# Scrap lumber: how do you store your wood?



## Stevinmarin (Dec 24, 2009)

I'm not sure if this has been a thread on here before, but I thought I would pose the question after consistently being unable to find scraps of wood I would like to use and forever hesitant to throw away tiny cut-offs. And it makes for a fun discussion.

So my questions to you are this:

*Do you have a "structured" plan for saving smaill pieces?
Do you have a size limit before you will save a piece?
And of course, how do you save and sort all these chunks of wood?*

If you can post pictures of your system, that would be great! Otherwise, let me know your personal guidelines. I'll get this started by showing my system, which started out with good intentions, but has degenerated into a mess.

I have four storage areas. (Bear in mind…this was my original plan years ago)

The first is for long boards and sheet goods:



The second is for anything over 18", but under 36:



Then, I have a small area under a wodkbench for anything under 18", but longer than 6". (I decided anything under 6" wan't worth keeping.) On the right, I separate any exotics:



Lastly, I always have a bucket for little cut-offs. These are the ones I most fret about when it comes to trash day:



So again, I'd like to revamp my system and would love to hear your ways of dealing with extra wood. Especially the little stuff. How do you part with it before it overtakes your shop?


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

You have covered my methods Steve. Stack it, pile it and box it ;-))


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## Rustic (Jul 21, 2008)

yup same here


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## Pete_Jud (Feb 15, 2008)

Yup, same here until it's under 6" or spendy stuff or knoty, then it goes in the wood stove.


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## ajosephg (Aug 25, 2008)

Looks like some of your stock is laying on a concrete floor. If so the bottom of the pile will take on moisture. I always sticker any wood that is laying flat on concrete.


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## Handi75 (Nov 20, 2008)

Steve.

Since I primarly do scrollsaw work. Small is what I do. If it's thick enought you can use the bandsaw and rip them in half then glue them up and make them a little wider then it got some stock for say. Ear rings. Key chains or other small cut outs of your liking.

Handi


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## Stevinmarin (Dec 24, 2009)

Good point. I always get lazy after the January floods and end up plopping wood anywhere. Ug…


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## flyfisherbob2000 (Mar 22, 2010)

Steve… my system is remarkably like yours (great minds, eh…..)
I have a system mounted to the wall for long pieces

http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll101/flyfisherbob/wood%20storage/?action=view&current=dragonboatswoodstorage006.jpg

a rolling cart that is divided for pieces in 3 lengths (short ones 6" to 18". medium lengths 18" to 3', longer 3' to 6 or 7'long).

http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll101/flyfisherbob/wood%20storage/?action=view&current=dragonboatswoodstorage005.jpg

Then I have the bucket/box system for cut-offs.

http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll101/flyfisherbob/wood%20storage/?action=view&current=dragonboatswoodstorage007.jpg

After that… its to the fire ring for a nice relaxing fire to sit around & enjoy a cold adult beverage

I even have a rolling dolly with a dimiishing load of maple shorts that I got for a steal a while back, and have been using the maple like pine or fir for about anything

http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll101/flyfisherbob/wood%20storage/?action=view&current=dragonboatswoodstorage004.jpg


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Greetings Steve:..... Here's my answer to your question…. works for me, and has for many years…..
Sorry about the pixs… don't know what happened, but you get the idea…..


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

Here is mine… empty and full.


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## Dark_Lightning (Nov 20, 2009)

Mine's a whole lot worse than that. I'm trying to get organized, but I'm sharing the workspace with a massive Elliptical exercise machine (combination life extension and medieval torture machine, depending on the day of the week), and the laundry room, etc. I'll post the pix I took when I can. BUT, Steve, seriously, if you have good wood below 6 inches long, I'm interested, as may be some others. A lot of what I make is that small. I've been threatening to post some projects, and I guess I'll have to do so to convince you not to burn what might be good for another. Seriously, a US Mail shipper or FEDEX box might provide you some chump change above the firewood value.

Oh, yeah- if you lay wood on the garage floor long enough termites WILL eat it. I've even seen termite trails eaten through supposedly acidic PAPER that was left on a concrete garage floor in "dry" southern California.


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## degoose (Mar 20, 2009)

I blogged about my clean up recently and most of my scrap..








ended up here..
do not fret ….I will have more scrap soon.
I spent nearly one hour looking for a piece of timber to match a job when I was short..It costs me money to do this.. Way cheaper to cut new piece than waste time looking for something that I did not find in the end anyway…
Check out this blog for how I stack my off cuts…


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## Tearen (Aug 2, 2007)

Hi! My name is Dustin and I am a Wood Hoarder!

