# Cabinet shop"scrap" wood - TONS! what to DO with it!???



## Serena (Apr 28, 2004)

My hubby has a pit dug on our land to burn brush and wood scraps and stuff in. A buddy of his asked to bring out and dump a trailer load of scrap wood from his inlaws cabinet shop. Turns out.... this guy usually pays like $900 a year to the dump to be able to dump it.... why. because there is TONS of it. We were alittle shocked thinking it was a trailer load like the brush we have allowed him to bring out... the PILE is like 30-40 feet long by 10-20 feet wide and waist high..... Most of the wood is high quality oak and some pine and maybe other woods. mostly 1"x1" strips.... from 5 to 10 feet long... there are larger pieces in there too, moldings etc. I found a 10 foot peice of nice crown moulding that is a little twisted on one end.... about 7-8 feet of it is clean and straight... I plan to go through and did out the nicer boards for a project I have in mind... but what ELSE can I do with this wood! A LOT of it is big long pieces that a couple feet are twisted so they threw it out... but it you only need like a 5 foot section... its perfect. It seems a waste to let hubby burn it... we did pick out a few pieces to cut up for fire wood in his little fire place in the front yard. I need ideas! I just cant SEE in my mind what I could be doing with it.... If i can figure out something profitable too I might be willing to let hubby make this a regular occurance! A friend of mine is frothing at the mouth to come get 1"x1's for something... 
What could/would YOU DO besides burn it????????????


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## DW (May 10, 2002)

wood cooling racks & cutting boards


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

teach yourself to make small chest or jewelry boxes. Quilt racks and pasta drying racks. cutting boards and bread boxes. Sewing boxes or knitting boxes. TV stands or small bookcases. Picture frames and plant stands. That type of load would give my DH wet hands make him hyperventilate


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## oth47 (Jan 11, 2008)

1"x1"s make bean sticks and good little coops for hauling a couple of chickens..maybe small crates for holding cds or tapes or putting a handle on the crate gives you a nice little basket.I bet if you do some thinking you can come up with all kinds of ideas for this stuff.


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## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

In addition to all the woodworking suggestions, if you can identify the species of wood as oak, hickory, etc., you could turn it into hardwood lump charcoal.

You'd want to avoid certain species such as walnut or pine because of pitch or toxins that might adversely affect the flavors of grilled food.

If you find apple or cherry wood, you could use chips soaked in water to smoke food for a different flavor.


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## Katskitten (Aug 5, 2010)

Serena,

Is there any walnut in this pile of leftovers?


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

might paint up some of those cute signs to sell, give away. lattice, roosts, stakes, butcher blocks/cutting boards, glue together to make laminated boards/beams, checker/chess boards, spice racks, bird houses,re enforcement for existing shelving( to fight swag), flooring, interior siding, window trim, crates.


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## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

You could make log building sets (like Lincoln Logs) for gifts & to sell at a flea market/swap meet/craft show. If they are flat you won't have to cut the notches in the ends.


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## Nomad (Dec 19, 2002)

Check out craft sites to get some ideas that might fit the pieces of wood you have. As has been mentioned, glue up some strips to make cutting boards, etc. There was a time I would have killed for such a treasure trove. People sell wood online. Crafters might pay good money for small bundles. You can sell the pieces for way below retail since you have nothing in them.

Nomad


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## lemonthyme7 (Jul 8, 2010)

In addition to all the great "crafty" type things you could do with this wood it would be great for someone with a wood burning cookstove.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

Nomad said:


> Check out craft sites to get some ideas that might fit the pieces of wood you have. As has been mentioned, glue up some strips to make cutting boards, etc. There was a time I would have killed for such a treasure trove. People sell wood online. Crafters might pay good money for small bundles. You can sell the pieces for way below retail since you have nothing in them.
> 
> Nomad


ha, you beat me to it! I also suggest that you resell it. Size down the long pieces into a manageable length. Bundle into small linen bags, tie with a piece of grass string and call it "kindling" to be used as fire starter or for small craft projects.


