lumber and wood storage

[Bill & Kathy]

Does anyone have a good idea for wood storage for scroll saw-sized wood?  As scrollers, we use small pieces of wood and sometimes really thin wood and (if like me) we hoard smaller pieces for the next possible project than, say, a furniture maker might .  All those smallish pieces really add up, and I can't figure out a good and efficient way to keep them on hand without towering piles of cutoffs!

 

[jollyred]

Hi, my name is Tom and I am a wood hoarder.

I have  piles of wood all over my shop, and the only way I know to reduce the piles is to take it out and burn it.   I will never use all the little scraps and pieces of scroll size wood.  Keeping them is like an addiction.  

Now that I've said that, I'll go down to the shop and get rid of all the scraps....  NOT.

Tom

[Fish]

I confess, I'm a hoarder too. There is no cure. I have kept every little piece I have (almost). I'm out of room and some is just leaning against the tables. When they were little my daughters would tell me, " what a mess daddy, what a mess " I just stack the small pieces on top of the other pieces. I'll cut something out of it sooner or later.

[trackman]

You caught me at the right time. I just cleaned up my shop today. I have this metal cart that I store my small pieces. On other side of the wall is the long boards. 

[kmmcrafts]

Anything I have that is smaller than 4" square or a 2 inch wide by 6 inch long I use as campfire wood.. and I gotta say.. there isn't very much that does get burned.. Being a seller and just making things to sell I find pretty good ways to just use it up for the most part..

I do have a table that I pile it up on.. once the stack gets kind of large.. I go through it and start making oddball things just to specifically use it up 

[Roberta Moreton]

Ummm. Well, I have two big sets of shelves and 2 bookcases full. So, not much help. 

[ben2008]

9 hours ago, Fish said:

I confess, I'm a hoarder too. There is no cure. I have kept every little piece I have (almost). I'm out of room and some is just leaning against the tables. When they were little my daughters would tell me, " what a mess daddy, what a mess " I just stack the small pieces on top of the other pieces. I'll cut something out of it sooner or later.

That's me exactly. I can'r bear to throw anything away. I have mine on carts and boxes full of little cutoffs all over the place. I'm 81. Can you imagine my hoard? Yikes!

I thought I was just a hobbyist and part time woodworker. I can't seem to stop buying wood. I didn't realize I was also a wood collector. 

Edited December 31, 2020 by ben2008

[Woodmaster1]

When I get tired of tripping over it or it falls off the shelf too many times it gets burned. I have a tub of pen blanks I will never use up. I give some to my neighbor or take to the club shop and give the blanks away.

[new2woodwrk]

I'm actually fairly proficient at hoarding and being a pack rat.

I store a lot of wood pieces, sheets and boards.

What I do is:

• Larger than 1/4" Sheets: Stand up in my shed outside. Not temperature controlled
• 1/8-1/4" BB: I keep inside in the box they came in. NW Florida has extreme weather changes so it's best inside
• 3/4" Boards: I keep standing up in the garage since I use these now more than anything and need them to be weather adjusted
• 3/4" Pieces: I keep these in 5 gal buckets by species.
• Misc. Boards: I have lots of misc boards such as left over trim, pallet breakdowns etc. I built a bunch of lumber rack inserts that I attached to the studs in my shed. I keep them there waiting for me to use.
• Small misc pieces (not normally used): I have a small area in my shop where I keep Cement forms. I stick them standing up in the forms and pull them out as needed
• Dowling: All are standing up in a corner in a 5 gal bucket

I really like 5 gal buckets as they are easily stack-able in a corner once they fill up. I label them and when I need a piece of wood, I can just grab the bucket I need and take out what I need

I'm still fine tuning my pack ratting as I'm throwing out too much decent wood and I don't have a fire place nor do I go camping!

Edited December 31, 2020 by new2woodwrk

[BadBob]

Currently, I am using heavy wire shelving. If you buy the good stuff, it will hold a lot of weight, and it has wheels: 800 lb with wheels 4,800 lb without wheels. These are a bit pricey. When I bought mine, I had considered making a wheeled lumber rack, but when I priced it out, I found that the wire shelf was cheaper. TRINITY 6-Tier Wire Shelving Rack, 48"x18"x72" is what I have. I only use the bottom half. 

Smaller pieces go into a plastic box, and eventually, I cut them into small toys. Anything that is left gets burned in a backyard fire. 

The only bits and pieces I keep are if darker woods I can cut contrasting trim pieces from.

