# What to do with all this wood?



## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

Hello fellow LJer's,
Some of you may already know that I work for the wire and cable industry, that is where most of the pallets I use come from. Today I was asked if I needed these
















I did not want to see these hit the dumpster and be carted off to a landfill so I said, "sure I will figure something out to use them for".
Well I am thinking, and thinking and thinking, still I have nothing yet. I know I might be able to come up with a few projects, but as you can see I have a lot of them. Each one has a hole on the center and I have various sizes and 2 thicknesses, here they are:

*QTY 67, Dia 15 1/2" X 1/2" 
QTY 24, Dia 18 3/4" X 1/2" 
QTY 22, Dia 12 3/4" X 3/8" 
QTY 16, Dia 11 3/4" X 3/8" 
QTY 8, Dia 14 1/2" x 3/8"*

I am looking for ideas, I accept crazy ones as well, but all in all I need to see these get put to some use. Its all Plywood, some very smooth other not so much, but that is not the issue. Not really interested in making 27 go carts as I don't think I need that many and I only have 5 Pallets that I got with this.

Let the ideas fly and whatever I build, however many they are, and different ideas I will post them all.

Thanks


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

Some of these would make an awesome segmented bowl press.

Anything that would require clamping pressure from above and below would benefit from presses made with these pieces.


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## jacob34 (Mar 14, 2012)

make a wind mill, or possibly a very long centipede. Wait I have got it a giant cactus sculpture sorry I am not much help either way you should have fun re purposing the wood.


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## timothyee (Apr 20, 2012)

Maybe a couple of small out door tables with cup holder or a stool or two.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Square them up and see if they are big enough for anything useful ;-)


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

You can make one go-cart with really really fat wheels. I also like the cactus and centipede ideas.


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

make gearwheels out of some of them 
make a wooden bycicle 
of the best make a disksander if you get a used elec.motor
r/c controlled hoover craft
drumsander 
stacked flipout boxes by using 1½inch dovel 
wheels for a bandsaw

I´m sure you can come up with something crazy for the last of them 

Dennis


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

You could put your bandsaw and ts on wheels.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Make a huge drum for a GIGANTIC drum sander


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Thin cover on the top and make Lazy Susans.


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## crashn (Aug 26, 2011)

Those are great blanks for thien baffles


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## chrisstef (Mar 3, 2010)

A WOODEN SLINKY!!!!


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## williel (Mar 15, 2012)

Hey Marty, them there wheels looks pretty nice . Wished i had them , i know i could make something out of them!!


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## rdjack21 (May 21, 2010)

My first thought upon seeing those was man you could make a really big drum sander (but someone beat me to that) the next thought was make Lazy Susans out of the nice ones (but again someone beat me to that as well) so Hmm what to do? I don't know I'll have to think about it some more.


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## okwoodshop (Sep 15, 2009)

glue some together for a wooden wheel barrow wheel.


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## JR_Dog (Jan 18, 2012)

Sander, Glue, Paint, Routed Lettering ==> Make 2012 Summer Olympic Games Commemorative Plaques; you could give them away to your local school as trophies for sporting events.


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

Get some big wood closet rods and make some Wooden barbells.


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## JR_Dog (Jan 18, 2012)

Or - If you like to go camping or have friends that do, you could sandwich sawdust and glue between them and use them as great fire starters - depending on the thickness of glue and sawdust they'd probably burn quite a while.


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## NWIMatt (Mar 5, 2012)

shelves for plant stands, upholstered stool seats, target backers, two side by side with a few lengths of dowel would make an extension cord reel, endless possibilities there.


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## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

Like old pallets, those wire spools have some decent looking wood in them, but I wouldn't run any of it thru any tools I care about. - lol

Are you sure that they would go to a landfill? Around here, wood goes to a shredder and gets made into compost.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

The very least is turn them into fire for warmth.


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

Ok guys, a couple of good ones, some of which I will use.

*Katdaddy* LMAO, if I do that I will get them back again in a few months.

*JR* fire starters I could see that…....hmmmmmm I'll get back to you, Olympic rings well that is thinking outside the box

*Jacob34* centipede, my daughter would like that

*Williel*, if you were not so far you could come over and take your pick

*Greg* wooden barbells, I stopped lifting weights because they were to heavy LMAO

*David*, I like the press idea, thanks for the link, that will use some of them up.

*Oakwoodshop*, like that, so does the wife and daughter.

*Rdjack21* keep thinking your doing better than me.

*Chrisstef*, wooden slinky, I would need a bigger stair case.

*Chrashn* good but I already built a huge cyclon DC, ( check out my blog)

*Howie*, I do need two of them so that takes care of about 4

*Ripthorn*, I need more space in the shop for that.

*Russel*, I think that would raise the height too much, and I don't like wearing ny Platform shoes in the shop, LOL

*Dennis*, wooden bicycle, too much of a chance for splinters

*Brandon*, my daughter likes that one too, but it will end up being wider than my van, or driveway for that matter.

*Topomax*, that will work for some, but then I will be stuck with same problem except square instead of round.

