HOW ABOUT SOME IDEAS OF WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SCRAPS?

[xe1ufo]

Hey, ladies and gentleman and those undecided either way:

How about some ideas of what to do with your leftover scraps, once you get your Teardrop finnished?

Here is mine, taken from a visit to a local Argentine restaurant.

PLACEMATS
1. Cut your thin plywood or panelling into strips.
2. Stain to match your Teardrop's wood color.
3. For a background, use a piece of cloth that matches your Teardrop's decor.
4. Glue the strips down and presto! You have a roll-up placemat that matches your theme.

[Arne]

No particular ideas, but I save long pieces, medium pieces (on end in a 5 gallon bucket) and short pieces in a milk crate propped up on its side for visibility.... if I didn't save those small pieces, I'd be cutting up big ones to get more small ones when I need them.

I do go through them and get rid of the junk once in a while, especially after a big project (i.e., tear drop) is completed. I have pieces of old table tops (very good, flat wood) and lot of misc. stuff, too good to throw away.... it may take a year or two, but lots of it gets used...

[Chris C]

I use my scraps to heat the shop in the winter................with my wood stove. Of course it sometimes hurts to put curly maple scraps in there when they've cost me upwards of $15/board foot!

[bledsoe3]

I'm taking mine with me on the tears maiden voyage and me and the kids are making smores.

[IraRat]

When I finish my TD, I'm never building another thing again.

Maybe Legos, but that's about it.

[vinoscooter]

Ira:that sounds funny & serious at the same time...Like your kinda burned out w/the build. Your building a Great trailer..Hang in there...I save all my scraps for my step dad..He builds bird houses in the winter & sells them in the summer..He sells around 10 to 15 a week..Not a bad side line..But he dosen't realley need the money.Just something to keep him busy..vinoscooter..

[Lazybones]

I used some of my scraps to build small tool boxes for nails and srews. I take them out on jobs with me. What a diference to be organized.

The rest of them were used to heat up my wood fired brick oven and bake bread.

[IraRat]

Ira:that sounds funny & serious at the same time...Like your kinda burned out w/the build. Your building a Great trailer..Hang in there...I save all my scraps for my step dad..He builds bird houses in the winter & sells them in the summer..He sells around 10 to 15 a week..Not a bad side line..But he dosen't realley need the money.Just something to keep him busy..vinoscooter..

Thanks for the nice words, Scoot.

It's not so much that I'm burnt out from it--it's more that there are OTHER things that I would rather be doing at times, as opposed to fighting with poly glue.

Like hauling the damn thing down to the Keys to ENJOY it, instead of spending 4 hours searching the internet for SLIDE BOLTS.

I'm also sick of buying Bandaids.

[Arne]

A ironic, if not so funny, story. 55 years ago, while in grammar school (when teachers were tougher), I was playing around with a pencil and dropped it. Not want it to hit the floor, I tried to catch it between my knees. It was lined up perfectly, so the pencil point stuck through the pants leg and into my leg. I still have a little blue point where the loose graphite stuck inside the wound and healed.

Four days ago, I was crouched over inside the tear and cleaning up the mess I always make while working... I picked up a pencil and went to put it on the front shelf to get it off the floor. The pointed end was in my palm. I took my eyes off the shelf to look for the next thing I should get off the floor, and hit the eraser end of the pencil on the edge of the shelf, driving the point into my palm....

Showing what a long memory I have, the first words out of my mouth were: "son of a b....., I did it again..!!".....

I guess I felt equally dumb the first time I did it....

Well, at least it wasn't a scrap of wood.... (just trying to get back on topic)......

[purplepickup]

Steve, I'll be using my trailer a lot for camping in places without any facilities so I'll be taking showers in my portable shower stall. I've thought about buying this shower "mat" but you could surely use scraps to make one for free. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=146577

[doug hodder]

One of the things than inspired me to build my tear is that I had 2 sheets of marine grade mohogany left over from a boat project....not wanting a 3rd boat....I figured I could use it all up on this....that and then some....now I've got leftover birch plywood...when will this madness end??? I can't complain...no one would listen...I just love the process and end results...I know i"ll do it again....Doug

[George T.]

Greetings from Colorado!

Having built a 5' X 11' teardrop, I had LOTS of scraps left over. The larger, most useful are stored for use. I am always needing small pieces in one project or another and they come in handy.

The true "scrap" pieces went into small boxes that pack easy when I head out to camp. They make great kindling for campfires. When the teardrop made it's maiden voyage, I shared a campfire with special friends made with scraps from the build. Kind of a "ceremonial dedication" as it were. A lot of special memories came back as I contemplated the flames from that wood...

My wife used to complain about the scrap stockpiles until SHE built two raptor cages 12' X 16' and I complained about her scraps taking over the barn. Now we work together keeping the s*crap* under control....

George T.