I must say, so far everyone responding to this thread is way more organized then me! That being said, I will answer the original questions:

*Do you have a "structured" plan for saving smaill pieces? *
-Thought I had a plan in the beginning…. maybe

*Do you have a size limit before you will save a piece?*
- No size limit. I guess it just comes down to giving in and finally letting go!

*And of course, how do you save and sort all these chunks of wood?*

- I have 7 industrial shelves for stock 1' thru 3' sorted mainly by species.

- I have 2 lumber racks just below the ceiling that holds figured boards 3' - 8' long.

- I have 2 corners of the garage that hold any "average" boards 4' - 10' long and sheet stock.

- The garage rafters hold hundreds of 6' - 8' long exotic Veneer sheets

- I have 2 shelves in the basement that hold veneer cutoffs or my best veneer sheets

- And I have one 10×10 shed that holds shorts up to 2' long, sorted by species, and stored in large industrial shipping plastic bins.

- I think that is everything…..


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

Charlie yours is great you are realy organised


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## HanselCJ (Feb 11, 2010)

The scrap-mo-tron 9000 handles all my scrap for me. http://lumberjocks.com/projects/31146

a few bigger pieces of ply get leaned up against a wall, but for now, this guy has really helped me out. Having everything on wheels makes the space issue work out better too.


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## docholladay (Jan 9, 2010)

Unfortunately, most of mine ends up piled in the worst place it can be. It ends up in places such as:
On top of my table saw (largest flat surface other than the floor)
Workbench (second largest flat surface)

I have a wall mounted rack that I built for storing this stuff. Unfortunately it is so hopefully overfull, that it isn't usable any longer.

As for what determines a scrap that I keep or one that I throw away, it depends on the wood. A piece of rosewood or mahogany or any other nice piece of wood, I would keep almost anything 6" or longer. For a piece of pine or poplar, it will go in the trash bin if it is under 12"-18". I used to save virtually everything, but finally decided it just wasn't worth it, but I still can't bring myself to throw away small pieces of a really nice piece of wood. The unfortunate part is that I don't have a means of organizing these little pieces so that I can find them when I need them.

To make it even worse, I have a tendency to pick up "throw away" wood. Just yesterday, I saw some shelving someone was throwing away. I scored 6 1×10 pieces of very nice straight douglas fir about 3 ft long out of it. I intend to use it for the outside of a case for a wall mounted tool cabinet. It will look nice and the wood was at the best price possible. However, I tend to accumulate a lot of pieces of wood that way.

The only thing that is organizes is the garbage can that I use for the throw away stuff. I actually don't throw it away. I save it and my 2 sons use it to have an occasional bonfire. I think I have created a couple of pyromaniacs.


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## UncleFester (Dec 9, 2006)

I use a series of different sized trash cans and stand the pieces on end. I even have an old vacuum cleaner drum that I store some in.

But, in spite of that, my shop is still a mess.


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## joey (Sep 17, 2007)

I think we need a 12 step program for wood hoarders, not so much as to cure us from this, but to teach others around us to deal with it and maybe threads like this that let us brainstorm on ways to organize our wood, so we have room to keep more. When my wife gets on my case for all my scrap wood and I have been known to stop and get wood out of peoples garbage ( got some nice walnut like that just the other day.) I tell her it could be worst I could be a cat hoarder.

P.S. I'm not a wood hoarder I am wood collector
Joey


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## CharlesNeil (Oct 21, 2007)

Im with deGoose.. except I got a dumpster… neat thread…I quit "collecting" about 10 years ago .. took a week and a couple of dump trucks to 'remove my collection…


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I need to follow Larry and Charles example I have wood stored under my out feed, in big plastic bins .in modified trash cans with wheels on them behind my joint and still more. I think when I do my clean up I'll donate it to my local high school wood shop.


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## CampD (Nov 8, 2008)

I have it stored alot the same as most, except each winter I sort thru the pile and I hate doing it but it has to be done, anything thats got a good layer of dust on it or is really not as good looking as when I first decided to save. Gets cut up for kindlin for the woodstove. I never get rid of exotics or say a good piece of oak or clear pine that may end up as a rail/style but other then that its up in smoke.


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## Mogebier (Feb 4, 2010)

Well, seeing as I share my work space with the washing machines and the dog I don't have too much room. I have a corner full of long pieces, just stacked. I have a small space for molding. The rest I store in the ceiling between the exposed joists. I put in some 2×2's for holders and stack the wood up in the spaces between the joists. I saw someone else on TV do something like that and it really works.


