# Scraps need love too



## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

I thnk it is quite safe to say that most of us really hate sending scrap wood to the firepit. I know I do. On more than one occasion having to do this has caused a great deal of anxiety. 
As space runs out, I have to pick and choose what to keep and what to send to the pit. Its usually a couple of 5 gallon buckets in hand filled with odds and ends. You know the pieces, shorts, mistakes, ops, leftovers, misfits and the like. Domestics, exotics, hard and soft, mdf, birch ply etc, etc... I know for a fact at some point in time, I will NEED one of those pieces that I'm about to burn. If your like me, you know that somewhere in that bucket is a great little project just waiting to get out..
One of the things I like to do is to just take a bunch of the scraps and just glue em up. Pretty much little more than an ongoing experiment. A pile of left overs given a little effort can make for a decent little board. That little board in turn can be turned into any number things. 
The clam shell box below is NOT by any stretch of the imagination technical milestone:sarcastic::sarcastic::sarcastic: What is is though is just a bunch of scraps that started out as leftovers from other projects. Walnut, maple and lacewood scraps. I glued the pieces together months ago and tossed the pieces onto my small boards cart. Just playing around one day in the shop I began to tinker with the board. Just what would this look like, how bout I do that, hmmm, try this bit.. and so on. Eventually it morphed into the box you see below. Originally I pretty much intended to use it for holding small parts, screws etc. in the shop. Then one day the wife and kid came down and said "OHHH WOW.. thats cute, who's that one for?". I told em that it was just a little orphan looking for a home. Pretty much leaving it go at that. 
2 weeks ago the wife came down and asked if I still had the "little orphan" sitting around. I dug it up and said yep. She then asked if I could do some of that fuzzy stuff and put a mirror on it. Uhhhh yeah.. I suppose I can why??? Long story short, one of our nieces graduated HS and was having a party and the wife wanted to give it to her. It was perfect she said. SO I took and did a bit of sanding, some 'fuzzy stuff', a chain and mirror and a rattle can lacquer finish. 
Regardless of what I thought of the thing, the wife and kid thought it was just crazy looking enough that Shannon would love it. and believe it or not, she did... 
The moral of the story is, don't throw dem scraps away unless you absolutely have to. Somewhere in that pile of wood is a great little project, just waiting to be discovered.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

Nice job Bill but I'm still confused about the word scraps.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thanks Charles... confused? or just tongue in cheek?

Nice job? uhhhhhhhh i dunno bout that.. but different.. and it did give me cause to look at it and come up with a couple of ideas that might make such a box pretty cool.


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## Semipro (Mar 22, 2013)

Hey I love it Bill,even if it is a little psychedelic.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

That fuzzy stuff will do it every time.

By the way, what is scrap wood? All I have is small pieces of wood.


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## kp91 (Sep 10, 2004)

Great box, I love the pattern caused by the moulding of the front.

I definitly think it needed flocking, the interior was a little 'busy' for me, but that's just me.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Semipro said:


> Hey I love it Bill,even if it is a little psychedelic.


Thanks John...

ohhh its psycho's sumptin alright!!


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

JOAT said:


> That fuzzy stuff will do it every time.
> 
> By the way, what is scrap wood? All I have is small pieces of wood.


I stand corrected Theo.... 
small pieces of wood" it is


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you Doug...

YES!!! the pattern is what surprised me the most. That was the cool thing. next time I'll try to match up the patterns on the top and bottom to the 'lines" on the main body. 



kp91 said:


> Great box, I love the pattern caused by the moulding of the front.
> 
> I definitly think it needed flocking, the interior was a little 'busy' for me, but that's just me.


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## Marco (Feb 21, 2009)

I like it Bill........... same here on burning "Scraps"..... I don't mind so much when its pecan and it makes it to the grill/smoker! :laugh:


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hey Jim.. thank ya!!! 

taking them scraps....I mean "small pieces of wood' out to be burned drives me nuts. I now try to make it better by saving the wood for camp fires and cooking dogs and smor's with the grand kids...



Marco said:


> I like it Bill........... same here on burning "Scraps"..... I don't mind so much when its pecan and it makes it to the grill/smoker! :laugh:


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Very nice . I love how the wood has those different angles as you go from top to bottom


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Great result, Bill.

I must show SWMBO, as she is always after me to clean out "that pile of wood"....


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> I stand corrected Theo....
> small pieces of wood" it is


:laugh:


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## mark greenbaum (Sep 26, 2010)

When you decide to finally scrap that Fender amplifier in the photo, contact me. We need to talk.


