# Ideas for free scrapwood



## bryanvick (Jan 6, 2011)

I'm just getting into woodworking, and I've been bit by the bug pretty bad. I have an 8-hour router class this Saturday, and then Tuesday I start a woodworking basics class. I have been searching craigslist for any free wood I can find to practice.

I got a bunch free strips of what I think is considered hard wood, mostly red oak, from craigslist today. I was hoping to get some suggestions as to what I could do with this, as they are all pretty thin, but there is a bunch of it. I was thinking maybe a cutting board, but what else can I do with a bunch of strips like this?


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## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

You can always glue them together to make bigger workpieces.


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## don716 (Mar 1, 2008)

It will probally depend on what type of woodworking you would like to get into. There is alot of choices out there. Small hobby type items such as Birdhouses,Birdfeeders,candle holders,toys,etc... Or maybe some bigger work such as cabinets,funiture,chests etc....Or would you like to get into woodturning and make something like wooden pens,bottlestoppers,holiday items,bowls etc.... Woodworking can be alot of fun and profitable. Subscribe to a few woodworking mags and you will find loads of info and plans. Welcome,have fun and mostly "Be Carefull". Respect your tools.
Donny


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## hidn45 (Nov 16, 2010)

Looks like you need to google "steam bending wood" - that would be a perfect application for the material you have. Not mainstream woodworking, but would allow you to do what you can with what you have. 

Looks like you have some poplar there, too, & maybe a little walnut? If your C-list source has a steady supply of this stuff, it may be a good niche to investigate.....

Welcome, & good luck!


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## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

I'd start making larger blanks of laminated woods out of those, saving some of them as edge pieces for plywood cabinets and the like, which is what they look, to me, like they're intended to be. You have a lot of options though, that's for sure. Making lams of the various species can make interesting pieces of just about any type of small project you'd like to do, be it turning, box making, bread/cutting boards, or whatever. 

Keep getting that wood if you can, because it looks like decent quality scraps.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

the shop i manage makes many products out of thin "slats" - 0.25 x 0.75 x inches long. we make frames from t&g stiles and rails, and then fill them with slats (that float) rather then a panel. they make nice doors, or assemble 4 of them with a bottom and make a box.


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## rrbrown (Feb 15, 2009)

hidn45 said:


> Looks like you need to google "steam bending wood" - that would be a perfect application for the material you have. Not mainstream woodworking, but would allow you to do what you can with what you have.
> 
> Looks like you have some poplar there, too, & maybe a little walnut? If your C-list source has a steady supply of this stuff, it may be a good niche to investigate.....
> 
> Welcome, & good luck!


That is a cool idea but definitely not a beginner project.


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## apprentice (Mar 31, 2010)

I would first want to know just what kinds of wood you have, as suggested on an earlier post, looks like some poplar walnut(4th stack from top L) and walnut(top L). As someone who highly values scrapwood, i wouldn't be in a hurry to hack away at it unless it's a matter of taking up space. As long as it's kept dry it might be worth holding onto for a while, especially the more massive scraps and more valuable species. Nice photo organizing and labeling BTW. Still working on getting my photos labeled as such but no success yet.


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## bryanvick (Jan 6, 2011)

The guy said that the 6' lengths are red oak. I think the third pile from the left is also red oak according to the guy. Not sure what the bottom pile is, but it is slightly smoother that the red oak. He did say that there was some walnut in the scrap pile as I was loading it.

The 4th pile from the left has wax on it, and the guy says it has a high salt content. He uses it to make billy clubs. It is heavy.

When I was loading the wood, he said there was some purple heart in there, but I couldn't see what he was pointing at because it was dark. Maybe the far right pile?

I was thinking of bringing a piece of the far left pile into Rockler to ask what it is as I have no clue. As I said, I'm a total beginner, and if it isn't douglas-fir, I don't know what it is!

He does a lot of lathe work. These pieces seem a bit thin for that to me. Aren't blanks a bit thicker, and generally the same size width and depth?


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## jschaben (Apr 1, 2010)

bryanvick said:


> He does a lot of lathe work. These pieces seem a bit thin for that to me. Aren't blanks a bit thicker, and generally the same size width and depth?


 
He may have been glueing up multiple species of wood to make his blanks. Just a thought


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