11 Uses for Useless Wood Scraps
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- Опубликовано: 24 ноя 2024
- If you're like me you have lots of tiny bits of wood scraps piling up in your shop. In this video I give you some things to make with that scrap that will make your woodshop experience even better. And if nothing else, I give you things to consider when deciding whether to keep it or burn it and make s'mores.
Check out www.handtoolschool.net for more in depth instruction and woodworking projects. 
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Those small pieces are what I use the most for my projects. Almost nothing goes to waste. Pure gold! 👍
AMAZING tips! I am a beginner (building a birdhouse for my father: Accidentally made it a tad too big lol but it's looking great still).
Since I started woodworking this summer and getting more and more into it I have noticed wood lying around in the streets or on someone's property so I would ask if it's ok to take it. Pretty much 100% of the time people are happy for me to take it but it's amazing the quality of a lot of the wood is. Practically brand new a lot of it. Most just have some pen or pencil marks on them which can easily be sanded off and eventually dried out.
So I have become somewhat of a hoarder now so this video was PERFECT for some ideas. Perhaps as a beginner I'm thinking too far ahead but all these little bits ( and some are quite small like a couple of centimeters) seem like they could be useful in the future either for joints, decoration or clamp fastening.
TY for the great video mate. Got a new sub. All the best from the UK : ]
I glue all my scrap strips and blocks into a giant block, cut them down into uniform sized strips, and glue them back together to form solid boards. Mainly use them as temporary storage shelf tops.
Thanks Shannon. When I first started woodworking, I had no scraps. I had to buy or go scrounge for everything and it used to irritate me to no end when people would post a huge, beautiful project and say, "Oh I just threw this together with scraps I had laying around." It destroyed my language. Now I have buckets full of which one is for the burn pile. I can't tell you how many times I've picked a scrap out of the burn bucket and used it for a project, a practice piece or setting up a tool. haha. Thank you for some great ideas and for helping me realize I'm not crazy if I start another bucket.
I tell my students when buying for a specific project to always add one more board. Certainly it pays off if mistakes happen but if nothing else you end up building the scrap pile that can save you in a pinch years down the road.
Yeah me too. And one day a guy said, you know pallets are oak. I didn't know. So I became aware of all the trash and what was what. If you want scrap you just need to dumpster dive and curb pick. Shamelessly. And then, pretty soon, you have way too much.
I’ve used many pieces of discarded wood as sacrificial fences, backing for a piece being drilled and sometimes bracing. My general rule is the burn/trash bucket is emptied once it is full. That takes a while when I’m pulling from it.
My scrap wood is placed into a gift box made of pine, finger jointed, with nice base and lid 18"x18" and given to kids, or parents for the kids. I only include "blocks" that would not fit into mouths, or used for "weapons", I sand the edges a bit to make them safe for small hands. The scraps then become special imagination toys, or firewood when the kids grow up and the boxes become "treasure boxes" I have great reports from parents and grand parents regarding the special times that kids have creating special works etc. I hate to burn my scap and when it over flows my storage I add it to the gift box. I usually have one or two available to give or fill with those scraps that I just cannot bring myself to burn.
VERY cool idea! Sincerely that is awesome. Blocks: the original and still champion toy.
Always nice to see a video of yours pop up in my subscription feed. 👍🏼
The info and creativity is rapid in this video. Ice saved this because I'll probably watch it 10 more times.
🤯 I’ve listened to wood talk for a long long time, I always wanted to sub to Shannon’s YT channel but never searched for it. Today YT suggested this video and I started watching when suddenly I recognized the voice! I immediately subscribed. I’m sorry it took me so long Shannon but I’m finally here. 😍
usually WoodTalk loses me subscribers so thanks for going against tradition.
@@RenaissanceWW What’s even weirder is that you look exactly like I imagined.
I had 23 totes of small scrap wood in my storage shed. My wife asked me to build a kitchen island for her. I had 1 tote left after making it with butcher block counter and sides. She was thrilled!
wow you have more patience than me for a project like that.
As a hoarder of small scraps🙂I thought I had a good grasp of how to use them effectively but your examples took it to a whole 'nother level and i learned a good few tips i hadn't considered so thanks so much for the vid! 👍👍
happy to enable your scrap hoarding.