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## MrsN (Sep 29, 2008)

I do a lot of small projects, so I start with small pieces and end with smaller pieces. I have paid for smaller pieces then some of you have burned, lol. The husband of a friend of my mother's is a woodworker, he had done a scroll saw project and used some padauk and purpleheart. his wife was in the shop as he was about to thow the "scraps" in the burn barrel. She stoped him and said that she thought Katie might be able to use those pieces. I got a bag full of his scraps; he was cutting out circles, not super effectly, so I have some awesome 2 inch curved triangles to make into what ever I want. 
I save almost every piece of "pretty" wood. I use plastic shoe boxes to sort out sizes and potential usefulnes of different pieces. 
One day about a week ago I was in the shop and as I was cutting a piece of purpleheart it split off part of the end and landed on a piece of maple. The piece was maybe 1/4" x 3/4", but was calling out to be made into a pendant. So I sanded it up, cut a piece of maple to compliment the shape and color, then sold it to a co-worker for $40. So i guess my obsession with small scraps will pay off.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Toss it in a corner. However, I'm running out of corners and need to build a rack like the one shown.


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## schloemoe (May 10, 2010)

I never met a piece of wood I didn't like or so you would think. I can't even seem to bring myself to get rid of saw dust. I'll sweep it up into a nice neat pile and then it will stay there untill it gets kicked around. I'm not absolutly sold on the idea that I don't like throwing any thing out I think my problem is pure laziness. Schloemoe


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## Edziu (Jan 17, 2010)

Degoose: I'm with you. These crazy bins and storage units are just space-taker-uppers and time wasters. I use a wood stove and get rid of as much as I can. In the summer I box up my scraps in similarly-sized boxes and store them in the basement. I rationalize storing scraps this way because once they make it into a cardboard box they're no longer materials, they're a future heat source.

But I don't automatically burn every scrap I produce. I'll save scraps from a project until that project is done and out the door. After that- ADIOS!

I guess this is one of the things that differentiates woodworkers for hobby and woodworkers with businesses. Hobbyists don't mind a little extra hunting for that scrap piece they know is somewhere. Woodworkers in business for themselves need to work efficiently and quickly. There's money to be made here.

But I'll come clean. There are a scant few pieces of wood that just cannot make it to the stove. They're unique and destined for greatness. But they're not in some elaborate storage system. They are hung on nails and screws on the wall. They look good just like that.


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## meme (May 27, 2010)

A topic near and dear to my heart! I am going to be acquiring more room in my workshop soon. Hubby moving his junk out!!! I see that most of you store your wood standing up - vertical? I have been told that wood should be stored laying down?????

Is there a "correct" way to store lumber?

Thanks!


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## pvwoodcrafts (Aug 31, 2007)

I box all mine up in large flatrate boxes. Then advertise them on another woodworking/turning forum. They pay shipping and paypal charges and I send them a packed full of ends and pieces box. I'm coming up on the 300th box.


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## Brian024 (Feb 2, 2009)

All of my cut offs and scrap go into a box and every few months I empty the box and save what I think needs to be saved and the rest go into the fire pit.


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## Bureaucrat (May 26, 2008)

I use several methods. Everything that is over 18 inches goes on my wall system. All sheet goods go in the sheet goods rack (holds 7 pieces of 3/4" sheets). Offcuts 10" to 18" from current projects go in plastic recycle containers (recently surplussed by our city). In between projects I move material from the recycle bins to "xerox paper boxes" and shelf the boxes. I sort the pieces by species and label boxes.


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## thatwoodworkingguy (May 19, 2010)

The small pieces go in a bucket but the larger usable pieces go in a deep pine bin I made similar to some on here.


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## woodsmith (Jan 7, 2008)

Scrap lumber grows to take up how ever much space you set aside for it and then it spills over on the floor untill you can't work in the shop and you are forced to throw some of it away. Then you think of how to use what you no longer have. At least that is what happens in my shop.


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## BertFlores58 (May 26, 2010)

I do a different way in dealing with scraps … I recycle them..
How?
As soon as I see the scrap, classify them and immediately plan where and what it will be.
When completed for a certain plan (most of the time, a jewelry box, a lazy susan sort of marquetry, foot of a table, cutting boards, etc), I normally bond it with a tape and set aside. During my freetime, I do the gluing, cutting, planing and many other parts preparations. Sometime, I do preservation by applying anti-termites. Endline will be the projects I posted. Just take a glance..
HOW I WISH TO HAVE YOUR SCRAPS NEARBY SO THAT I CAN SAVE THEM FROM THE FIRING ZONE.


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## Cato (May 1, 2009)

I think we all probably end up with too much because we think if we get rid of it, then the next day we will need a piece of this or that. I do and I don't do near what you guys do.

I need to organize some good lumber storage, and get rid of the scrap I do have and clean up a bit before I make an organized scrap bin.

If I don't find a use soon for my scraps, besides some shelving in the storage shed for my wife and a dog house for my neighbor's dog, its going out, as I get tired of tripping over the ricks of it on the floor and stacked against the wall.


