# Wood & Scrap Storage Solution



## BaritoneWoods (Mar 9, 2021)

Scraps had been piling up for weeks, so some kind of intervention was needed. For what it's worth, here's how I adapted my existing lumber storage rack to also accommodate stationary bins for scrap storage.










The lumber rack is simply a series of floor-to-ceiling 2×4 studs spaced 16 inches apart. At the floor, these studs are offset from the wall by 12". They lean back toward the wall as they rise, where the tops attach to a cleat on the wall. Each stud has a "ladder" of MDF arms affixed every 2' or so up its length. Each arm has 12" of shelf depth. Nothing innovative here - the arms are great for stacking dimensional lumber anywhere from 2' to 8' in length. The gap between the studs and the wall provide ample storage for sheet goods.










The scrap storage bins are a retrofit to the lumber rack. They solve two problems: (1) using up a lot of paneling scraps while (2) creating spaces to store and organize cut-offs.










The rack is not mobile, of course, but it's central to the layout of my shop, which has an L-shaped floor plan. The rack is located at the inside elbow of the L.










The floors of the bins are cut from 24"x48" ceiling panel light diffusers. They have an open grid pattern that lets the dust fall through.










Now if I can only get my late mother-in-law's furniture out of the shop….


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

Great, i hope my wife doesn't see this or she will make me cleanup my scrap pile. I have some shelf brackets up that hold up longer pieces, like 4-8'. But i really need something for the smaller scraps. Good job!


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## Woodmaster1 (Apr 26, 2011)

My solution


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## BaritoneWoods (Mar 9, 2021)

> My solution
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ha! We did exactly that last night with some applewood.


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## crowie (Jan 21, 2013)

Very neat solution


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## LittleBlackDuck (Feb 26, 2016)

That is a great solution *BW*... and I can't even criticise you for *too small wheels used*....
Like the grating so you can see from underneath whats on the bottom… just kidding, but, hmm, there may be merit.

However, it'd be interesting if we dated our scraps and then went through the bin *10 years later*... we'd probably count many pieces over *11 years old*.

Still, just about worthy of project category or at least a blog… usually get greater exposure.


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## Bobsboxes (Feb 8, 2011)

Every year I go through and make a firewood pile, some of my saved pieces are going into old age, this year I did a huge clean out, but I still couldn't part with the keepers. Someday I will use them, maybe.


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

Wood is getting more expensive and I am cheap but scraps are breeding and my shop is small. I keep trying to make scrap projects but that only seems to only create smaller pieces. OP that looks like a good solution. I would like to attach that to my shop doors but rain would be an issue then.


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

I'm not as organized as you. I have a couple of bins under my bench and long pieces stacked in a corner.

It is easy to get too many scrap pieces. I have a wood stove in my shop so I dispose of a lot of them during the winter.

I was trying to show my younger grandsons how to make some wood boxes but they were more interested in going through my scrap collection and creating their own projects…...stacked blocks and like. Better imaginations than I have. LOL Even my dog, who doesn't like to stay in the shop because of the noise, will come in an snatch a piece from the scrap bin to take outside and chew on. Somehow she has figured out the scraps are fair game.


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## fuigb (Apr 21, 2010)

I like the overhead rack in pic #3. I've experimented with different designs, most made with 2×4 scraps ripped to 1.25×1.25


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

My solution:









After this kind of investment, scraps will be a myth.

On a different kind of serious note, I have nearly a half ton of scraps that measure in the area of 1/2" to 1" x 1/2" to 2-1/2" x 4' to 10' long. I had to build a roll around rack for all that. Fortunately, it accommodates boards and things too. It has 12 4", 200# casters (three in each corner) that allow me to roll it around with one hand.

For much of the other stuff, I use bakers' racks.

P.S. I sold three of the four lathes (the big Rockwell was off to the left and 90 to the others).

When it's all said and done, your approach looks like it's working out beautifully.


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

I have a truck that has 300,000 on it. I use it as unusable scrap truck. That gets hauled away about once a month.

And my warehouse is still over flowing with scraps.


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## LittleBlackDuck (Feb 26, 2016)

> ... After this kind of investment, scraps will be a myth….
> - Kelly


And once the racks fill up, the myth returns… scraps should be called rabbits…


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## mtnwild (Sep 28, 2008)

It's not what you see, it's how you see it…

Those are not scraps, they are leftovers…Value is there, your challenge is to find a way to extract it.

