Storing those valuable scraps

[jonathan55]

I started making bandsaw boxes, then other small boxes with exotic wood and veneer. Then I started doing Intarsia with Cedar the other woods.

I have a fortune in exotic scrap laying around my shop and it hard to organize and hard to find. I have little, and not so little, pieces of Cedar all over the place with "LT" "M" "MD" etc written on it in chalk. I have small pieces of walnut, aspen, maple etc. to small to go on my lumber rack.

How does every one store/keep track of the various small pieces of wood?

I need some sort of cut-off bin,
Idea or pics?
Jonathan Smith

[greatdane2]

I have lateral file cabinets that I bought at auctions. If you buy good ones they will hold anything you could put in them. In on I keep scrap steel, no sure how heavy that is but no problems. Lateral file cabinets are cheap I paid $5- $7.5 for most of the 2 and 3 drawer ones. With the digital age companies and govt are getting rid of a lot of file cabinets. Here the provincial government has on-line auctions that anybody can bid on.
I like my counters to be fairly high and so I have these cabinets under all my workbenches. Also they have huge desks that go for a few dollars. I use the tops for my work benches. The higher end office desks have a 1 1/2-2" thick tops. sp are very stable and come with a nice cover already on them. All together I think I have 17 lateral cabinets and they all came with good slides, that around here sell for around $30 a pair.
Anyway that is how I do it.
Alan.

[Janette]

I have several ways - mainly because my prefered way got full! I got smaller totes and have shelves set up just slightly higher than them and use them for my scraps that I have large amounts of. Blue packing tape label on each. I also have shelves that I put the shorter boards that aren't quite scrap but too small for the long racks. I sort these based on general color and try to keep track by writing on the end what type of wood they are. Now, in addition as my variety grows, I've been using the bottom case from cases of canned cat food. They stack easily and I write the types of wood on them. Also..(can you tell I keep expanding the varieties!) I have one of those 6 or 7 drawer plastic thingies on wheels and have started filling one of those. I try to put all the scraps into their proper place, but also have a "toss it" bin - one of those cardboard boxes you get from the garden center for odd pieces that have no home. It looks like a mess but I can usually pin point exactly what I'm looking for pretty quickly.

oh..did I mention the old desk too - each drawer labelled!

[minowevie]

mmm Jannette, I sure could learn from you. I normaly stand my bigest smallest pieces up. if I can. so I can see the thickness and wood type. but gosh I just cant' seem to dump or burn any hard wood. or good plywood. so I have boxs. with plywood in one. or two. dipending on the type. and also hard woods. depending on there type. you just never know when you keed that little piece. I might need a nother container just for wood scraps. someday. I will make a lamanet box. just for that wood , that I can't fit a pattern on. but just can't throw it away. funny how scraps don't warp. Ha Ha. your friend Evie

[workin for wood]

I used to use an old dresser, organizing the little scraps by color in the drawers. When I upgraded inside my shop and built a 20 foot long bench for my chop saw, I installed cabinets all the way underneath and inside some of the cabinets I installed drawers for all the scraps. When the scraps get really tiny, I glue them to a piece of luan. I cut it down to 6.25 square and then build a 1" tall luan wall around it. I pour the box of glued down scraps full of PR resin..available at any Micheals store. Then I have a new piece of wood/plastic mix that I make pens from. I pretty much use it all unless it's down to shavings and saw dust. Thinking about bagging that stuff to sell as "worlds most difficult puzzle" kidding of course.

[earlinjax]

Jeff, I would like to see one the pens you made from your "resinated" scraps. That sure is a novel idea.

Earl

[BladeartRobin]

i use shelves for the larger scraps and stackable kitchen baskets , the plastic kind that can be stacked as high as you can reach. i sort them by types and colors of woods. It is very hard to keep all the peices organized when your cutting one peice after another. they keep getting left on my work table . I'll try Janettes toss box idea. .I do have a toss box for cedar scraps that are too small. my friends like to take them home and throw in drawers and their cars.

[Jediscroller]

I built a shelf under my work-bench that I use for anything less than 24" in length. All stacked and sorted by type/thickness and length.

[BobD]

Lets see some photos, everyone!

I'll be honest...I'm looking for interesting tips to include in our Holiday special issue...and I think all of these ideas are great!

Bob

[workin for wood]

I don't have any scroll scrap pens made up at this moment as they are sold out. I sent some molds out to a friend a few weeks ago and they will be returning to me in another week or two. Then I'll be able to make more. The idea is simple, just gluing the little scraps to a board and building a frame around it to stop the resin from pouring out. I send them out because he has a large pressure pot which eliminates any bubbles that can happen in a manual pour. Here's what my re-cycled scraps look like in pen blank form.