any more logs to the garage collection facility :eek: !

[Jim Becker]

Is that all you have??? Sheesh! You're just getting started... ;)

Seriously, I started to get mine under control by setting some "standards" on what I'll keep around and what goes in either the trash or the kindling barrel. It's helped a lot and I'm a lot more comfortable throwing stuff away than I used to be.

[Jim Andrew]

This thread is a really good argument for heating your shop with a wood stove. I'm just afraid I'll start a fire in the shop.