Just as I thought , it seems to be the norm to be surrounded with offcuts but let's face it , we just love to seek out that wee bit which allows us to finish off a job, saving us time and cost of a whole sheet , board or piece of whatever . My take is : if there's a place for it then it stays until there's no room at the inn . Cheers !
Offcuts
- Thread starter RogerS
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Lee Brubaker
Established Member
We all collect offcuts...the trick is knowing what to do with them. After all few can think of projects to which short or small pieces of wood fit the bill.
For me....burning wood simply was not a solution for me. After all, how long did that tree have to grow to produce the lumber that the offcut came from ?
I took to making toys & donating them to children of needy families at Christmas. It hasn't wiped out my stash of cutoffs but has certainly made it far more manageable. Besides, it surprised me how much I enjoyed making them. Especially if I take some author's plans & modify them...makes it more interesting to me. You might give it a try.
Lee
For me....burning wood simply was not a solution for me. After all, how long did that tree have to grow to produce the lumber that the offcut came from ?
I took to making toys & donating them to children of needy families at Christmas. It hasn't wiped out my stash of cutoffs but has certainly made it far more manageable. Besides, it surprised me how much I enjoyed making them. Especially if I take some author's plans & modify them...makes it more interesting to me. You might give it a try.
Lee
Hi Lee
Now that is some off cut / cuts . Well done and a very good point you make with the toys . It has crossed my mind of whenever I have some spare time I'll hit the toy trail . That spare time has never arrived yet but I'll maybe just make that time ... sometime . Nice work , Cheers !
Now that is some off cut / cuts . Well done and a very good point you make with the toys . It has crossed my mind of whenever I have some spare time I'll hit the toy trail . That spare time has never arrived yet but I'll maybe just make that time ... sometime . Nice work , Cheers !
tekno.mage
Established Member
My partner & I share a workshop and are both woodturning novices. It used to annoy me that he kept every little offcut and reject bit of wood - including the chucking spigots left behind after parting off what you've made. During last workshop "tidy-up" I had, I gathered all these together into a box with a view of moving them towards the kindling pile....
Luckily they never quite got there. I've just got a pyrography machine for signing the bottom of my work and need practise in using it on different woods before messing up a finished item. The old chucking spigots are great for that - pop one back in the chuck, face it off & sand it smooth - and there's a ready made practise piece of simliar size and wood to the box I want to sign. After use, they do finally get consigned to the kindling pile!
tekno.mage
Luckily they never quite got there. I've just got a pyrography machine for signing the bottom of my work and need practise in using it on different woods before messing up a finished item. The old chucking spigots are great for that - pop one back in the chuck, face it off & sand it smooth - and there's a ready made practise piece of simliar size and wood to the box I want to sign. After use, they do finally get consigned to the kindling pile!
tekno.mage
Out int shed
Established Member
I tend to keep anything 4" square and about 1" thick. These chunks get turned into coffee mats and either given as gifts (with a nice personalised engraving in) or they get sold in bunches of 5 for £5.
But i still end up chucking a load away.
But i still end up chucking a load away.
frugal
Established Member
I tend to use off cuts for:
- Clamp protectors to stop the piece being damaged by the clamps
- Sticks to go between longer pieces of wood I am not currently using to keep the air moving
- Test pieces to practice my joint skills on: dovetails, mortice + tenon etc.
- test pieces to see if the current settings on the router are correct before I put one of the pieces I am working on through it.
- A stop clamped to the edge of the bench when I am face planing wood as I do not have a proper bench with dogs.
- finally they are resigned to kindling along with all of the hand plane shavings (the thicknesser shavings go on the compost).
I am always looking for off-cuts scattered around the workshop.
- Clamp protectors to stop the piece being damaged by the clamps
- Sticks to go between longer pieces of wood I am not currently using to keep the air moving
- Test pieces to practice my joint skills on: dovetails, mortice + tenon etc.
- test pieces to see if the current settings on the router are correct before I put one of the pieces I am working on through it.
- A stop clamped to the edge of the bench when I am face planing wood as I do not have a proper bench with dogs.
- finally they are resigned to kindling along with all of the hand plane shavings (the thicknesser shavings go on the compost).
I am always looking for off-cuts scattered around the workshop.
hog&bodge
Established Member
Just use a lot of off-cuts setting up my router table..
Always keep them..Till you have no room and then ask around
if anyone else wants them. Inevitably some will end up on the tip
to be turned into wood chip.
Need to chuck my router table and make one more reliable,
save wasting wood...eBay bain of my life....lol
Always keep them..Till you have no room and then ask around
if anyone else wants them. Inevitably some will end up on the tip
to be turned into wood chip.
Need to chuck my router table and make one more reliable,
save wasting wood...eBay bain of my life....lol
motownmartin
Established Member
I have to confess that about a year ago I bought loads of offcuts, some from cabinet makers and some from flooring companies and I still have most of them 
I hope to use most of them soon if everything goes to plan.
I hope to use most of them soon if everything goes to plan.How about cutting the offcuts into consistent small sizes, gluing them together and treating them as new wood for furniture. Ikea do!
Or 2" lengths cut be cut and glued together side by side with endgrain visible to form a 'butchers block' table top.
Or interesting shapes could be cut for children's building blocks.(Remember those sets of blocks, arches and dowels arranged in a box with a sliding lid?)
Just needs time. That is why I am keeping my offcuts until I retire.
Or 2" lengths cut be cut and glued together side by side with endgrain visible to form a 'butchers block' table top.
Or interesting shapes could be cut for children's building blocks.(Remember those sets of blocks, arches and dowels arranged in a box with a sliding lid?)
Just needs time. That is why I am keeping my offcuts until I retire.
milkman
Established Member
I love offcuts, in my world of old knackered joinery its not possible to have too many wedges and fillets