[OzarkSawdust]

I made this wood storage rack. I think it'd worked really well so far. I've shoved too many smaller pieces in the three shelves on the left and need to thin it out, next week. I store boards vertically from right to left...short 3', med. 4-6', long 6' + . Plenty of room behind for sheet goods. It has casters to move out to clean...RIGHT  but I can blow the stuff out from under with a leaf blower!

 

Looking at it empty...I had a thought, amazing. I went to the, cold, shop and checked the size of the bins on the left. When I built this, 2 yrs ago,  I hadn't started scrolling yet and had no idea a spot to store 12"x12" pieces of Baltic Birch Plywood would be a necessity. I just measured it and it's a little tight. I could either trim off a 1/8" and lay them flat, or empty the top bin and stand them vertically. I'll do the later in the next couple of days!

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by OzarkSawdust

[OCtoolguy]

I'm sure happy to hear that I'm not alone. My wife gets on my case all the time because I dumpster dive. If I find anything that is wood, I see it as treasure. If it is something mechanical, I try to imagine how I can use it. My tiny shop suffers from my illness. So far, I'm storing all of my wood in various spots throughout my shop but I'm going to build a wood cart that can be stored outdoors. Our climate is pretty moderate here in So Cal. Very seldom do we have extreme temperature/humidy changes. If I had unlimited funds, I'm sure I'd be buying weekly or monthly from Cherokee Wood Products. They are like my drug dealer. We need to start WHA throughout the nation. "wood hoarders anonymous".

 

[Zoot Fenster]

Use it or burn it.  Unlike money, wood grows on trees.

[Rockytime]

4 hours ago, Zoot Fenster said:

Use it or burn it.  Unlike money, wood grows on trees.

Unfortunately wood is not free even if it does grow on trees.

[Mjynthezoo]

I have two legal size two drawer filing cabinets under my work bench.  Also for the really small pieces i use the big plastic jugs pretzels or cheese balls come in.

[Woodmaster1]

My best storage place is 

[harpolemond]

I am to ashamed of  my shop to take an image.  I do a project then have to clean up afterwords. If I took pics of all the wood scraps I hoard It would overload my camera.  After cleaning and stacking all my wood pieces the shop looks pretty good, but it doesn't last long and I have never found a decent way of stacking or organizing my wood.  My shop yes, the wood, no.  Just the larger pieces.

[JenX]

I’m in the (slowgoing) process of building a Scrollsaw stand right now and keep pausing to try to think of practical ways to incorporate some storage into the stand for the smaller wood. I’m a wood hoarder too and lately my collection of smaller wood cutoffs and scraps has been growing quite a bit more rapidly than the larger stuff I keep around for other woodworking projects.  I used to manage it all with plastic stackable front loading storage bins but that required too much time spent kneeling/squatting. 

[tomsteve]

if its exotic lumber i keep it. must be 3" wide and 6"long. anything smaller gets scrapped.native lumber(walnut,cherry,oak,pine,etc) goes to the fire pit.

i have a 3 foot long 2 foot wide set of shelves my shorts are stored on. i can get a LOT of scraps on it but i dont allow that to happen any more for a reason:

what better excuse to go to a lumber store than i truly do need a piece of lumber.

[Crosstimbers]

I have been chasing that elusive dream of a neatly organized shop since I started woodworking…but I've come to realize that some dreams never come true.

Besides, I'd hate to throw away my son's inheritance!

[Bill WIlson]

My rule of thumb for saving scraps is; If I can find a place to put it, where I don't trip on it, or bang my head on it, or knock it over, every time I reach for something else, then it gets saved.  

[OCtoolguy]

On 1/14/2021 at 9:06 AM, Bill WIlson said:

My rule of thumb for saving scraps is; If I can find a place to put it, where I don't trip on it, or bang my head on it, or knock it over, every time I reach for something else, then it gets saved.  

My sentiments exactly. No scrap too small.

[OzarkSawdust]

4 hours ago, octoolguy said:

My sentiments exactly. No scrap too small.

My shop is proof of that...lol.

[amazingkevin]

On 12/30/2020 at 11:15 PM, trackman said:

You caught me at the right time. I just cleaned up my shop today. I have this metal cart that I store my small pieces. On other side of the wall is the long boards. 

I'm drooling at your hard wood collection. The grass is always greener across the street. That said I have a truck load and a half of small and long hard woods but can't get to them because I'm a hoarder too. The guy here keeps telling me to throw some out ... so I threw out what he gave me and his jaw dropped open. See how it feels!!!