As a newbie in woodworking class, i raid the burn box everyweek. Some great exotic woods, glue up, and soft woods. I am also a crafter painter..so i upcycle into nice little gifts..or add to outdoor art. Great ideas here..thanks
one additional use I've had is saving stuff for edge banding with veneered plywood. Any small oak or hickory scraps are automatically kept (shavings included) for the grill (same with cedar plank size pieces). great video Shannon! Always appreciate your insights and knowledge.
some great tips and suggestions. I use all mine for a million other reasons, but I have a piece of holly that would make great dowels and inlays like you showed. Sometimes I just want to putter around the shop for a few minutes after dinner, which is always an opportunity to tinker with scraps!
Great video with so many practical applications for scraps. However, some might say there is no such thing as scrap wood, only off cuts that haven't found their application yet. I have a very small shop and I don't do woodworking every day, so I am still hanging on to even the smallest off cuts because I know I will find a use for them at some point. Then, of course, we can always laminated small pieces together to make larger stock for larger projects. Set your imagination free, everyone. Blessings, Glen
Great video!
I used some scrap to make taller wedges at 15, 20 and 25 degrees for checking my angles when hand sharpening.
good use! It is incredibly how accurate you can be with just setting those in your line of sight.
Loved your opening sentence 🤣. I'm into my 7th year in the third Menzshed where we live on NZ 🇳🇿
I always say that there's no such thing as scrap wood...I just haven't found a use for it yet.
I use offcuts etc in making model cars and trucks to give to Playcentres, New Entrant classrooms.. kindergartens etc..up to ,#120+ now....all different as they depend on my imagination and whatever wood is available.
"Happiness is a sharp bandsaw or Forstner bit."
Good ideas. I usually make these things as needed rather than store all this stuff. Half the time I don’t know where I put it. But I do save virtually every piece.
I LOVE 'scrap' and use some most days. Thanks for some fresh ideas!
I really like this video, great practical uses for woodworkers, and practical ideas on limiting what you like to keep. Excellent. this channel is one of my favorites 😃
Yup ... You have now allowed me to justify keeping tidbits of wood !
Really good info.
Here's a good use for plywood scraps. I will glue up a stack of 6 three quarter pieces (cut to any shape you want) and use it for a sacrificial push block on the table saw. I use my scrap hardy board to create the hook on the back of the push block.
I work in wood shops and all my usable material is scraps from projects at my jobs. The pieces I’ve found in the dumpster is unreal. Obviously not gonna be making a dining room table, but good size keepsake boxes, end grain cutting boards, pizza peels, etc.
But I’m guilty of holding on to the smallest pieces…but have used them for splines.
:)
Really thin scraps are great for stirring stain!
@@mammothfilms yup. Do that too lol. Well not stains but finishes in general.
:)
One of my motivations as a woodworker is making something useful and beautiful out of material that other regard as worthless. It's why I prefer repairing or upgrading furniture to making new. And it's also why I design and design based more on the wood and materials that I have on hand
The collection of setup/jig/pattern/profile scraps become much like that mysterious ring of 100 keys the school janitor used to have hanging from his side. I try to make sure to stop and write notes on them right away (the retractable clicker type extra fine sharpie pens work great for this) too. Usually date, orientation, any useful dimensions or angle information. Also drilling a 5/16” hole allows me a convenient/consistent means of hanging them up on a few 1/4 dowels that are set into a board on one of the walls. Keeps them from getting brushed away into the bin because if they aren’t put away immediately, the writing on them helps to ensure you see them when you reset your workspace before moving forward.
I glue scraps together and make tool handles or just recently had a bunch of very thin (under 1/4” ) scraps that i glued to make fancy wooden coasters with a leather backing.
Lots of good ideas here. I was recently given a desk that needs drawer pulls. I've got a roughly 40 gallon drum of scraps that I can go through for material.
Thanks for this. You've just given me justification for never throwing anything out.
Great video with some great ideas. Thanks for sharing this one, Shannon. Now I gotta go check out all the scraps in the shop and see what I can use and cull.
Those set-up guides blew my mind. Setting the Stanley 45 or 50 will be much faster.
Thank you for this video. In the UK wood is very expensive so I loathe to throw even the smallest pieces away. In a small working space of 54 square feet it soon becomes an issue.
You highlighted some great uses.