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## BIG OLD TIM (May 13, 2014)

ABSOLUTELY GREAT! Wow what a neat thing to make out of "shorts". Yes scraps need love too! Keep up the great work and maybe include the wife a little more in the design of things.
TIM


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## rwbaker (Feb 25, 2010)

I like the design and novelty of your box, good going. I too have trouble getting rid of scraps. What I do is wait until the 5 gallon bucket is nothing but very small pieces and then I give them to the family next door. They have 4 boys and once a week have a old fashion hot-dog roast and the bucket of scraps is good fire starter. At least the scraps are going to a good cause and not a landfill.

Again, really like the box - Baker


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thanks Rick.. 

The thing does have a certain appeal to it doesn't it 



RainMan1 said:


> Very nice . I love how the wood has those different angles as you go from top to bottom


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you James...

the good news is that this kind of project makes good use of those small pieces of wood. 
the bad news is now, I have one more reason to NOT get rid of em......:fie:



jw2170 said:


> Great result, Bill.
> 
> I must show SWMBO, as she is always after me to clean out "that pile of wood"....


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hey Mark..

that Fender amp is a keeper. Serial number dates it back to the 70's and she still
sounds great. It belongs to my son-in-law. The exterior body had all but fallen apart and he asked if I could do anything with it. I tore it down and made up new panels for it out of solid oak. Since he wasn't concerned about it being a restoration, that made it a bit easier. 
What surprised me was just about everything hardware wise is still available.Even the electronics and tubes are still out there. When she's done, I think its gonna look pretty nice. 




mgdesigns said:


> When you decide to finally scrap that Fender amplifier in the photo, contact me. We need to talk.


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## beemor (Feb 29, 2012)

Semipro said:


> Hey I love it Bill,even if it is a little psychedelic.


I love it BECAUSE it is a psychedelic ! (Kinda like a soccor ball - go Nederland GO!)


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you for the kind words TIMOTHY... 

i actually do ask the Mrs. to come down quite often. She's a bit of a fuddy duddy and I tend to be over the top with designs. So between the two of us, I'll very often end up with a nice project thanks to her critiques. 
Her fuddy duddy'ness *LOL* is why I was kinda surprised when she said she liked this lil box. Ya just never know 



BIG OLD TIM said:


> ABSOLUTELY GREAT! Wow what a neat thing to make out of "shorts". Yes scraps need love too! Keep up the great work and maybe include the wife a little more in the design of things.
> TIM


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thanks Richard...

Novelty? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm yes, I can see that as a good way of describing the box. Since completing this thing, I've given it some thought from time to time and think that a well thought out design might lend itself to a very attractive box. 

Like you, I've come to use the small pieces of wood for the fire pit and hot dog roasts or just a camp fire when the grand kids come over. 




rwbaker said:


> I like the design and novelty of your box, good going. I too have trouble getting rid of scraps. What I do is wait until the 5 gallon bucket is nothing but very small pieces and then I give them to the family next door. They have 4 boys and once a week have a old fashion hot-dog roast and the bucket of scraps is good fire starter. At least the scraps are going to a good cause and not a landfill.
> 
> Again, really like the box - Baker


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## twallace (Jan 15, 2012)

That is a beautiful piece, I love it.
It gives life to the old saying: " What is trash for one person , is treasure for another".
It also tells me,,,someone has lots of time on their hands. hahaha.

I have a stockpile of ends in my shop hoping to one day make some items but that day has not arrive as yet. you just gave me reasons for keeping them. thanks.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it does indeed have a 60's feel to it!! 




beemor said:


> I love it BECAUSE it is a psychedelic ! (Kinda like a soccor ball - go Nederland GO!)


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

WOW.. geesh, thank you for the kiind words Wallace..

The old saying, So true, so true.. who woulda thunk it..I'm kinda surprised by the response. It really was nothing more than me just tinkering around with some left overs. hmmmm, maybe I do have too much free time on my hands 

Any reason is a good reason as long as it works 



twallace said:


> That is a beautiful piece, I love it.
> It gives life to the old saying: " What is trash for one person , is treasure for another".
> It also tells me,,,someone has lots of time on their hands. hahaha.
> 
> I have a stockpile of ends in my shop hoping to one day make some items but that day has not arrive as yet. you just gave me reasons for keeping them. thanks.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Thanks Charles... confused? or just tongue in cheek?
> 
> Nice job? uhhhhhhhh i dunno bout that.. but different.. and it did give me cause to look at it and come up with a couple of ideas that might make such a box pretty cool.


Tongue in cheek Bill. I'm like Theo, I have many very small pieces of wood for which I am waiting until the right project comes along for. The more exotic the wood the smaller the pieces can be before they get repurposed for something other than woodworking.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

kinda thought so Charles.. 

Boy are you dead on with the "more exotic the smaller the pieces"...I have some pieces of jet black Ebony and some beautiful Quilted Big Leaf Maple that I just refuse to get rid of. 



