I think even you would dispair when you see the wood that I won't throw away: if it's big enough for kindling, it's big enough for a hundred other uses in my workshop. I keep old violin bridges because they are idea for making the much smaller wedges used in violin bows: why yesterday from the scrapbox I used a fragment of veneer about 20mm x 5mm to complete a violin repair.
Nick
I don't do anything as fine as violins. My carpentry is towards the farmyard end of the spectrum. 4" nails and big hammers.
You are Sean Connery and I claim my five pounds
Any one remember the ancient type of public loo where instead of a seat you had wooden rollers at side and ISTR the back. Think it was to stop wierdos standing on them and peering over into the next cubicle. While on the subject a mate of mind worked in the BMW factory in Bavaria in the mid seventies. They had such a problem with loo seats being broken by Gasterbeiter from Turkey. Used to using squat type toilets they used to stand on the seats and try and use them as such which as well as breaking the seats frequently made them a mess. My mate remembers as he was employed as a labourer ,odd job person and frequently was told to go and clean them.He preferred being sent outside to nail wood chocks on rail wagons for car transport even though it was Winter with temps in the -15 range.
G.Harman
Yep :-) I've got a small stack of "useful sizes" at one end of the workbench too, which is useful for supporting the far ends of long pieces when on the pillar drill, mitre saw etc.
Then there's a box of smaller bits under one of the benches - they don't often get used to actually make stuff, but they're often very handy for assistance in doing so - and occasionally for prototyping work prior to using a better piece.
Bigger offcuts (e.g. 6x6") are quite handy as weights when covering something with a tarp - they don't have the rough edges that bricks or concrete blocks do, but tend to be heavy enough to still do the job.
Eventually they all get recycled by making their way into the campfire pit.
cheers
Jules
The question for me is not should I keep a particular offcut but am I running out of storage space for all the similar pieces I have already. Unlike Huge I don't have a fire or wood burning stove so the excess (when I reluctantly throw anything remotely usable but burnable away) has to go on a bonfire.
Yes. It's not as if this is the only bit of 4x2 I'm keeping. I have many pieces ranging from a couple of metres down to about 10cm. Luckily I have a big garage, and recently added a big carport. We don't have a fireplace, and anyway we are advised not to burn this treated timber.
Yes, decent size and useful for all the things mentioned. I also have an rubbish offcuts box that is intended for kindling but I do retrieve the odd bit from there at times. What I have trouble deciding about is how long is a useful bit of 1 1/4 x 3/4 batten?
As soon as you've burnt it you'll find a need for it.
In message , Jim Hawkins writes
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