Keeping Small Wood Pieces for Intarsia - how to decide and store

[meflick]

Ok - quick question for those of you who have been doing Intarsia for a bit and have had time to start "collecting" wood.  Now clearly, since I have started learning Intarsia recently I have learned a couple of things - one - some wood can be very expensive to "collect" but you need a good "collection" to get the "colors" and "Variety" you want for a piece; given the expense of some of that wood - it makes sense to keep the scraps;  two - many intarsia pieces have small pieces that need to be "cut" out of different "colors" so you should be able to keep smaller pieces to work with - but should you - how small is too small?

 

So - my question for you experts is - how do you decide what pieces of "scrap" to keep - how small do you go - is anything "too small" to mess with?  Then, how do you store/catalog - know what scraps you have to use for those small pieces?

 

One reason I ask is that I also have done paper crafting - I tended to keep those "scrap" pieces of paper too but have found that even though i have that sorted and organized by colors in files - I don't go to the "scraps" - I tend to go get a new piece more often then not.  Which means I have lots of scrap I tend not to use.  However, paper is lots cheeper then a lot of the wood needed for Intarsia.  However, storage space in the wood workshop (which really isn't my shop, but my hubby's  that he is now sharing) is at a premium and I don't want to "horde" too much into his space so any wisdom you all can share is appreciated.

[Bpardue]

I have been doing intarsia for about 4 years now and you will collect a lot of scrap and once friends know you are doing it; they will help by donating to your scrap.

My rule of thumb when it comes to "scrap" - 2"x3" is about the smallest that i keep.

Storage is 3 12"x12" boxes setting on the corner of my work bench for 1" thick stock. There are 2 other boxes setting there for scraps. 1 is for 3/8 to 1/2 stock & the other is for 1/4 plywood that i use for shims. I also have a lumber rack with sheet goods (cut to 4'x4') and hardwoods cut to 4' lengths. I have roughly 30 different species for Hard & soft woods in the shop. 

When i start a project i will go through the "scrap" pile and see what i can use. You will be surprised on how much you will use that was scrap for another project.

Far as sorting by colors my lumber rack is sorted but the scrap boxes are not. When the scrap pile starts overflowing that its time to clean it up.

 

Trash scrap in my shop is either too small to hold & cut or too small to attach the pattern - my trash can in my shop is a single tall kitchen trash can.

I'll snap a couple photos in my shop tonight related to scrape & lumber rack & will add to this post in the morning

[tgiro]

I try to follow the 2X3-inch rule, but scrap tends to pile up. About once every 3 months or so I have to grit my teeth & start chucking some stuff. I try to keep really colorful pieces or those with interesting grains that "I might use someday".

[Clayton717]

I made a stool I sit on while scrolling, it has several drawers in it for my scrap pieces. I keep a lot of scrap if its smaller than 2x2 I usually pitch it. Unless it is the exotic more expensive stuff I keep most of it if I THINK i can get a part out of it. A couple examples are Wenge and yellowheart. Wenge I use for lots of eyes on wildlife, and yellowheart on the eagles I make , so if I can get an eye or claw out of the pieces it goes in the drawer. Otherwise I keep other woods until they start piling up or fall off the bench. in that case I box them up and give it away or burn it. Space is a premium in a small shop (10 x 12) so I have to stay somewhat organized.

  I have been teaching a couple teenagers intarsia and scrolling so they normally take the scrap but the probably have enough to last a long time. Sometimes its hard to throw away that "perfect" scrap piece that would work fora specific project.

[amazingkevin]

I rarely get 1/2' anything so what i get i horde I use allot of 1/4" for name stands.Most of my projects are 3/4" plywood ,very easy to come by."i have lots and lots and lots of hard woods but they are not colorfull but i keep them as my pride and joy. I made 28 sheila landry reindeer's an14 sleighs for 3 huge garbage cans full of raw aromatic ceder.He put the projects together.My hard woods are in the corner and i barely know they are there.I only do paying jobs in hard woods.I save most everything .I have a customer that wants lots of 1/4" small things so anything 2"x2" gets saved 3/4"ply scraps are clutter as i get plenty of 3/4 ply free.I Most hard scraps i hate to throw away.They don't come easy

[meflick]

Thanks everybody for the ideas and what you do.  Keeping 'em coming.  The really small pieces of dark woods for eyes is one of the things I was questioning as to what size I should be keeping. Especially since I have figured out that those are the more expensive pieces of woods.    I meant to check out what Judy G Roberts does in her studio but then forgot to ask while we were in class. I will try to see in Oct. I have one idea.  My daughter cleaned out her room this summer and there was a "toy" bin that she had that I was thinking about using.  I just need to find the "space" for it somewhere.  I will try to be good and follow that 2"x2" or 2"x3" wisdom shared.

