Something from nothing

Woodworking is all about taking some great stuff and turning it into something else. Usually, we start with some nice stock, mill and cut it as needed, then take that wonderful material and use it to create anything from a work of utility to a work of art.

But sometimes, what we have to work with is, to be charitable, junk. Its most valuable use would probably be firewood. It’s nothing.

But one of the greatest things about woodworking is that we can take that piece of nothing and, with a bit of extra work, all the parts that make the wood worthless can be cut away. What’s left may not be enough for a large-scale project, but it might be perfect for something smaller, or a smaller portion of something larger.

In the above photo I had two such pieces, one walnut and the other oak. Both had terrible edges, checking, and more than a little twist and warp. They were at the bottom of my rack, having been rejected many times over. But my stock was low and I didn’t need a lot of each, so I turned them from nothing into something.

Some rough band sawing to remove one splintered and ragged edge, a bit of jointing to square that band sawn edge and achieve one stable face, then a trip through the table saw to size it, then over to the planer to make the top faces match the bottom faces.

If I had a fireplace, those often-rejected pieces probably would have gone up in smoke ages ago. But I don’t, so I hung on to them until the effort to change them to something usable was worth it. The walnut was just enough to become a mantel clock, while the oak made some perfect aprons for a table.