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Uses for "scrap" wood from work - 48"Lx 2.5" x 3.5" (oak, poplar,pine, etc)

15K views 42 replies 38 participants last post by  Optimusprime 
#1 ·
Uses for "scrap" wood from work - 48"Lx 2.5" x 3.5" (oak, poplar,pine, etc)

Anyone who works at a lumber yard will know the wood I am speaking of. It is the bottom pieces on which the bundled loads are shipped on. They are sometimes "kickers". They are kiln dried and seem to be in excellent shape. I have seen oal, maple, poplar, pine (white or yellow) and some spruce and black walnut and some exotic teak, etc from pallets.

I would venture a guess that there is enough wood to stack 4'wide by 24-32" high by 4' deep, so a "cord stack" of 2' deep x 4' wide by 4'-5 1/3' high. SO every 4 days I would have over a full cord of extremely dry wood.

I have used this before for bond fires and it sure is a site with a pine 10' long by 5' wide and 9' high, burning from the top middle, it produces A LOT of heat!! But I feel bad after burning all wood like this. I would rather make a good use of this wood.

I have tried to sake all the hard woods like oak, poplar, exotics (teak), black walnut and even some maple, with the hopes of later using it for something.

Can anyone suggest a good idea for this wood other than burning?
 
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#8 ·
If you aren't a woodworker then you might want to try and sell it on Craigslist...provided it won't be a conflict of interest or anything from the source you get it from.

If you can't/won't sell it. Teak is a probably the best lumber for decks and outdoors. The old ships way back in the day used teak on their decks because of well it held up.

The walnuts, oaks and others would have a multitude of uses around the house. If nothing else, maybe some of your friends and family would like the "free" firewood for winter. It's already seasoned and ready to go.
 
#9 ·
SO every 4 days I would have over a full cord of extremely dry wood.

Can anyone suggest a good idea for this wood other than burning?


Heat your house for free!

I have heated my 1200 sq. Foot home, for about 5...? 8 years now with wood. Although for two years we have had a small 750 watt electric heater for the shower room. I only turn it on when using the shower. I have thought to add a wood heater in the back also. This would eliminate the need for the little electric.

I understand wood heat does not fit everyone's lifestyle these day's. But it works for us. If we were neighbors I think we could barter a good deal.
 
#10 ·
Can anyone suggest a good idea for this wood other than burning?


There is absolutely no good use for it. I will PM my address to you and you can ship it to me for proper disposal.

AL
 
#11 ·
Since this is a survival forum I suggest putting the wood up for safe keeping and if the SHTF you will have wood for all sorts or projects and to barter with.
Be sure to stock nails of the proper length and size to nail them together with, maybe some wood glue and screws also. Right now in a pre SHTF world the answer to your question may not be known, however in the post SHTF world this wood would be valuable for many types projects that are unknown as of now.
My answer is to store the wood as preps, and get some nails,glue,and screws to store with them.
 
#12 ·
Anyone who works at a lumber yard will know the wood I am speaking of. It is the bottom pieces on which the bundled loads are shipped on. They are sometimes "kickers". They are kiln dried and seem to be in excellent shape. I have seen oal, maple, poplar, pine (white or yellow) and some spruce and black walnut and some exotic teak, etc from pallets.
I think you're on to a great idea here w/ wanting to salvage the stuff. I would point out that a LOT of pallet wood and dunnage is treated with insecticides, fungicides, etc. that would preclude the stuff being used as cooking fuel.

Just a heads-up.

Could always slice the more expensive species into thin boards (need a bandsaw to do this right) - say about 1/2 -5/8" thick, then market online. Cut it into turning blanks (seal the ends to avoid checking -the stuff may feel dry but not actually be dry for wood.

Or...if you have a good amount of spare time, and access to a bandsaw, shaper or heavy-duty router table, and a good planer/belt sander, mill it into flooring. Or tongue-and-groove wainscot paneling. You'd have the coolest house in town. :D:

"Upcycling," they call it, and it's hot right now, but it's just a fancy term for something people have been doing for ages - using stuff that would otherwise go to waste for a good purpose.
 