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## Vintagechick (Feb 18, 2007)

Bird houses and bird feeders.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Wow, wish I was close. I could use a lot of detail woodwork in the dollhouses and playhouses I build for make a wish children....James


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

If you do a lot of canning build an outdoor summer kitchen with a rocket stove. I doubt you have maple trees but if you did it would work great in a syrup evaporator. I was also going to suggest the charcoal idea. If you have a butcher/BBQ supply store nearby you could sack it up by species and sell it for smoking wood (again, be careful of specie and avoid any glued pieces). You could get a barrel stove and heat a garage or shop.


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## [email protected] (Feb 24, 2005)

Would the 1x1's work for making a trellis?


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## Sumer (May 24, 2003)

I saw the coolest floor of a workshop once, just in the off chance you need a floor. It was all scrap end pieces of a zillion 2x4 & the like. They were all cut at around 2" & placed somehow, maybe glued - I dont know, onto a cement floor end up.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

great site for ideas... http://absolutelyfreeplans.com/
HTH.
Matt


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## beaglebiz (Aug 5, 2008)

my dh has made from scrap hardwood....a desk top, several countertops, mega birdfeeders for gifts, a "parquet hardwood wall" in a friends house, step stools for ole ladies like me or children, made scores of "boy scout carpentry badge " kits (maybe check with the scouts, they would probably appreciate a few handfuls from the pile)...Im sure I could think of more.....


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## dragonjaze (Sep 8, 2010)

omg, just reading about this pile has my hands twitching...

and someone is just dumping this?!?!:sob:


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## jill.costello (Aug 18, 2004)

craigslist is your friend......just tell it like it is, and come up with a price list: like, $.35 per linear ft for oak, $.69 per linear foot for maple, etc, etc, or sell it by the pound to crafters, etc!


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

See if this group is around you. I'll bet they can use some of it.

www.habitat.org

Martin


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## fantasymaker (Aug 28, 2005)

Learn to make charcol ...its your soils friend.
But I like the craigs list idea best of all, Id make it simple. A buck a bucket ...bring your own bucket!


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## Dixielee (Dec 5, 2003)

Knife makers use small pieces of good wood to make knife handles. Look on line and see what the prices are, they are asking a fortune for good pieces of wood. Gather some of the really good pieces and cater go custom knife makers and other crafters. I have a friend who uses pretty scrap wood to make wooden ink pens, uniques and beautiful. Maybe check out a woodworkers guild.


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## Serena (Apr 28, 2004)

wonderful ideas! Keep them coming! i did find out that a lot of these are 16 foot long peices of wood! I am going to sort through some this weekend. its all mixed up so I dont know what wood is what....


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

take up whittling


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

pull out any good salvagable stuff to make crafts to sell at sales..little bits of moulding make wonderful shelves and photo frames..etc..you could make birdhouses, feeders..chidrens benches and chairs and toys..etc

but when you do go to dispose of the unusable stuff remember building hugel beds is a lot better use of it than to burn it..and better for the atmosphere..

if you aren't sure of what hugel beds are..search hugelkulture ..a good site to find out about hugelkulture is www.permies.com forums


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

If you get enough of it, you could group it together and sell it on craigslist.


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## carasel (Dec 31, 2009)

if you want to give some away. call a senior's center, the boy scouts. 
you will need to get it out of the sun and keep it dry. 
when i worked in another shop. we couldn't keep kindling. would cut it 16"+/-long. fill a 4 gallon milk jug box. 9 bucks a pop.(20 years ago).


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## CIW (Oct 2, 2007)

I'm one of those guys who use it in the making of knife handles. We obtain similar sizes and shapes from a local cabinet shop. They are only too happy to have us take it. They will load the bundles on a flatbed trailer that we have. 
When we get it home I set the chop saw on the corner and chunk it out in pieces for kindling, making sure to save a few special pieces for knife handles. It also contains some hickory that I salvage for hammer and swage handles.
When we have enough we used to get another load for my grandad so he could feed his little potbelly stove.
My grandad would glue pieces together then turn out lamps, spindles and various other furniture parts, making some beautiful patterns.
The hardwoods also makes good coals that we use when cooking food in the dutch oven or making a cream can dinner.
Its kind of like a bank account.