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## SteviePete (May 10, 2009)

Get serious about wood storage. Find LJs with mass quantities-- they store air dry, rough, flat, with weight. Usually by species. Always indoors unheated after the first winter. Off the floor. If not completely dry store on stickers (square 3/4" or so) indoors unheated. It takes a long time to air dry thick hardwoods-years. Bring into heated area for a some days-rough plane hit and miss both sides, stabilize for some days. Finish plane just prior to construction. Always do a cut list for a project. Have one or two alternate projects. When your primary project is cut-from the cutoffs cut parts for the alternate projects-box'em up and label when a full set is cut. (I have nearly a dozen precut projects, bagged or boxed.) Small fruit and nut wood cutoffs become smoking wood. I own many 20 and 30 gal metal garbage cans for vertical storage of narrow pieces, branches for sticks, processed waney edge for use on projects, standard trim shapes (table saw or router) ready to use. Think what you might need for picture frames, trim pieces on clocks, boxes and games (stick with standard shapes). Restack shorts flat with weight as above. Keep track of conditions in your wood piles-deal with insect problems when noted. Restack occasionally just to remind yourself what treasure you have. Be ready to give something away to visitors. (the precut projects knock them out). Make bent laminations out of thin stuff. Glue up carving blanks out of basswood, nut and fruit wood. The only things that go in the fire are swept from the floor or checked board ends. After all the work and love no hardwood should be burned.

I have more wood than I will ever use. I'm insulted when asked what I will do with it. Why must people know what we will do with our wood?

"It's mine. I have it. I'm perfectly happy just having it." Certifiably out of my mind, but of course. Go plane a board square and flat. Wood gloating is a virtue. Value, respect and use local, underutilized stock (urban trees, storm damage, orchard trimmings, legacy wood (any wood with a story)) and keep a few crotches around. Oak, maple and birch that is. Make as much joy in the world as you can.

"Espirit de lignin"-French for something like Spirit of the Wood Stash.


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## allthunbs (May 29, 2010)

This module has six bins. Each bin accommodates woods of different lengths. The first bin is 6" deep. If you stand a piece on end and you can close the cover, it can stay. If there isn't room, you now have to decide if this is a better piece of wood than one in the bin. You have to remove one to make room for this one. Which is better to keep. You cannot keep any more scraps than will fit into this module. The second bin is 12", the third is 18", there are two 24" bins and one 48" bin. If it's longer than 48" it goes into long storage, outside and drying under tarps. I'm looking for suggestions on improving the outside storage.

If the stick doesn't fit into the bin it is immediatelyl broken up for kindling and is put on the fire wood pile.

Of late I've been getting more involved with router templates. I'm changing one of the 24" bins over to "battens" that I can use for template making.

You will notice that it is on casters with a rolling lock on each end. This module also serves as my primary workbench. Now, if I can just figure out how to clamp a project to this module and be able to open it to get that bit of scrap for a clamping block.


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## Blake (Oct 17, 2007)

I found this old rack for sale at a second-hand store. I think it was originally for trays of flowers or something.



















But this is my most-used system:


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## reggiek (Jun 12, 2009)

Even though this is an older post, I thought I would add my take to it.

These systems are much more organized then mine….I just throw stuff on the shelves or stand on the floor if it is too big for the shelves. My wood burning stove (that heats the workshop in winter) gets the majority of my very small cut offs (I turn pens from anything over 1/2" or so)....I also take the bigger chips of the hardwoods to use in my smoker or in a smoke tray on the bar-b - the dust from my collector goes on paths in the garden for weed control (the paths are many different colors…makes for an interesting conversation piece when folks see it for the first time) the dust will then break down into compost over the years. The construction and treated scraps smaller then I can use to make dowels, go into the yard waste bin that gets picked up once a week….I find that I typically use wood down to the smallest size (especially the more expensive hardwoods)....my stove gets only very small cut offs….like 1/2" or smaller…although I have started doing small inlays and am using more of those for decoration…I hate waste so I am always on the lookout for ideas on how to use the smaller and smaller cut offs.


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## meestajack (Feb 1, 2011)

I've been wanting to start a system where I cut my scrap to specific sizes and create something large out of them…

scrapwood flooring, siding, fencing or some other such project with a mix of materials would be a cool way to use piles of offcuts.


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## live4ever (Feb 27, 2010)

It's amazing to me how some of you are able to just burn scraps. For me, the stuff is like gold because I have to buy it at relatively high prices, and I save almost every little scrap (except for pine and ply/mdf) and try to find a use for it, however insignificant.

That being said, I don't have a good organization strategy for it but there are some great ideas in this thread.


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## Kindlingmaker (Sep 29, 2008)

...and Blake, before you start another fire, call me and I will come fetch! : )


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## Clarence (Nov 23, 2009)

When my stash starts getting too big I just add on to my shed.


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