The Old Wood Scrap Pile

Oak, Maple, and other hardwoods

   Several times in my blogs this year I have referenced my "wood scrap pile" and how it is a goal of mine in 2017 to reduce the size of that sacred wood pile.   In case you are wondering just how that has been going for me I thought that maybe this week I should share some of my thoughts.  This may be a little embarrassing but a guy my age needs to be examining this scenario.   (This is very similar to a TV reality show where the contestants who want to lose a lot of weight, step on  a scale on the very first episode to show the audience how badly they need to lose a little weight.)   

Cherry wood, walnut, and trim boards

    So this is me sharing with you about how I need to lose some of my boards that I have been hording over the years.   (Or maybe this is a situation where I been goofing off a lot lately and I just don't have a project to write about tonight...   You know - a little golf here, a little gardening there, and a little Easter road time last weekend, and suddenly tonight I realize that if it weren't for the cat's litter box, the shop would not have been visited at all this past week by anyone in this household )

Slabs of walnut,

    Lately Pam and  I have been making the rounds looking at different nursing homes or senior care facilities trying to find a place that would be a good fit for my Pam's mother.      While we are in the process of doing that I try to avoid any thinking that maybe some day the kids and their mom might be looking for a place to park me.   No matter how hard one tries to not think about that no one really knows what the future holds.  

Rough lumber - pine, soft maple, and some fur

       So when I am daydreaming I come up with this vision that someday the kids will start to take notes on how often I visit the home supply store.  Or how many online orders I place on the internet for various jigs,  tools, or other fun things.   Who knows - some day they will be quietly talking to their mother - thinking that I'm not paying attention - and say "mom we have to put the brakes on dad's pretend woodworking hobby before the money is gone or he hurts himself".

Plywood sheets and squirrel feed

   
   The next thing there will be a paddle lock on the table saw power switch or what ever it will take to keep me from endangering myself with any of the many power tools I treasure.    Oh wait - on a second thought, the kids will probably let me play with a couple sheets of sandpaper and one sanding block.   (Oh goody!)

Old barn boards and valuable pieces 

       Like I said - who does know what the future holds, but one has to think about the day when everyone will have to clean out all my special pieces of lumber that I have laying around.    

      I don't think it will be a lot of fun.







   

A pile of  Cherry and Maple plywood scraps

Rough hard maple boards still drying 

  Some dads leave chunks of farm land for their kids to divide.   Some fathers leave a large trust account for the children to fight over.    Some dads leave a boat load of antiques for the family to share.  






     For me, when that winter season of life comes around, my goal is to leave enough lumber behind for the kids to build one of the largest campfires in northern Iowa plus a little small change to buy a few marshmallows to roast.