Cherryville Chuck said:


> Tongue in cheek Bill. I'm like Theo, I have many very small pieces of wood for which I am waiting until the right project comes along for. The more exotic the wood the smaller the pieces can be before they get repurposed for something other than woodworking.


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## ksidwy (Jul 13, 2013)

A very clever and artistic way to put pieces together! great!
Sid


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you Sid...

The clever part I strive for 
the artsy part was more by accident than by design. *L*


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Her fuddy duddy'ness *LOL* is why I was kinda surprised when she said she liked this lil box. Ya just never know


Nothing NOT to like about that box. It just flat out looks good - and I should have said that in my other post.


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## Murtu01 (Mar 9, 2014)

Brilliant


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## derek willis (Jan 21, 2009)

I think your box is an excellent project, I've done a few similar projects, but nothing quite as pretty as this, so I have passed it on to other woodworkers who have not discovered the delights of router forums.
Cherryville chuck has admonished you for referring to small pieces of valuable merchandise
as scraps of wood.

Derek.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Theo... thank you once again  

You know, technically, there is a good deal not to like about this box...HOWEVER..that really wasn't a consideration when I was throwing it together. I was really just having some fun playing around. Now, judging by the response to this thing, I NEED to do that more often  



JOAT said:


> Nothing NOT to like about that box. It just flat out looks good - and I should have said that in my other post.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you Rudi....



Murtu01 said:


> Brilliant


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Mr. Willis, I thank you sir! 

This box really is an excellent project, if in anything, just having some fun in the shop. 

Indeed I stand corrected. Both Charles and Theo have politely informed me of the error of my ways  The problem NOW is that I think that trips to the fire pit with buckets of "small pieces" of wood is going to become even more tramatic!



derek willis said:


> I think your box is an excellent project, I've done a few similar projects, but nothing quite as pretty as this, so I have passed it on to other woodworkers who have not discovered the delights of router forums.
> Cherryville chuck has admonished you for referring to small pieces of valuable merchandise
> as scraps of wood.
> 
> Derek.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Really nice piece, Bill.

I have some 5 gallons buckets at my garage filled with so many small pieces of wood, not scrap. For me it is very hard to make a bar-b-que with them because I am always looking for some use for them.

Recently I made a quilt rack using some of these pieces, specially broom poles. I made a crib for my first grand daughter and other projects using recycled wood I brought from China.

Congratullatios!!!


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> The problem NOW is that I think that trips to the fire pit with buckets of "small pieces" of wood is going to become even more tramatic!


Splinters and sawdust.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

JOAT said:


> Splinters and sawdust.


And not too large a sliver. I use them to tighten worn screw holes.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you Alexis.... 

I've followed your build on the crib and thought it was just a fantastic effort!!! Well done indeed. 




papasombre said:


> Really nice piece, Bill.
> 
> I have some 5 gallons buckets at my garage filled with so many small pieces of wood, not scrap. For me it is very hard to make a bar-b-que with them because I am always looking for some use for them.
> 
> ...


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Theo, Charles....

You boys are NOT helping!!!!


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

TwoSkies57 said:


> Theo, Charles....
> 
> You boys are NOT helping!!!!


I'm sorry, you must have the two of us confused with someone else. :stop:


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## OPG3 (Jan 9, 2011)

Bill, Projects such as yours are known to Joy and me as "trouble-makers". First, know this; we have Granddaughters: Kylie, Kamryn, Hannah, Sarah, Amanda, Georgia & Lizzy with an Olivia expected to arrive in October. If I made one of those, I would be required to make one for each Granddaughter + at least one for each daughter! We didn't have sons, only 3- beautiful daughters. Our grandsons would be happy with those LOVEABLE SCRAPS, but not the girls - their desires are for completed projects! Mitchell would sharpen his scraps and attempt to make something dangerous. Samuel would take his scraps and paint them with perfectly matching colors. Camden would use his to create a new game. Cole would probably give his away in an effort to make new friends and last, but not least; Isaiah would carry his out to his family's swimming pool - where he could do a flotation test and know that the sinkers are the EBONY.

...and this, my friend; is why Joy and I call these: TROUBLEMAKERS!

Seriously - that is a beautiful use of small parts!

Otis Guillebeau from Auburn, Georgia


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Thank you Otis...

Hmmmmmmmmmm quite the predicament to have. On one hand, how do you win? but on the other, how can you possibly lose with such an extended family. Trouble makers indeed 
Young Camden sounds much like my Luke. Everytime he stops to look at the leftover small pieces of wood, you can just see the wheels turning.


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## Murtu01 (Mar 9, 2014)

One day when I'm big and all grown up I will be able to make professional looking items such as this.


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