what does everyone do with their exotic cutoffs?

[PaulMarcel]

Very impressive use of scrap, too, Peter.

 

[Stone Message]

Very impressive use of scrap, too, Peter.

Happy New Year Paul,

It is winter here in the UK and so we have a woodburner going in the evening. Laying up the fire with kindling originally from the workshop can be quite nostalgic - some of the pieces are quite old and may have been from some failed exeriment, a reject (never had a customer reject anything but I reject loads) or an accident (mostly without blood stains).

Peter

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

Hey Peter
             Great pics the gavel is a great idea my aunt is in the process of trying to become a judge right now and that would be perfect. Better wait until she makes it to give it to her though lol. I'm going to do more small things I usually make furniture and don't give much thought to the small things but I feel I've been missing out on some fun projects. I will post pics on this thread as I complete, others should do the same

 

[Oldwood]

I use mine for clamp handles although I don't build as many as I would like to. Not as pretty as some of the other options but very useful.

Gerry

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

Gerry
        Did you buy the threaded rods or make them? Clamps is a wonderful idea I think all would agree you can never have enough.

 

[Steve R]

Was I the only one that read the subject line and thought of pictures about Betty Page [eek]

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Kev]

Was I the only one that read the subject line and thought of pictures about Betty Page [eek]

Cheers,
Steve

I'm over 50 and I had to Google her ... I think we read different forms of literature  [big grin]

 

[Oldwood]

Gerry
         Did you buy the threaded rods or make them? Clamps is a wonderful idea I think all would agree you can never have enough.

Hi Kev,

I made the threaded rod. I used this wood threading kit from Lee Valley.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=41791&cat=1,43000

The clamps on the workbench are my favorites. Because of their shape they are very useful. If you clamp one on the top & bottom edge of a door with the long side in opposite directions you can lay the door on it's edge & work the hinge mortises without it falling over.
Beall has a book that is worth the money if you are going to get into wood threading. Lee Valley did carry at one time but I can't locate it on their site now.
http://www.bealltool.com/products/threading/book.php
As you say you never have too many clamps.

Gerry

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

Gerry
         Did you buy the threaded rods or make them? Clamps is a wonderful idea I think all would agree you can never have enough.

Hi Kev,

I made the threaded rod. I used this wood threading kit from Lee Valley.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=41791&cat=1,43000

The clamps on the workbench are my favorites. Because of their shape they are very useful. If you clamp one on the top & bottom edge of a door with the long side in opposite directions you can lay the door on it's edge & work the hinge mortises without it falling over.
Beall has a book that is worth the money if you are going to get into wood threading. Lee Valley did carry at one time but I can't locate it on their site now.
http://www.bealltool.com/products/threading/book.php
As you say you never have too many clamps.

Gerry

so you set it up with a router then feed it through the jig with the router on? is it easy to do? i have been trying to make a wooden spring for a mechanical piece of furniture and i think that rod could work well threaded down the middle to adjust the spring

 

[Oldwood]

Hi Charles,

It is easy to make the threaded rod once it is setup. You need good quality dowels & setting the depth of the router can be finicky if your router doesn't have a accurate depth adjuster.

The videos on this page for wood threading depict the process.
http://www.bealltool.com/instructions.php

Don't know where I got Kev on that last reply  ???

Gerry

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

hey gerry im gonna half to get me one of those.
here is a box i made today, my table saw motor went out so now the 2 projects i was working on are on hold so i can try some little things for the next week or so

 

[Oldwood]

Hi Charles,

That box looks good what did you use for finish? Looks like African Mahogany. I imagine table saw motors are not Cheap or plentiful in Anchorage or hardwoods for that matter. Hope you get it running soon. Did you try connecting the motor directly to the power to make sure it was not the switch that was the problem?

Gerry

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

gerry
        i sprayed 3 coats of minwax poly clear, as for the motor i think im am going to order a 5hp grizzly this week. im ready for an upgrade from my ridgid contractors saw only 1.5 hp and has a real hard time getting through some woods.as for getting wood in town there is a wonderful place called hardware specialties and they have a nice selection of exotics plus all the normal stuff(maple,oak,mahog,cherry etc) and if they dont have it they can get it in about a week or so. i asked them for a 9"wide 8' long piece of highly figured tigerwood that was straight and flat and i had it in days. im not sure what prices are down in the states but for example i would get wenge for about $18 per board ft.

 

[WoodChuckWoods]

so im just all about the scrap lately, here is a box from maple and walnut. it is made mostly on the router table, first time i tried this style of box. its not perfect but still looks nice i think. haven't made a dent in the scrap pile though it is fun and less stressful.

 

[jacko9]

Great question and one that I was going to post myself!  Well the last two days I cleaned out most of my "treasures" and filled my green waste container to be picked up tomorrow for recycling.  I'm not a wasteful person but, after finding that over one third of my storage space was filled with; shorts, narrow trim and lovely looking but defected boards, I decided that I needed to finally clean up and get on with it!  My shop only has so much space and after making all sorts of handles, butterfly inserts, drawer pulls, etc. I just had to overcome my aversion of waste and retrieve some space for working! I didn't totally waste all of it, I cut a lot of quarter sawn oak for BBQ smoke wood but, it pains me to throw away small chunks of rosewood, mahogany, walnut, bocate, etc!

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Do you have a lathe?  Segmented turning.

Thats Exactly what I do when my off cuts take up to much room. Here are a few pics of the segmented lamps i have made.

Those are awesome!  I'm really stunned by how they look!

 

[jacko9]

Since my first post on this topic I have come into contact with a local artist who does commissions, teaches art classes in the local school and teaches students in her studio.  She has agreed to take any and all scraps to teach students how to incorporate the various wood colors and textures into art projects.  I in return will receive a ocean scene oil painting to place over my dining room table.  Wood is not wasted and new contacts will be made by displaying some of my work in her studio. 

 

[Oldwood]

You turned your cutoffs into an oil painting!!!! Now that is an innovative use of cutoffs [eek]
Sounds like everybody wins.

Gerry

 

[Wood_Junkie]

I had a similar conundrum and couldn’t see throwing out small cutoffs of nice wood.  So, to save these dimes-worth of cutoffs… I dove into turning (hundred$$ invested when fully setup!)
I turned pens and such for about three years.  Sold close to a hundred to colleagues and friends, had them in the local arts/crafts store, and gave away a bunch as gifts and for fundraising auctions at my kids’ schools.  They were not out-of-this-world-blazing-exceptional, but they were nice and classic.  I get such a kick when one of my coworkers shows up at a meeting with theirs.  

But, all that time in front of the lathe got repetitious, and my neck would kill me for days from looking almost straight downward for hours.  I sold all my turning gear about 18 months ago… put those funds into the Kool-Aid fund.. which wound up being a CT26, RO90 and a few other goodies.  I miss it.. .and yet don’t.

Lucky for the buyer of my kit… he got all the hundreds of cutoffs as part of the package.  Everything from Ambrosia Maple to Zebrawood.. and much, much, much in between.

Now I just toss it into a medium sized box, which I keep for my little outdoor firepit.  When the box is full… the scraps go in the trash.  Period.

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

I have piles of Garapa, Ipe, Tigerwood and massaranduba cut off's.  Most under 1' long.

The only problem with them is they are tough to get burning.