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## Serena (Apr 28, 2004)

One I can get hubby to cut the straps on the bundles... there are some chuNcks that are like 6X6 or 8X8" there are some beautiful long boards of molding... the big nice hardwood stuff. Oh yeah... seems he dropped by yesterday and dropped off about 4 or more more bundles the pile is now like neck high on me. Im a little nauseous thinking of how to go through it. I have limited woodworking tools.... skill saw, sawzall, drill.... small router thing and sanders, drill press. Im going to try to get out there tommorow and sort some. Its insane! I was wanting to build me a kitchen island... looks like it will be sooner than i THOUGHT! Hmm maybe I can build me some rabbit hutches!


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## TNHermit (Jul 14, 2005)

Serena said:


> One I can get hubby to cut the straps on the bundles... there are some chuNcks that are like 6X6 or 8X8" there are some beautiful long boards of molding... the big nice hardwood stuff. Oh yeah... seems he dropped by yesterday and dropped off about 4 or more more bundles the pile is now like neck high on me. Im a little nauseous thinking of how to go through it. I have limited woodworking tools.... skill saw, sawzall, drill.... small router thing and sanders, drill press. Im going to try to get out there tommorow and sort some. Its insane! I was wanting to build me a kitchen island... looks like it will be sooner than i THOUGHT! Hmm maybe I can build me some rabbit hutches!


Reading through it looks like some of that can be made into Treenware. Those 6x6 and 8x8 blocks can be made into wooden scoops if you have a bandsaw. Pretty easy. You can also make spoons,spatulas,spaghetti things too.
If you have a table saw and dado you can half lap joints about 2 inches apart and make trivets and such. You could even make trellis for the garden. You won't believe this but when I started WW in the 60's I used that kind of stuff and made a workbench top. Glued it up and to get thickness I laid it over a solid core door. I still have it. A little glue and some clamps and you got yourself a board of near any size. And if you use different species pretty nice looking. Make yourself some new counter tops.


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## Just Little Me (Aug 9, 2007)

Bag or box up building block sets to sell. They will go fast. Easy to do. Take a bundle and cut all that bundle to like 2". then do several at 3",etc. make a cute little storage box for them and sell on on of the e-bay type places for Christmas.

Bundle a bunch of the pole size for gardeners. Set up a stand in the spring.


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## taylorlambert (Jul 4, 2010)

WE bury a ton of Alder and polar scraps from the cabinet shop at work.  Plus tons of alder strips about an inch by 3/4s that make great bean poles.
I give alot of wood for birdouses and also burn alot of it.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

WOW, I'm jealous! That is a nice (and could be quite profitable) situation that fell into your lap.

First thing I would do is go through the entire pile and sort it all out, organizing it by size and wood type and make sure it was all stored in a protective manner. Then you would be ready to craft it or advertise it, etc.


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## Serena (Apr 28, 2004)

we just tried sorting one:thats only one single bundle... and we are poooped and didnt get that bundle done.. theres at least 6 more bundles maybe 8-10 bundles. Bundle #1 was ALL oak 1x1s and some 1x2 and thin trim strap stuff.... I dug and found some mohogany I think... a deep dark colored wood. need to pull the others out. Husband is cursing and wishing evil thoughts towards his" friend" there is soo much there is no way we can go through it all. Hubby wants to put it on craigslist and give most of it away. Im going to try to yank what I can before he snaps and follows through... Hes not happy with it now. threatening to light fire to it all. :-( How would I go about making trellis? Just stapleing it? Sorry for my typos... im so pooped I cant see straight and cant type much better. Im going to try to take a pic to upload to show how crazy it is...


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## Jokarva (Jan 17, 2010)

That sounds like a lot of wood to sort thru on your own. Maybe post a pic on Craigslist, list the types of wood and sell for $5 a pickup load?


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