There is No Scrap Wood, Just Pieces Not Yet Used
An old lazy Susan spice rack, a few scraps of wood and one quick idea become a workshop organizer that's still earning its keep years later.
Yeah, I didn't coin that phrase, there's a book by that title and I've seen some tee shirts for sale on the internet with the phrase too. It might not be my phrase but it rings true here at 173! I'm always looking for something to do with scrap pieces, and this is one of those times.
An Old Spice Rack in the Workshop
For a long time I had one of those '90s lazy susan spice racks. I'm not even sure where I got it, but I used it for years in the workshop to store little odds n ends like glazier's points, tiny brads and so on. Now these things may be great in a kitchen, but in the workshop it was always unstable, difficult to turn and in the way. With the basement (and workshop) redo, I endeavored to do away with useless, unneeded stuff, and this thing almost got tossed. But i like the little jars for storage, so I held onto it.
In "Drafts" For a Few Years
This post was actually started in May, 2014 when I was working on the basement punch list, then for some reason I left it in the draft folder. Hey, but here we are tonight! Here's where I left off about 6 years ago:A Scrap Wood Solution
Tonight I made a (very) little progress on the punch list, then the lazy susan caught my eye and I had a brainstorm. I tore it apart, and with some scrap wood, wood glue and nail gun brads, I made it useful once again: - and that's where I left off.
The construction wasn't exactly cabinetmaking. I cut a couple pieces of scrap wood to make simple shelves sized to the little jars, glued and brad-nailed everything together, and that was pretty much it. The whole idea was simply to get rid of the bulky lazy Susan while keeping the one part of it that actually worked well in the workshop, the jars. Nothing fancy, no plans and probably not a square corner among them, but it worked.
This is a picture from that evening, and if you look closely, on the toolbox you can see the lazy Susan...
Six Years Later, It Still Works
So now, all these years later, that redesigned and repurposed kitchen accessory has been effectively holding all manner of little stuff I wouldn't otherwise know with what to do!
I suppose that's the best review I could give any little workshop project. I didn't make it, photograph it and declare it a success five minutes later. I made it, forgot I ever started writing about it, and six years later realized I was still using the thing. Apparently the little brainstorm worked.
Even Workshop Storage Gets Old
Much like me, this little storage rack is beginning to show it's age. Really it's just the lids on the bottles, they're just kinda dry-rotting so if you notice, the lower left two bottles are actually repurposed medicine bottles.
Maybe that's why I have such a hard time throwing scrap wood away. Sure, some of it really is scrap, and every now and then I have to force myself to admit that, but an awful lot of those little pieces eventually become something: a jig, a tool holder, a spacer, a little shelf or, apparently, a home for twenty-year-old spice jars. You just never know what that odd little cutoff leaning against the wall is waiting to become.
And That's the Riveting Story
Not a particularly exciting story, but it's the only one I have right now. COVID-19 still has me crazy busy at work so, (and if this is the most we suffer then how lucky are we?) posts like these are about all I have right now.
Thanks for staying with us and...be safe out there!
Around here we don't use the term 'scrap wood.' That's good lumber that hasn't been assigned a job yet.
So an old spice rack, leftover wood and some little plastic containers becoming a shop organizer? Makes perfect sense to me.
The fact that you started this post six years ago, forgot about it, and just kept using the thing might be my favorite part. That's not procrastination. That's a six-year field test.
I've got jars of mystery screws and wood scraps old enough to vote, and every once in awhile I actually use one.
Which proves I've been right all along.
Please don't ask my wife for a second opinion. - A Notorious Packrat
Keywords
scrap wood projects, workshop storage, small parts storage, workshop organization, repurposed spice rack, DIY workshop organizer, scrap wood organizer, hardware storage ideas, upcycled workshop storage, small workshop organization, Made at 173, House 173 workshop