Another excellent video worth watching fully! Just whist a list was provided to ref! But still worth my time to watch! Thanks Columbus Michigan 🇺🇸
Thank you, couple things I had not thought of, will put them to use.
Hey Shannon! Fantastic ideas… how do you go about organizing these more obscure jigs and such…. Loved the coffee canister for the dowels! My worry is losing them in the inevitable clutter that is my basement lol
I hang on to everything. In the end it’s always nice to have wood for beadlock tenons, shims, dowels or if you have tiny say, 1/2x1/2x3.
Make a checkerboard trivet, or coaster or something.
Why I hold on to tiny bits of cheap plywood. Now that’s the real question. Or sandpaper that is maybe 8 more spins of life in it.
However my proudest off cut. Held on to a 2x2x4 of white oak. I turned it into a cane for an ailing family member. She uses is daily. I can die happy knowing that not only was I right to hold onto scrap wood, it increased the quality of life of a family member. So, hurray for me. Wife left me alone after that. 😂
Thank you so much, Renaissance Ww!
Your little rules at the end may have saved my marriage! 🙏🏻
I have just subscribed 👍🏻
Awesome. Now I have to find somewhere to keep all the 'useful' things I'm going to make from the scraps tho...
Thanks for the tips Shannon - I'm just finishing up my new shop space and have to move all my tools and scrap hoard over to it this weekend. Will be purposely thinking about this because some of these scraps I've had for 10+ years. Since I've not used it in that long, probably no need to keep it any longer.
I have a table builder in my area (denmark just to discourage any questions of an address) He gather all off cuts and then open his scrap room on a random Saturday - but a scale in and a table with price per species per KG. I get smoked oak, walnut, wenge etc for small turning projects, plugs, contrast wood and some larger pieces actually some nice real projects out of. Maybe just make a few bags and sell them off to woodworkers that cannot get hold on large pieces of interesting wood. Pen Turners especially buy allot from this table builder.
I have several small pieces that I have cut as setup blocks to duplicate the setup of a cut that I did in the past.
Thanks for thinking of all of us scrapaholics! I managed to use up some white pine making a set of "lincoln" logs. I can still make a whole city! :)
I have also considered making a set play blocks with hardwood.
My scrap wood management is basically what you ended up saying, I have to walk past the waist can to get to the scrap box.
I think I'll go have a rummage through my scrap box today... 😁
I make a lot of arts & crafts furniture with white oak. I end up with a lot of small pieces of oak that I can't figure out what to do with them. But I also have a smoker, and I smoke brisket and short ribs. Real pieces of white oak. Nice cuts of brisket. What could go wrong? NOTHING!!!!! 😄
I'm lucky enough to have worked building cabinets for a few years now. And it hurts my heart to throw out wood. I have scraps piled in every space of the shop, in my garage, and even a wall in my storage building. I am especially crazy for wild grain patterns. I have piles of strips from walnut and white oak especially that I swear ill use for inlays on something one of these days. Don't guess I'll stop anytime soon
Thanks. I use Lowe's 5 gallon buckets for small scrap/cutoffs. When it gets full, I cull.
You are not the only one!
Some great ideas, Shannon. Thanks!
This was awesome Shannon
I just made a chaotic patern board. It was a lot of fun and all the planing and re cutting and planing again eats up a TON of scrap
Thanks for the great video. I am just starting woodworking and find that I have a lot of 'scraps'. I keep a 5 gal. bucket next to my table saw and it fills up quite quickly. Now that I see how useful they are I will be more selective in terms of what goes to the fire pit.
I use scraps for checking stop block (another use for scraps!) positions. Cut a piece of scrap to check for the correct cut length dimension of the stop block before cutting the project piece. Saves from making more scrap unintentionally.
You hit on my dilemma. I had my small scrap problem pretty much under control - my woodstove is right next to my table saw. Then I discovered really small woodturnings. I make Angel earrings. They are about 5/16" in dia. and about an inch long and are made of 4 pieces of wood (main body - maple, halo - darker wood, 3/8" disc 1/16" thick, 2 wings same dark wood as halo, paper thin, 5/16 long, 1/4"wide. I also make bells - 5/16" dia. 1 1/8" - 1 1/4" long, 3 pieces - bell, handle, clapper. I can make several from a 1/2" scrap a few inches long.
