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Just using up my scrap...

Started by Brad_bb, December 02, 2009, 09:21:14 PM

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Brad_bb

Ok, so it's just a bird box.  It's my first one.  I made some Beetle(commander) heads from an old barn timber.  I had cut off the sides of the timber and wanted to do something with the old, oxidized cutoffs instead of just burning them.  It was an 8X10 timber so two sides yielded inch thick pieces. The back piece and roof were made up by cutting up a pallet and glueing up some pieces and planed them and then glued the thin 3/8 slab to it to make it equivalent to the others.  I let in the roof hinges, and made the perch from some cutting from my mom's garden that was some sort of hardwood that I used a draw knife to take the bark and some of the sap wood off.  I used a 2 inch bit and brace for the main hole.  I used cut nails and wood glued to put it all together.  Final result is a bird box that looks old, like an old timber.  I guess I'm a wood miser (not to be confused with woodmizer).  I can't waste wood.  Sander is there for size ref.  Now I have to see if my mom wants it, of if I should ebay it, or just mount it up somewhere.  Took longer than I figured due to the glue ups.


What else could I have made from my short cut offs(about 15 inches long)?
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

IMERC

Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish.... Here fishy fishy....

Tom

do a little studying if you want them to be sold for certain birds.  The hole has to be the right size.

You could build bat houses.

jewelry boxes.
bandsaw boxes
picture frames
book covers with rawhide stitching
childrens chairs, stools, etc.
toys, like trains, trucks, airplanes, etc.
Stirring sticks for cooking.
outdoor serving platters for the bar-b-cue
puzzles
key hanging boards
signs for the kitchen or mud room.  "Momma's Kitchen", "take your shoes off", etc.
book stands for propping a book up to read it.
key chain ornaments.
worry blocks. (find a pretty piece of wood that will fit in the palm of one hand.  Round it and sand it.  It's great for sick, elderly people to hold in their hand and rub with their fingers and thumb.
flower stakes
pistols for the grandkids.  ;D

IMERC

Tom, did you learn list making from my wife???

some of those are good suggestions...

shadow boxes
cutting boards
checkers boards
spice rack
butcher blocks
wall art
ornate boxes
work bench
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish.... Here fishy fishy....

DanG

Well I think the bird box was a fine idea, and it turned out well.  With a 2" hole, you probably won't get many buzzards nesting in there, but you probably didn't want that anyway. :D :D  The Wrens and such as that will love it though! :) :)
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

CHARLIE

Nice birdhouse!  If you hate wasting wood, buy a woodlathe. Since I started turning wood, I can't hardly throw any scrap away no matter how small.  I can make everything from a toothpick to a big bowl or a wood leg.
Charlie
"Everybody was gone when I arrived but I decided to stick around until I could figure out why I was there !"

Brad_bb

Thanks.  We'll see what will inhabit the box.  I looked up hole sizes, and there seemed to be alot between 1.5 and 2 inches.  I just hope it's not Robins.  They are so Ornery and protective, and nest all over the farm, with multiple broods.  Hopefully something with color.  Owls would be cool, but the box is not big enough from what I've read.  the floor of the box is 6X6.  Oh, and by ideas, I actually meant to take advantage of the old aged timber surface on the pieces.  Rustic coat or had mount comes to mind.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

SwampDonkey

Nice little house. I like to use up scraps to. Even a tiny block could be used some day in a hidden area of a piece of furniture, why go cut a new one with a box full sitting by. ;D  If a piece is checked or twisty or knotty it goes into the stove.

Around here the tree swallows and sparrows take over the boxes. And if there is a yard full of boxes, only one nest box gets used. They don't seem to like neighbors. If you make an open front box and place it in a briar patch, usually you get a robin.

Some day I'm going to glue up a bunch of walnut pieces and turn it into something. I have a box of odds and ends waiting for creativity. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

IMERC

glue them up into planks, boards and blocks/cubes using varieties of woods and grains to give yurself larger pieces to work with...

the end effects can be quite nice...
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish.... Here fishy fishy....

metalspinner

If you really want to use up all your scrap, cut out a dozen or so of those bird boxes to make kits and find a cub scout den that needs a woodworking project.

We built boxes similar to yours and all that has inhabited it so far are wasps. :-\
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Brad_bb

Metal spinner, that reminds me, at the recent Timberframe conference, they had made up pieces, much as you mention, for wooden carpenters toolboxes for the kids at the conference to put together(with help for the younger ones).  Just smaller versions of what many of us make.  I thought it was a great idea because it not only gives them the experience of making something, but they they use it afterwords - maybe to hold tools, or toys, or matchbox cars, but it sticks with them and THEY built it.  I like your kit project idea.  I'll have to keep that in mind for scraps in the future, to make up some kits for toolboxes or bird boxes or whatever.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

BcWoodWorks

Waste not, want not....or something.  :D

Creative use of scrap wood. It has a nice, old look to it. Thinking about it now, there's a big pile of scraps at my Grandpa's house...I'm feeling motivated.

Though I hardly think my end result will be anywhere near that.

"Well, I had a pile of scrap...and, well; I made a pile of scrap."  ;D
Alec - Woodworking rookie, and Private in the United States Army.

"Safety first, impressions last. Remember it." -Swampdonkey

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