Easy DIY Scrap Wood Organization

Any woodworker – small or big knows how scrap wood organization can become a problem. One minute you are creating a beautiful piece and when you look up you find yourself surrounded by a pile of scrap wood!

I had the exact situation. I didn’t even realize my scrap pile grew so much!I totally lost track what size and pieces I had in there! I had to get it under control before starting out on the next build. Here is what I came up with in about 45 minutes.

This doesn’t look like much but you will see the big improvement when I show you the before picture!

See how bad the situation was… and yes, there is my pile of picture frames in the mix there as well! It is so much better now and the best part is that I used only wood from my scrap pile to make this!!! Can’t beat that!

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Materials needed for scrap wood organization –

• 1 x 12
• Lots of scrap 1 x 3, 1×4, pretty much any boards that fit the size you need.
• 1/4″ plywood or hard board
• Kreg jig
• 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws
• miter saw or miter box
• circular saw
• 1 1/4″ wood screws
• Brad nailer and 1 1/4″ finish nails

How to make the DIY scrap wood organizer-

Step 1- Start with the 1 x 12 board. Cut 2 pieces to the length you need for the organizer. I had a 66″ board. So I cut it to 33″ each. I had bought this for a project and it sat in the garage for a few months. When I got to it it was warped like crazy!! See what I mean. I have been trying to figure out what to do with and this was the perfect opportunity because it does not beed to be perfect.

Step 2 – Figure out the width you need for your organizer. I used  11.5″ just because I had a 1x 8 of that size and I wanted to have a wider board for the front to store the little pieces of scrap wood. Rest of the boards are a mix of left over scraps including 3/4″ plywood. I spaced them evenly at 11″ each.

Step 3 – Make the appropriate pocket holes and attach the divider boards on to the 1″ x 12″ at the given spacings. See how warped the bottom board is, you can see that the dividers are not straight. But we don’t care because it is just going to be used for scrap wood storage.

Step 4 – Attach the other board on the other side. I tried my best to align the divider boards, but it was no big deal if they didn’t align perfectly because of the warp.

Step 5 – I attached a few 1/4″ plywood and hardboard I had left over in various sizes to create the bottom of the organizer. I attached them with screws and finish nails.

That’s it! We have the organizer ready!

I took this opportunity to also sort out all the junk treasures I had accumulated in that area. And now, look at this corner! I can see all the scrap wood I have and it didn’t cost me a cent! I store tiny cuts in the front bin. Anything under 2 feet in the middle bin and all the longer boards in the third bin. This will really make my life so much easier! The wider boards and plywood are stored in the back.

Here is a closer view of the dividers.

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