*Timothy* the whole family likes that one too, I can see a few of them going that way

*NWI* those are all good, need to run them all past the rest of the household, but I can see several of a few of them

*Sawkerf*, around here if it goes in the dumpster it ends up in a hole in the ground

*Atomjack*, some will go that way if I still have them when it gets cold again 

Keep'em comin, I will use these up somehow. Busy season for my place is starting so there a good chance I will have a lot more soon.

Thanks.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

How about inventing an improved wheel?


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

Hi Topomax, I think once you get it round there is not much room for improvement, LOL


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## thehammer (Jan 31, 2009)

Katdaddy, you may be on to something.


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## ArlinEastman (May 22, 2011)

Round Boxes and put vaneer on the out side. You can expand the hole on top of the box to make an inlay of another wood.

Arlin


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## jacob34 (Mar 14, 2012)

ok after thinking about it what about wooden moon hub caps? or put carpet on them and use them in your shop to stand on?


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## RussellAP (Feb 21, 2012)

Put a few pepperoni's on them and you have Little Caesars Pizza. Probably tastes the same as their's anyway.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Katdaddy, go stand in the corner.
Bill


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## TrBlu (Mar 19, 2011)

Shop stools

Add a rope and make a swing for your daughter.

Stack a few with some dividers for shop storage bins.


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

How about being optimistic and making a really big fishing reel to catch really big fish. I once heard about a guy trolling the Kanawha river in W.Va for catfish using a steamboat. Hooked into one that towed him backwards for three days. He could probably used a bigger reel…........


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## LittlePaw (Dec 21, 2009)

I love your problem - well, maybe NOT the problem, but the way you're going about solving it! Me too, if you're not too far away, I'd come over and relieve some from you. Would that help solve the problem a little, Marty?


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## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

Thanks for taking me back to 1995 again Marty.

I had sub-contracted with an outfit that rebuilt the cable system in our community. When I saw all those spools I was told I could have all the spools that I wanted. Needless to say I took more than I should have home with me. I stripped them down as you have done. Saved the bolts and the T nuts and all the rounds. These came in handy for lots of projects. It helped that I could cut down the bolts to lengths I needed and retreaded them.

Since I had such an abundance I wasn't concerned with waste, although nothing really was wasted. The cardboard tubes got flattened for the fire pit along with any scraps of wood, which was a lot as well. So no real waste there in my opinion.

I squared up the rounds and used the squares to do some panel glue ups for projects and made a lot of small projects from them. I made toys, bird & squirrel houses and feeders, small boxes, paper towel holders and shop jigs, the list of small projects goes on.

Hope this inspires your small project fever, if for no other reason but just to get out in the shop and piddledick around more often.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

What if…
1) Rip some slats out of the 3/8 material for making crates.
2) Cut a pair (or more) of the circle into a fat "D" shape and connect the slats to make a storage crate or a bed for the cat! or whatever.

Looks like you have a lot of wood there and I am sure you can re configure it and get a lot of use out of it. Jealous just a little bit on this end.


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## jacob34 (Mar 14, 2012)

spray paint them all silver set them up in the neighbors yard and stage an invasion of the midget martians, or make a lot of clocks.


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

I'm. With you, can't throw them away. Seen a couple LJ's projects lately where they glued & pressed them together. Then cut something out of it. Just a thought.


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## George_SA (May 4, 2012)

I think they might be quite useful for making the wheels of Matias home made bandsaw http://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/homemade.html. You could use the first few to practise on making a bandsaw for yourself (if you don't have one yet) and then make bandsaw wheels and sell them to fellow woodworkers who want to make their own bandsaws. You might even try his home made portable bandsaw saw mill http://woodgears.ca/bandmill/index.html.


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## stonedlion (Jan 12, 2011)

Thein Dust Separators?


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

Ok, lets see what we came up with.
*
Arlin,* good I like that, that will eat up a few.

*Russell,* yes they would taste about the same, LOL
*
TrBlu*, those are some good ideas
*
Howie*, Believe it or not I like the big reel idea, my wife said I was nuts, but I may just make one and see what it looks like. I might need a telephone pole to use as the rod, and probably not too successful for fly fishing, LOL

*Little Paw*, the Garage is open come by anytime, 
*
GregN*, I knew someone else had to have been there before, I will use some of them from your suggestions.
*
MT Stringer,* The crate idea is a good one, and I bet my cat would like the bed, I will at the very least use a few for his scratching post, beats him using my leg, LOL

*Jacob34*, I think you've gone off the deep end, were am I supposed to find little people that will let me paint them silver, although a clock or two could be in the future.
*
Monte, * I like the idea of gluing them together, and cutting something out of it, I weill have to rescan some projects on here and see what I can come up with.
*
George SA*, I toyed with the band saw idea, which might still happen but then I still have many rounds left. I wouldn't sell them but I would give a few away as long as I knew they wouldn't get thrown out.
*
Richard*, I already had built a Cyclone DC completely out of wood check it out LINK, so I really cant use that, but very good thought.

I like the ways you guys are thinking, I just sold 85k worth of custom cable assemblies this week, so it looks like I got more of these coming once my manufacturing team, starts tearing through the cabling.

