These woodworking tips for beginners are all about saving your scraps. There are many benefits to saving your scraps. As a new woodworker, separating and saving any usable wood that is left over after a project will benefit you down the road. Here is how.
Save Your Scraps New Woodworkers!
Any time you can make a project using scraps, you essentially used free wood. The more usable stock you can save, the more projects you can do for the same cost.
I don’t mean that you need to save everything down to the sawdust. However, you should be saving at least anything the size of your palm or larger.
Create a few areas in the shop that you will store all of these scraps. Make one for larger pieces, one for mediums, and one for smaller chunks. A 5 gallon bucket can be useful for the smaller pieces.
Now that you are saving scraps, you are going to eventually develop a large volume of wood. It takes time to gather all the wood you need for your projects. Saving scraps like this will help you have more wood on hand. I
t is a pain to run to the wood store for a small piece of wood. By saving your scraps, you will have less emergency trips like this.
Hidden Benefits of Saving Scraps
Another thing that you can do with your scraps is supplement your business. Many woodworkers have a side project that they sell. The smartest and most industrious of them use their scraps to make it.
Cutting boards, and other small crafts can be made with scraps. If you turn around and sell them or give them as gifts, you are essentially working with a free inventory. Yes, it does take your time. However, making things in the shop is fun, so it won’t hurt as much.
I made this Candle Tray from scraps and it came out really nice. Take a look.
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