Sounds really cool and it reminds me of when I started turning pens and was keeping EVERYTHING. I later figured out that plain grain on such a small scale as a pen wasn't very interesting and that helped me to stop saving every piece of scrap and focus on the really interesting species and/or grain patterns.
Great ideas Shannon, thanks!
A table top made to look like a quilt would be interesting. You can get books on quilt patterns.
I save every piece of scrap (even thick shavings) for a particular project until the project is complete. There have been times when I need to fix a 'mistake' or whatever and its nice to have wood that matches with the same color and grain.
Then I'll throw out the 'useless' stuff.
absolutely, the best way to fix a loose tenon is by gluing the cheek back on that you just cut off.
That's wonderful info about scrap wood , thanks 😊.
Thanks for the tips, and the great ideas!
I have a scrap wood problem sadly but I can change, maybe, if I have too. LOL Great video!
I picked up several dozen 3/4-1” wide rip off-cuts from a flooring company. They became many laminated cutting boards.
Ha, Ha. I have 'BOXES' and bins of the stuff. I have made a few tools and jigs, ( and your saddles from moons ago), but you are right. I need to be strong and dump 3/4 at least. I'll think about it tomorrow 😉😉
Never dump it as it can be made into something.
I love this craft
Useful tips - I have a room full of scraps and I’m moving to England and would like to use some of it……
I’m a woodworker three times over by virtue of that opening line (plus my wall…)
Cauls! I usually have to cut scraps to fit or else you have some unwieldy piece hanging over the edge of your glue up. Clamp pads. Who doesn’t have clamps missing the pad it came with. Marquetry, yes, save every piece. Practice drill holes, does that dowel fit tight? Sawdust filler. Save up ground up hardwoods by species in jars for making you own wood filler. A cheep coffee grinder works great for this. Odd ball pieces can be glued up to make interesting bow blanks; knobs; handles etc. the applications are endless.
My rule of thumb is that if it can't go through the planer, it generally gets tossed. The probability of lucking out and having it be the right width to match another project exactly is low. The exception is the super expensive stuff that can be an inlay, or decorative part.
that exception is what gets me in trouble. Especially since I started messing with marquetry.
Fascinating, most of it was a bit complicated for me, as I don’t even own a plane (yet!)
Start today 👍.
Our just turned 3 y o grandson Loves getting into what passes for my garage work space where he arranges things . develops his hand-eye coordination and knows the names of tools. For his birthday 🎉 I gave him a 150mm steel ruler..cos he knows his numbers..and a very small C clamp. He's So proud of them.
That's ok, get a saw. Much more useful than a plane.
I found I hoard scraps much more now that I mill by hand. When using a jointer, planer, and tablesaw it was much easier to throw away a small piece
Fantastique woodworking shop
Im fun to Ur work
My fireplace is perfect!
Thanks for the ideas.
Love all the hand tools though…..
I work in landscaping, we have a growing pile of 100mm (4") round poles anywhere from 600mm (2') to 1200mm (4') in length. I've butted them up to make planters, I've chiselled in half lap joints to make firepit edging, I've stood them on end and made small retaining walls.... but there's got to be something more exciting I can do with them? Any ideas? Anyone?
This video is LEGIT.
Thank you shannon
Saving for the next time my wife asks why I keep all this scrap :D
I use some of my scraps to do tests. It's always better to make any mistakes with test pieces.
I think this would be good here, now wait this is interesting, but I need it for this project, but......
You had me at scraps…
I think most of us are wood hoarders
Absolutely 🤗
ya know what, sometimes the smallest things are really big. I use walnut wedges on oak handles a lot. If you only knew what a pain it was making wedges the way I DID it. Thanks I'm making my bench hook now.
I used to have a planing jig to make wedges and then I realized that they just don't have to be that pretty or uniform. I've also found that sometimes I only want a single face wedge vs a double to direct the wedging force better. So now I just cut them as I need them on the bench hook like that.
I had one scrap box (cardboard like everyone else?), then thought I can't throw that away so had a scrap-scrap box with a view to total discipline. But that doesn't work, feels like an appeal on death row looking at that little piece of mahogany, so the only thing for it is a scrap-scrap-scrap box. Or, eventually, a sawdust box - Oh forgot I already have several packets of sawdust.
Just what I need. More reasons to save scraps...
