What Can I Do With All This Scrap Wood?

There are almost as many right answers to this question as there are woodworkers. The solution really depends on the kind of projects you typically build, the various wood species involved, and the quantities and sizes of scrap generated. Let’s run down some options:

• First, improve your storage for any scrap stock you might want to keep. Organizing it by size or species, even if it’s just sitting in a bunch of 5-gallon buckets, will make it more likely you’ll use it later rather than cut fresh boards up for small parts. Or try our wood organizer project: http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/projects/Wood_Organizer_0609.aspx

• For pricey hardwoods, especially any exotics, design some small-scale gift projects where this stock can serve as parts or accents. Jewelry or keepsake boxes, hand mirrors, or custom cutting boards can be adorned with inlays or built entirely of scrap hardwood.

• Find a local school shop and donate it for student use. Aspiring young woodworkers often have a lot of enthusiasm and energy but not much money to buy materials; you can support their craft and help keep good lumber from going to waste in a landfill.

• If you have children at home, offer them material to design and build their own small projects. Of course you’ll have to supervise their time in the shop, but a lot of kids love the hands-on fun of woodworking.

• Except for pressure-treated lumber or resinous woods such as pine or fir, you can use scrap stock as kindling in a fireplace or woodstove. If you do this every winter, odds are you won’t accumulate more than a few boxes full of scrap each year.