I thought about making them into all gears and covering a wall with them and then painting a mural over the whole thing, then turn one gear and the mural makes no sense till it comes back around to the right position. My wife hit me in the back of the head when I said that, once I regained consciousness, I thought better of it, LMAO


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## teejk (Jan 19, 2011)

being as dust collection is at the top of the forum (as it should be)...seems some might be big enough for separators


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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Glue them into a log and then saw boards out of them.


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

If you have a big enough lathe, glue stacks of them together for turning. Just a thought.


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

I used about 22 today building an enormous scratching post for the cat, I will post the picture tomorrow. As for the latest suggestions:

*teejk*, I don't really need a separator, my Cyclone takes care of that but I would be happy to give a few away to anyone that wants, but you have to come get'em

*bondgaposis*, that's an awful lot of glue, I do like that though imagine the grain pattern, LOL

*TedW*, I wish I had a lathe that big,, heck I wish I had a lathe period


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## teejk (Jan 19, 2011)

Ok Marty…how about fishing pole racks? a large one at the bottom with a series of forstner bit holes around the perimeter to fit the butt end of the pole, then add a smaller one a few feet up (4×4 verticle connector) with small through-holes and slots to accept the upper end of the pole. To make it "premium", cut a slot around the upper plate to accept standard screen spline (glued-in around the entire perimeter). Snip the spline at every upper hole slot to create rubber "fingers" to keep the poles in place. A few cheap casters on the bottom and you have a unit that you can spin around to pick your weapon of choice and will occupy a whole lot less space than lining them up.

I'll send payment instructions for my royalty payments via PM.


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

*teejk*, I like the fishing pole idea, problem is I don't fish, don't get me wrong I will sit all day on a boat and drink beer LOL. I will take that suggestion and make at least one, my cousin is a serious fisherman, and could probably use at least 3 of them, his garage looks like a bait and tackle shop.


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

Ok, I have used 19 of them and made a cat scratching post/I don't know what you would call it! Here is 19, only 118 to go…



















Overall the moist difficult part was attaching the rug. When we moved into our house, I wanted to carpet the bedrooms with good carpet since we have a little one, (no so little anymore, 8 now, OH MY G-D). We purchased the best carpet we could find and that stuff is thick and I went through about 7 utility knife blades. I also found 2 smalls craps of carpet when we first got married, man that stuff is like paper I used the little of that for the 4×4 posts. I font know if I will tackle the wheel barrel or the stools and tall table next.

Keep the ideas coming


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## jacob34 (Mar 14, 2012)

Looks good, you can of course glue some together and make a few router bowls


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

start glueing them together. You might, just might have enough there for a Barney Rubble-mobile…..

Side frames, front and rear axels??? I'd save at least four, just for hubcaps…...


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## teejk (Jan 19, 2011)

well Marty…you don't need a fishing pole to sit in a boat and drink beer (in fact you don't need a boat to drink beer for that matter).

and how many cats do you have anyway?


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

Marty good Idea with that catdingy
I don´t know if people buy them 
but I see those in a lot of warehouses and petstores all have them 
I don´t if its just a fetish for the store owner to have them 
but there most be a market for them …. lol

Dennis


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## dpop24 (May 14, 2011)

There's also no reason they have to remain circles either. They could be cut and used for anything you would use a small cut of plywood for…... Small shop shelving, making jigs, etc. As circles, they would also make great targets for any kind of light ammo like air soft, paintballs, pellets, archery, or whatever. Good luck, looks like fun!


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

*Hi tjeek*, I only have one cat, but he's a climber and a jumper, I figured maybe this will keep him off the mantle and the wall unit. The wall unit is 7' tall and I can tell you on more than one occasionI have been startled when this cat comes flying over my head while I'm standing in the living room.

*Hi Dennis*, the cat thingamajiggys cost a small fortune, we shopped for one months ago and a unit 1/2 as big than the one I built was $280, I couldn't see $6 worth of 2×4s and $25 worth of rug and rope for that kind of money. In all fairness it took a full day to assemble it but it was mostly cutting the rugs and attaching them to the wood.

*Hi dpop24*, I have several good suggestions from my fellow LJer's thanks to their responses to this thread. The cat thing was a quadruple bonus, (1) I got a use for some of the wood, (2) I was able to use almost all the extra carpet that's been hanging around for years, (3) this cat thingy was on my honey do list, (4) the cat has a high place to hang out instead of standing on top of open doors trying to scare the life out of me.


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## DonBroussard (Mar 27, 2012)

Put carpet and casters on them and use up a few of them as dollies.

Here in south Louisiana, we use the large wire spools as crawfish eating tables. Just open up the center, put the appropriate size trash can in the center, and put the debris into the trash can. I don't think this idea will work with the sizes you have, but it might stimulate another idea.

Campfire stools

Fishing pole stand

Cut circles in half and make pipe clamp rack/s


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## Martyroc (Feb 1, 2012)

*Hi Don*, all good ideas thank you and everyone else who has participated in helping me keep these out of the trash.

I am always open to new ideas on this, or anything else you want to post. I think I will work on the wheel barrel concept next.


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