How small does a piece of wood need to be before it is too small to keep?

Hey Vince
I guess it depends on what you make. some guys make pens out of of dozens of pieces of wood half the size of a pencil erasers.

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

I don’t turn so the smallest thing that I build would be a jewelry box. Mostly, I build furniture.

The smallest lumber I’ve seen was my dad’s stock of balsa—1/8” x 1/8”

-- Steve B - New Life Home Improvement

I usually have a couple of 5 gal buckets laying around with a bunch of falloff but then they get full, and I throw something in the burn can. THAT”S WHEN I NEED IT. Always works that way.

John

-- http://www.webshots.com/user/jahness

I am one of those people that try to keep everything, the hard part is keeping them organized so you can find them when you need them! The larger pcs I put on selves the small pcs I put in a 3×3 box.

-- Woodisit

It depends on what you make. If you only make furniture get rid of or give away your smaller pieces.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

I make allmost EVERYTHING from SCRAP! What most of you throw away it what I go buy to start a project! So….it is ALL kept. It is almost dust before I get rid of it.

-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!

I saw a listiing for a plane on ebay that said it was from the estate of some pack rats. They even kept the wood shavings ;-)) I don’t go that far, but I keep a lot of small blocks, I’m always looking for one for something and I never seem to have many. Not sure what I do with them ???

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

If it floats it the air….it’s too small, LOL.
What I am thinking is that you can always cut a sliver or small piece off any larger piece. So if it is less than 2” get rid of it.

-- I inherited the woodworking gene and it's gone into overdrive.......

Everything burns, so I keep most of it until I need to make a fire then a lot of it gets used :)

-- "so much to learn and so little time"..

Hey TopmaxSurvivor, What were those shavings? I made a couple of candle holders out of arromatic cedar and when I drilled the holes for the tea lights my wife was gathering up the shavings from the padle bit for potpuree!

Got them in containers setting around the house now. Can’t even get rid of dust i guess. haha

-- Scrap Wood's the best...the projects are smaller, and so is the mess!

Scrappy, It didn’t say, but I thought about the Woodright making a plane to cut long curls to light pipes:-))

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Throw away? Why would you want to throw ANY of it away? I have buckets of cut offs and scraps. Guess I need to start composting them along with the sawdust. But then again, you could fill your matress with the curly soft shavings . . .

-- "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

If you can’t make a tooth pick, it should go! :-))

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

How small is the smallest Knob you would want to make?

-- Have Fun! Joe Lyddon - Alta Loma, CA USA - Home: http://www.WoodworkStuff.net ... My Small Gallery: http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?ppuser=1389&cat=500"

this subject is posted here every once in a while… I can’t remember who said it in the last thread with this topic – but it was good:

if it doesn’t fit in the 2 1/2” shopvac hose – it stays!

-- When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

I have the same problem. I tend to save most everything that I can imagine ever being useful for something. I do frequently draw from these small cutoffs, but they still seem to accumulate faster than I use them.

As much as I hate to do it, when the supply gets out of hand I just throw a bunch away. As a matter a fact, I left a couple cardboard boxes full at the curb this morning.

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I have developed a new system this year. I keep any hardwood I am inclinded I want. Then right before my camping trip I go through all of it and throw what I no longer want/need/had too long into a bin and it is then used to start my campfires and roast marshmallows….. :)

-- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it"

I soak all scrap pieces in water and use them in my barbecue pit. Ever had cocobolo or walnut smoked ribeye? Yummy!

-- Each and Every step of any project should be considered your masterpiece if you want the finished product to reflect the quality of your work. Greg Little

Same problem – never want to throw any pieces away. Just started milling for a cherry amoire and already have a bunch of “pieces” that I think should go but just can’t part with. When the wife wants to start a fire in the fireplace this winter I’ll volunteer some pieces to help get it started.

-- Don, Saginaw Mi

My small hardwoods Oak, maple, walnut, cherry becomes smoke wood for the BBQ.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I basically only keep small pieces of exotics, and then I keep almost everything. I produce way too much of more common hardwoods to be worth the storage. I’m working on a jig right now to route curves on pieces about 1 1/4×1 1/4”, 3/8” thick.
I also save a lot of cherry and hickory for smoking meat. ( I almost just said for smoking, but realized the comments I might get!!!)
Quite a few people raid my dumpster for scraps. I’m always glad someone can make use of my waste.

-- Kent Shepherd * The goal is-----More Tools!

Too small for me is anything that can be sucked up by the shop vac, or thinner than a pencil.

-- You know.... I think that old wood needs to be furniture.