I've got quite a bit of offcuts around the shop gathering dust. It's hearthbreaking to throw them away since they're coming from nice pieces of wood. Unfortunately they're not big enough to be used on regular projects but they're still big enough to be workable into something and I still see some significant $$$ value in them... If SWMBO see this in the trash can I'm good for a fight.
What are you doing with your extras? I'm looking to turn them into something useful or a quick project to please SWMBO.
Look around the kitchen for ideas - there're lots of possibilities.
Consider /tiny/ jewelery boxes to hold single items or a set/pair of anything (earrings, for example). Consider presenting them with something new inside (fun even if it's just a crystal or piece of costume jewelery).
Got kids? How about a framed photo collage of the kids' pictures
- or a matched set of frames to hold pictures of everyone in the family?
How about mixing contrasting woods to make one of a kind serving/snack trays?
Think about what your SWMBO does and come up with something to make that more fun and/or provide recognition.
Does she collect anything? If so, you might consider something to display the best of her collection to particular advantage...
I think an interesting project, if you cook with charcoal, would be to make your own charcoal out of the scraps. I believe I remember someone posting a link to some information about it here quite a while ago. If anyone reading this is knowledgeable about it, are there any hardwoods you would not use? My guess is that pretty much everything (at least North American hardwoods) is fair game because by the time you're done, you've pretty much just got carbon.
The universal rule is that as soon as you throw a piece of "scrap" away, you'll need it the next day. Besides, there is no such thing as scrap hardwood ... just ask any lumber yard/dealer, where most will sell anything of any size.
For my purposes, those small pieces that are worth saving for future projects go into any number of plastic storage boxes with tight fitting lids that get stored/stacked behind the shop. The rest end up in the bar-barbecue smoker.
Thu, Jul 8, 2004, 10:52pm (EDT-1) snipped-for-privacy@NOcomcastSPAM.net (Todd=A0Fatheree) says: I believe I remember someone posting a link to some information about it here quite a while ago.
Posted some, can do a archives search using JOAT aand charcoal, or just do a google, and probably find a buch more.
If anyone reading this is knowledgeable about it, are there any hardwoods you would not use?
I'd say do some research first, before using any wood you're not sure about.
JOAT What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
Charcoal making is a great laugh, but it's a huge-scale process. It just doesn't work in small quantities. There are people who've done burns in 40 gallon oil drums, but the wastage gets really high on a small burn.
If you're trying to gain experience of all aspects of woodworking, it's a nice idea to find someone in a local coppice who is running a charcoal burning demonstration or course, often in coombination with some green woodworking event or re-enactor show.
Mesquite, alder, citrus, any edible fruit, nut or berry, persimmon, sassafras, gum, pimiento, grape leaves and vines, hackberry, elm, chestnut, bay.
Questionable: China berry/mahogany, Osage orange, teak, tung, madrone, buckeye
Definitely don't. Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, Oleander, pine and other resinous woods.
I've used a similar method with good results.
How to make Charcoal
Hello fellow smoker/bbq/grillers!
Here is the recipe, as requested, to make your own Lump Wood Charcoal (thereby saving yourself tons of cash, and successfully robbing the "Kingsford Mafia"..)
To make 30-40 lb of charcoal, you will need: A clean 55 gallon metal drum with the lid cut off roughly (you will be able to reuse this drum many, many times)
Enough seasoned wood to fill said drum, chopped into big fist-size pieces (ok, say 5"x5", and the wood just needs to be a couple months seasoned, although the dryer the wood, the faster the process..)
A bag of sand
3 or 4 bricks
A case of beer(optional)
Time and patience
Start by punching/cutting 5 holes in the bottom of the drum which are each
2" square. Try to keep them towards the center. Put the drum down on the bricks, placed so it is off the ground and fill it with the wood.
Start a fire in the drum. When it is going well, put the top back on to reflect back the heat. Since it was cut off roughly, there will be slight gaps to allow the a draft. Now, turn the whole thing over, placing it back onto the bricks. (This is where you might need the case of beer to convince several men to help you lift the sucker. It will be heavy. And mind the lid doesn't fall off!) Wait, consuming the beer as necessary.
The smoke will start out white. This is the water vapor burning off. Next the smoke will go blue/gray which is the alcohol and phenols burning off. Then the smoke appears yellow, which is the tar burning off.
Finally the smoke will clear and you will just see waves of heat. When this happens, Carefully remove the bricks out from underneath. Take the sand and make a pile around the bottom lid, plugging up the bottom draft. Also, cover the top with either a piece of turf or a large piece of metal. Use the sand to seal around the turf/metal so no air can get into the drum. We are trying for a closed system here. If air/oxygen/fire-fuel DOES get into the drum, the charcoal will just burn up. Not what we want. Also, try not to let the sand fall down into the drum through the holes.
Allow the drum to cool (2-3 hours). Then turn back over, pry off the top and remove your charcoal. If there is a spark, the charcoal may "catch", but just douse it with some water. The charcoal will still be hot enough to dry out. Repeat above process as necessary.
Thanks to my Bodger brother-in-law, Don Whiting, who taught me how to do this.
(P.S. A "bodger" is a pole-lathe wood turner. He makes nifty besoms as well...)
Well, in my experience, the first rule of scrap is that no piece of same will _ever_fit in any subsequent project. It may be used in a project designed to consume it, however.
I have spent too many hours searching the scrap bin for the a piece of the right species and dimension to consider it worthwhile to do so for a project in progress.
I use mine for intarsia ... or, I should say, my rationaliz^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hjustification for saving small offcuts is that they would be useful for doing intarsia. SO far I've only managed to do a couple of simple intarsia projects.
I have a shelf for pieces of exotics or exceptional figured woods that are large enough to make small boxes or be panels for boxtops. If they get too small for that, I store them in one of two Rubbermaid bins. The first one is for pieces that I see as having some real value, and the second is for wood to go in the outdoor firepit or barbeque. I periodically sort through the first bin and move stuff from there to the firewood bin.
It's amazing how scraps that seemed vaulable at one time don't look like much when they're filling up the bin to the point of overflowing.
I also keep one of those big plastic "painter's buckets" nearby and toss long thin scraps in that. They usually wind up as firewood or barbeque wood.
So that I don't throw away pieces that I may need in the next few weeks, I toss the scraps in a box and if they are still there when fall comes I use them to start the fire in the fireplace.
Fri, Jul 9, 2004, 9:38am (EDT+4) snipped-for-privacy@snet.net (Edwin=A0Pawlowski) says: How to make Charcoal
Crap Ed, me and the Woodworking Gods both figure you'd best fire that brother-in-law. All that work, just to drink some beer? The man has a SERIOUS problem, and it might be contagious.
We took pity on you, and I plucked a couple of my old links out of the archives. There's still at least one more in there, if you want to check. I think you'll be happier with either of these. Then you can drink your beer while lounging and watching your charcoal being made, instead of getting beered up to do some totally uncalled for work.
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You can hook up a small tube to a barrel with a clamp-on top, laid on it's side, and running under. Have it off the ground a bit, fill it with wood, close it, build a fire under. After a bit, the combustion gas will start flowing out of the tube, and sustain the fire. When the fire goes out, it's charcoal. Highly recommended to let it cool before you open it.
The Woodworking Gods say not to tell the brother-in-law about any of this, and to ask him to make you a bunch of charcoal.
Work! What'll you guys think of next?
JOAT What we see depends mainly on what we look for.
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