Cleaning Shop, Saving Scraps: A Photo Essay

I have been working wood for only a few years, and I remember my early frustration with woodworking literature that always seemed to include the instruction, “Use a piece of scrap to…”   I never seemed to have any “scraps” of the right kind on hand. Perhaps that’s the reason I have become something of a scrap-rat. You never know when a project will call for that one bit of wood you just threw away.

And this is AFTER organizing them.

I just cleaned out my workbench area and carried away three big boxes of scraps that had been cluttering the workspace.  I have tried several methods of organizing “shorts” and “offcuts” (which sounds much nicer than “scrap,” right?), but no organization scheme lasts long.

The problem is that I have been able to make a number of useful things out of scraps and offcuts, including the following:

Hard maple kitchen spoons. One made from a 1 1/2" wide long piece, the other made from a 3" wide short piece.

Pecan handle for an old Witherby socket chisel.

Christmas ornaments, made from various hardwoods resawn and painted.

Small marking gauge made from bits of curly maple and purpleheart.

A set of dovetail markers, a different wood for each different angle, from 5:1 to 8:1.

A pair of miniature pecan mallets for my children.

However, for every scrap I use, there are twenty that just sit there for years.

Recently I’ve had to be honest with myself: “Realistically, how likely will I be to use this piece in the next two or three years?” The answer depends on several factors, typically considered in this order:

– Condition? Anything with deep checks, significant knots, or major tear-out goes to the burn-pile. Pecan scraps are nice for grilling.

– Softwood or hardwood? Pine scraps are the first to burn. I hesitate to discard hardwoods of distinctive colors, like maple, cherry, and walnut, since I can often cut little accent pieces from them. For example, I use walnut wedges for through-tenons in light-colored wood, and I don’t need to cut up a big piece for such a small wedge.  Plainer hardwoods such as oak and pecan are good firewood.

– Obvious use? I always save select hardwood scraps that might make good blanks for spoon carving, and I like to keep softwood stickers for stacking lumber. Thinner bits of softwood are good for blocking under clamps. I save hardwood scraps that are good candidates for tool making. I also keep anything wedge-shaped, since I often need wedges of various sizes.

– Dimensions? The longer it is, the more likely I am to keep it. I usually keep hardwoods that are over a foot long, and softwoods over two feet long. Any piece that is wider than it is long gets split up for firewood.

– Similar stock available? If I already have several, similar pieces on hand, I am more likely to throw a couple out.

Regardless, nothing but treated lumber scraps and plywood go in the trash. Discarded scraps become firewood. Each November I do a big scrap-purge when packing for our annual camping trip, so my next scrap culling is ten months away. At this rate, I’ll be able to keep the campfire going for a week.