#15 ·
I used to work in the lumber department at Builders Square and used to save the "kickers" or "runners" as we used to call them. They typically use what they call garbage or scrap wood depending where the bunk came from. Pine runners generally came from the Pacific Northwest or Maine. Southern yellow pine would come from the south and Oak came from the Midwest. My favorite was from bunks of paneling that came from South America, Mahogany. It all depends on which region has a surplus of what wood. I would pull the good runners and set them aside for my use. I also had many a woodworker try to take off with them or try and buy them from me.
 
#16 ·
I have seen nice wood that the guy got from pallets and crates and ran through a harbor freight 12 inch planer.

You just have to make sure there is no mud and sand in the wood and you have removed any nails or other metal but that can be done with a cheap metal detector.
Then plane the four side just enough to remove the weathering. and it ready for sale.

Countries like Costa Rica do not allow export of raw lumber from teak and some other hardwoods.

A friend use to import rattan furniture and the US customs did not understand how he made money from it. They would take his crates apart looking for drug or other counter-ban.
When they found nothing they would call him to come down and pick up everything.

What they did not understand was in costa rica they use the local wood for making crates and he had someone down there making his crates from rough cut teak and other hardwood.

It was legal for them to use and sell these woods in a finished product like furniture or for building crates.

They sold the rattan furniture at cost and the teak to boat builders and the rest of the hardwood to specialty dealer at a good markup.

All the friend had to do was take the rough cut wood and run it through a planer to clean up the wood for sale.

I got a number of crates from the philippines one time that were built from mahogany and mahogany plywood.

I made some nice cabinets from the wood and it did not cost me anything for the wood because they just wanted it hauled off.
 
#19 ·
My husband get 2x12 4' pieces of pine all the time from a friend who sells trailers. They're used to stack the trailers up. We've used them for firewood - junk ones are great for starting the really bad cord of wood we've got stacked in the backyard - and for shelves, boxes, all sorts of things. I've got an old 2x4 furniture book with lots of projects that would look really great in teak or mahogany!
 
#21 ·
I run stuff like that through a planer, then a jointer. After that I glue it, clamp it and make all kinds of little projects either on a wood lathe, router or table saw. It's time consuming (but relaxing if you have patience) but with a little practice you can turn out some nice one of a kind pieces.
 
#22 ·
I see this is an older thread, but I thought the OP might be able to laminate pieces together to make butcher block countertops, or those little kitchen islands that are on wheels and movable. Had an uncle once laminated together a bunch of maple and made an awesome countertop for his house.
 
#24 ·
Start a business making and selling slingshots. Advertise a contest periodically with prizes that would attract your target audience(grin). Good excuse to have a social get together that promotes local businesses as well as yours. Maybe use exploding targets to decide who is State Champion. Imagine that...
 
#25 ·
Anyone who works at a lumber yard will know the wood I am speaking of. It is the bottom pieces on which the bundled loads are shipped on. They are sometimes "kickers". They are kiln dried and seem to be in excellent shape. I have seen oal, maple, poplar, pine (white or yellow) and some spruce and black walnut and some exotic teak, etc from pallets.

I would venture a guess that there is enough wood to stack 4'wide by 24-32" high by 4' deep, so a "cord stack" of 2' deep x 4' wide by 4'-5 1/3' high. SO every 4 days I would have over a full cord of extremely dry wood.

I have used this before for bond fires and it sure is a site with a pine 10' long by 5' wide and 9' high, burning from the top middle, it produces A LOT of heat!! But I feel bad after burning all wood like this. I would rather make a good use of this wood.

I have tried to sake all the hard woods like oak, poplar, exotics (teak), black walnut and even some maple, with the hopes of later using it for something.

Can anyone suggest a good idea for this wood other than burning?
I know a great carpenter that will trade you for it! Interested?
 
#26 ·
Once I tried to de-nail a pallet and ended up destroying the wood. I see a lot of pallets stacked up at certain places, like the hardware store. Last time I asked, they let me have them. I'm thinking I could cut them with a circular saw where I know there are no nails and then use a sawsall to cut up the rest in case I hit a nail. I just need pieces small enough for a typical rocket stove.
 
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