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That old cutoff bin taught me more than any class in July
Three years ago I cleaned out the cutoff bin in my shop in Columbus and found a stack of face frame offcuts my dad had saved back in the 90s. He passed in 2011 and I kept the shop going, but I never paid attention to those little pieces until last month when a customer wanted a specific bead profile nobody stocks anymore. I dug through that bin and pulled out a 4 inch piece that matched the old shaper cutter we used to run, and it saved me a $140 custom knife order. It got me thinking how we throw away so much now that our CNC can cut anything, but that bin still holds every pattern and profile from jobs we did 25 years ago. Last week I started labeling and sorting it all by profile family, and it already helped me quote a kitchen remodel in under an hour. Does anyone else keep a vault of old scrap just for matching trim on remodels, or am I the only hoarder here?
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lee5827d ago
That bit about the bin holding every pattern from 25 years of jobs hit home for me. I've got coffee cans of old shaper cutters and scrap sticks going back to when my uncle ran the place, and I dig through them way more than I ever touch the CNC for trim work. Last spring I matched a whole crown run off a 6 inch piece of oak I almost threw out, saved me from telling a customer her trim was gone forever.
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