[kywoodmaster]

I don't do intarsia but I am a freak about throwing out wood. I usually keep anything that  think I can get something out of. I have a bunch of 5 gallon buckets that I picked up for free at work. I try to separate wood by species and inter stack the buckets. Usually works well up to about 4 to 5 feet tall.

[Rolf]

I still don't have a sensible solution.

[jscottj]

For me, money is tight enough that I don't throw much away at all. I have several small plastic containers and a couple of 3 drawer plastic organizers that hold my scrap. 1 drawer aspen/white wood, another cedar, another oak, etc. I try to save the exotic woods like redheart to very small pieces as the red makes great berries and such small detail items for Christmas items etc. I have a zero clearance table to allow working with small pieces. I even save pieces of 1/8 or 1/4 ply to use as spacers and sanding shims saving the bigger pieces for projects. I use the scrap first if possible, so i don't have an over abundance of it 

[meflick]

More great info. thanks jcottj, and kywoodmaster. Rolf, maybe we. An figurine something out from others methods. Lots of ideas being listed here.

[trailfndr]

For me, it all depends on the cost and availability factor.  I will keep small pieces of exotics, as small as 2x3 inches and even smaller depending on the wood itself.  More available woods, I will toss if smaller than 4 or 5 inches.  (Poplar, Oak, Pine...ect..) just to save space.  Might seem wasteful to some, but for me, it makes perfect sense as I rarely do a pattern that uses pieces that small of the common species of wood. Once the box I keep the small pieces becomes full, I'll go thru it and make decisions based on the piece itself (color, grain....ect..)  My shop is far too small to keep things piled up and not being used.

[country girl]

As you know, I am no expert at this, but I can tell you that I know how expensive wood can be. One way to find cool wood for cheap is at Good Will.... Sometimes they have an old wood thing that can be scrapped for the wood. The price is usually a lot less then what you would pay for the wood by itself. Keep you eyes open if you ever go to a garage sale or second hand store.

[Jim Finn]

I have six plastic bins/boxes (about 24" x 16" x 16") in my garage (not in my workshop) and each has a different type of wood scraps  in it.  I  keep anything from 20" long to 3"x3".  I keep very small pieces of ebony though.  I use it for eyes , so very small pieces are useful. 

     This summer I started making band saw boxes so I took about 90% of my scraps and glued them all together, Hodge podgy, into blocks with which to make them.  Now my plastic bins are pretty much empty.  I had accumulated those scraps over the past ten years.  Good to see them put to use.

[meflick]

Thanks Theresa for the tip on looking for wood at Goodwill.  I had heard about that before but had forgotten.  Will have to remember to check out our stores when I am going by any of them.  The one time I looked, they didn't have any.  They are not on my normal "travel" path so I will have to make an effort to try to get by some of them at some point and try again.

 

Thanks Jim for your insight.  That is one of the things I was considering - was putting the "toy bin" with different boxes out in the garage close to the workshop to sort and store the smaller pieces of wood in.  My one concern was that the garage is not air conditioned but the workshop is so I was worried a little about the effect on the wood since we live in the South where it gets pretty humid for a large portion of the year - especially this time of the year.  This is probably going to be what I start with at least.  The other option is we have some room in the basement of the house.  It is an unfinished area but need to see if there is air over there.  There was in part of it but we made part of it into a theater room a couple of years ago so not sure if that was only area with the air vent already or if the other side still has some over there.  I'm thinking this may have to become my "shop" area if I get too much more and hubby decides I am taking up too much space in HIS shop.      I have a workroom in the house - but he said he doesn't want me sawing/sanding in there and getting it all over the rest of the house! 

[country girl]

One thing that dad and I need to do is to get some organizer for the scrap wood. Good ideas here. I have a three drawer plastic tub.