LOL. Just kidding. Great to hear the way you break it down by "What is this (potentially) good for?" Very useful. I am (with good evidence) accused of hoarding. I have one of those minds that can think of a (potential) use for absolutely anything. Useful ability, but it can lead to a big mess if not harnessed and controlled... Thanks for sharing your perspective on the subject of what to keep and what to throw out. Got to have some kind of limits.
Is it hoarding or saving money. Is crazy what people throw away to literally just buy again. It's nice having a wear house I can go shopping in on my property. If you got the space. Some get to obsessed with their things though. And it becomes part of them. I say it's what ever makes you happy in life and if it raises your net worth also than cool beans
Scraps can be cut into pieces suitable for Segmented bowls for woodturners.
this requires a level of patience I don't have. But next time I have a bucket 'o scraps I'll drop it by the local woodturning guild for them to fight over.
Well done! At the pace of Roy Underhill! Ha!
without the spilled blood
good job
thanks
When building string instruments I save all the fall off until strings are on!
Yes to this. I maintain a scrap pile from the current project in a separate part of my shop and it has saved me countless times. Amazing how useful tenon cheeks can be.
The biggest issue as a woodworker (especially during/after Covid) is knowing where/how to store all your “scraps”. Bad habit though…you end up becoming a hoarder HAHA!
Its not hoarding if you use them...eventually. Look at it this way with COVID driven lumber inflation, its not hoarding, its investing.
how about practical tips for left handed wood workers?
learn to use both hands. That's my best tip for left and right handed woodworkers.
Much of mine goes for kindling in my wood stove. 😢
If you can't think of any use in the shop, shred it and add it to the compost pile.
Its not scrap if its still usable its crazy that in see so much lumber thrown away people think its scrape unless its a full size piece of lumber that they are going to cut up anyways. Unless your absolutely pressed for space, keep it. Every piece can be utilized either on a project or if your are 2 minutes away from freezing to death. And woods like fine wine only get better with age the longer you cant think of uses for it the better. IMHO.
Tools, tool handles, jigs, small frames, really the list is endless, and it just depends on downsizing the project-- 1/4 scale furniture? That used to be the way the apprentice proved himself. If you count crafts and hobbies like model making, almost no piece is too small. But when I worked in professional millwork, very little was kept. The amount of waste filled a 40 yard dumpster weekly. Mahogany and Spanish Cedar off cuts were tossed. It just wasn't economical for them to be kept. Forget about pine.
This is exactly why I tell woodworkers everywhere to reach out to millwork shops to source their lumber. So much good stuff going to waste and usually much bigger than what I would call "scraps"
@@RenaissanceWW Thanks brother! It's endless really, when you start to include downed trees. Millions of board feet of high quality wood is wasted by arborists, municipalities and so forth. I've done that work too, and that's when I realized where lumber comes from!
So my Makita electric chainsaw is my go to mill. It's easy to hand rip logs up to about a foot in diameter and less than 6' long, which takes care of all a furniture makers needs. Just snap a chalk line, keep the blade lined up and sweep the cut patiently. A regular blade works fine, and actually rip cuts more efficiently than it cross cuts, being "chisel tipped." Blessings of woodworking wisdom and success to you always!
thank
Shannon,
Two coments :
1. Scraps should have proper storage, just like anything else. When you run out of room and it piles up on the floor, throw it out!
2. I haven't kept up with your activities lately, glad to see you lost weight. I'm assuming / hope you did it with low carb dieting, so at least that's how you're keeping it that way. It's the only sensible, scientifically, safe way to do it. I'm still struggling with the problem. Need a gorilla to slap me to stop me from cheating. Carbs/sugar are just as addictive as alcohol, drugs or tobacco. I need support / inspiration whereever I can get it. If you remain succesful, it helps me.
I enjoy your videos, you are one of the better pundits who can deliver without a lot of stumbling, useless, folksy b.s..
Charge on!
Diet and exercise, no secrets here. Its been 4 years now without the extra weight.
No I don’t think so, I think most woodworkers have just as much if not more!
don't burn it chip it it makes great mulch!
How are they useless when you actually use them?
That seemed like a lot more than 11.
In the spirit of WoodTalk, I think the title of this episode should be “It acts as my Third Hand”
In all seriousness, I appreciate the tips!
I think the word "hairy" would have to go in there somewhere to make a true WoodTalk title.
👍