Like tools, some you use a lot, others hardly ever get used.


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## weedeater64 (May 15, 2018)

I don't know what to tell you about storage, but dont' ever burn it and don't ever throw anything away, wood or other.

You'll regret it the next week. Every single time.


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## LittleBlackDuck (Feb 26, 2016)

> .... You ll regret it the next week. Every single time.
> - weedeater64


How true… If people believe in the gods, there must be a *scrap god* who will remind you of that *wasted scrap*...


not a week before… to reminding you, you have it.
not 2 (or more) weeks after… reminding you, you had it.
but exactly 1 week after… making you spend all those futile hours, looking for it.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

Dammit, now I gotta block you (where is that button?)

Okay, you skated this time.



> ... After this kind of investment, scraps will be a myth….
> - Kelly
> 
> And once the racks fill up, the myth returns… scraps should be called rabbits…
> ...


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

SNORT -

RULE NO. 1: You NEVER have enough storage for stuff you don't know what to do with (rephrase later). You NEED to abandon that efficiency crap and plan and invest in more storage. Treat this a as a "I'm going to live to be 480" situation, and a "there will be no more wood and you will not have any if you don't save EVERYTHING" situation.

If your business makes 150 a year, all but a fraction of what you need to live should be put into insuring you do not regret getting rid of everything. If you cannot build, plan to rent storage. A hundred k a year is reasonable, or just a start.



> I have a truck that has 300,000 on it. I use it as unusable scrap truck. That gets hauled away about once a month.
> 
> And my warehouse is still over flowing with scraps.
> 
> - CWWoodworking


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## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

About five years ago I had six barrels of scraps. I just couldn't keep them all. I hated to get rid of them but it was like I was a hoarder. I put an ad on craigslist for anyone who wanted them… with all the usual ideas of, they'd make great bird houses, or if you're a turner of small things, etc.

An older couple, looking pretty meager, show up with an old station wagon and a trailer made out of a popup camper frame. They loaded all of the scraps on it by dumping the barrels onto the trailer and very appreciative. I soon came to the realization that they were collecting heat for the winter here in Maine.


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

> It s not what you see, it s how you see it…
> 
> Those are not scraps, they are leftovers…Value is there, your challenge is to find a way to extract it.
> 
> ...


I was only commenting on "scraps" when I responded. I also have storage places for "left overs" ...another classification altogether.


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## iminmyshop (Dec 9, 2012)

Most scraps I toss when projects are done. It takes longer to glue up scraps than the wood is worth most times and I have too few projects that require small pieces. Even when making something small like salt and pepper shakers, if I'm making a bunch of them it's just too time consuming to use the little pieces. They wind up taking up precious space. They take up even more precious time.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

iminmyshop, I used to heat my shop with the little stuff. Now, a lot of projects are about the little pieces. In fact, a lot of the bigger little-stuff gets turned into littler stuff,

Some of the smaller stuff gets used to make small turnings. For example, I have a couple magnetic based lamps I modified by replacing the garbage magnets with plywood and inserting a couple rare earth magnets in them. The hold so strong I would have, eventually, broke the articulating portion, so I added handles to tip them so you could break them lose from metal surfaces. Then there are the turnings I made for decoration.

Cutting the small stuff into, say, 3/8" x 1-1/2" x 7", different woods can be glued and stacked in offset layers to end up with a colorful 2×2 for a cane or walking stick. The one below is curved, obviously, but it could be a straight line too.

I throw a lot of the live edges and stuff into half tubs made from 55 gallon drums and neighbors and friends grab it for fire pits (all the treated and painted wood, plywood and other non-burnables go into the trash). If I was not retired and in hobby mode, it would all go into the burn and trash bins.










_
https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/399169

https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/348297


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## LittleBlackDuck (Feb 26, 2016)

> ... It takes longer to glue up scraps than the wood is worth most times…
> - iminmyshop


Spoken with *smarts*. Far too many people forget to cost *time*...


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## LittleBlackDuck (Feb 26, 2016)

> iminmyshop, I used to heat my shop with the little stuff. Now, a lot of projects are about the little pieces. In fact, a lot of the bigger little-stuff gets turned into littler stuff…
> - Kelly


No argument from me *K*, if the little pieces get used… it's when they grab my calculator and multiply beyond my comprehension and storage space, that I recognise I have more than just a drinking problem.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

[But there is a bit of hoarder in most of us.]


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