Wood Blocks And Other Shapes From Scrap Wood

I happen to chance on a pile of scrap wood just laying around. The scrap wood was composed of an assortment of wood. There were 2X2s, 1X2s, plywood sheets and so on. They were too short and small for home and furniture construction.

My curiosity was nevertheless piqued by the scrap wood I saw. At first, I began to think of all the wonderful sculptures I can do with them. I learned however to my dismay that not all types of wood were ideal for sculpting.

And so, one of the ways I was thinking of making money with scrap wood had to be abandoned. The next thing I thought about was drawing designs on these scraps of wood and marketing them as home decorations.

I however soon learned that I do not have strong drawing skills. Trying to make a quick and easy money from these scrap wood by drawing designs on them was therefore out of the question.

But even if I have drawing skills, I still have to buy wood paint which could be expensive. And of course I would not only have to buy one wood paint color. I have to buy several colors which is my only chance to make my designed scrap wood appealing.

Nevertheless, because these scrap woods were an eyesore in the place where they were originally located, they were picked up and put near the road in the hopes that someone would take an interest in them.

They were left in an urban area and based from what I saw, people are not interested in scrap wood. This must be because people see little to no use for scrap wood. Even the garbage collectors were not interested in collecting them.

We found some success with a person who uses scrap wood as firewood, but he has not gotten back after he picked a few of the scrap wood. It was evident to us that he does not need our scrap wood at least.

What could be the reason for this? The person who collected a few of our scrap wood use them as firewood for cooking. This is because his family has a cooking business and uses wood regularly.

Another thing I realized is that if you are left without any other options to dispose of scrap wood, there would be people whom you can pay who would dispose of your scrap wood for you.

Based from what I have observed so far, I could ascertain that most people do not need scrap wood. And even if they did, they could find plenty of sources for it. This conclusion got me even more determined to find a use for scrap wood.

This was then that I realized that before plastic took over, early humans were using wood for all sorts of things. I then searched online e-commerce sites to find the most simplest toys I can find and that can easily be created.

This was when I came along uniformly shaped wooden blocks and other shapes. Although wooden blocks by far were the ones mostly sold online. They wooden blocks came in all sizes. This was when I realized that wooden blocks can be used for a lot of toy ideas.

The beauty of wooden blocks used as dices is that wooden dices are easy to make. You just need a wooden block and then draw the corresponding dots of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. It’s this simple.

Even I, with my below average drawing skills can paint or stick on dots to a wooden cube. Making wooden dices is so easy. All that one needs is a tool like a saw to cut the wood into blocks and you’re already in business.

Another thing to consider is that dices do not only come in the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 dot format. There are other things which could replace the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 face of a wooden cube.

Take note that by creating wooden dices, you also need the most minimal amount of wooden paint. You also can sell the wooden dice unpainted if you want to or just varnish it. Wooden dices make great entry products for would be wood toy sellers.

If you want an example of how wooden dices look, visit a few of your favorite online e-commerce sites and simple type such search keywords as “wooden dice” or “wood dice.” I did this for example in the Amazon store.

Another easy product to make using wooden blocks are pen holders. A simple search in Amazon and Etsy using the search keywords “wood block pen holders” would turn out images of wooden blocks with holes drilled in them.

The drilled holes serve as the pen holders. I don’t think I need to explain that you don’t need much woodworking skills to be able to create these. All you need is the ability to use a saw and an electric drill and you’re already in business.

The beauty of creating this product is that you don’t need to have sculpting skills nor the right kind of sculpting friendly wood to create it. It’s just a block of wood with holes drilled in it. How difficult can it be?

Also, if you searched hard enough, there are wood block pencil holders that also double as wooden dices. The holes in the wooden blocks not only serve as pen holders, they also serve as the dots of a dice.

You can therefore market this product three ways: A wooden dice, a wood block pen holder, or simply a decoration. Another thing to note is that these wooden block can also serve as a paperweight or a name plate holder. All that this product need is a polished finish and a good coating of varnish.

So far we have been discussing wooden blocks either in cubed or rectangular form. Let’s now try to see what we can do with wooden scraps that are relatively thin in width. I can name already two toys that you could create with these kinds of scrap wood.

Jenga blocks are wooden blocks which are rectangular and somewhat thin. They come in all sizes. I don’t know exactly how popular they are but there competitions based on Jenga blocks and there are even numerous YouTube videos showing people playing Jenga.

Here are the Jenga rules according to their website:

1) taking one block on a turn from any level of the tower (except the one below an incomplete top level), and.

2) placing it on the topmost level in order to complete it. The game ends when the tower falls -- completely or if any block falls from the tower (other than the block a player moves on a turn).

Similar in shape to Jenga blocks but are much thinner are wooden domino blocks. They are different from ordinary domino game blocks in that ordinary domino game blocks have the required dots printed on them so people could play domino.

The wooden domino blocks have no such printed blocks. They are blank and may either be painted, varnished or left untreated. What do you think people do with these blank wooden domino blocks?

The answer is plenty. This is because they are much, much cheaper than ordinary domino game blocks. I have a nagging suspicion that some enterprising people put the dots themselves on these blank wooden domino blocks and sell them as actual domino game blocks.

They could also be used as building block toys. People could build all sorts of structures using these blocks. It is important to note that building block toys are especially popular with children because they love toppling or tearing apart toys.

The last thing I can think about regarding the use of these cheap and blank wooden domino blocks are as domino chains. These are when the dominos are aligned and the first domino is used to topple the next domino. This is repeats itself and is a popular attraction.

So far, we have discussed wooden cubes and rectangles which are largely without design. Usually, all they need is a good polish and a good coat of varnish and they are ready to sell. I have also told you that my drawing skills are subpar.

But there might be a solution for people like me with subpar drawing skills. Why don’t I just print out freely available drawings, letters and numbers online and paste them on the faces of these wooden blocks?

I can for example print out the entire alphabet as well as the numbers 0 to 9 and paste them on wooden cubes. With this simple method, I would have already created a simple alphabet block toy.

I could also print out six types of fruits or vegetables as well as six types of farm animals or fishes. With this simple method, I would have already created a simple picture block of various types of subjects.

The same goes for any groups of pictures or drawings. I can print out pictures of a family especially if there are six members of the family. If there’s less, I can add a picture of their pet or even their house. You can market this as a service.

Perhaps you might be lulled into thinking that only wooden blocks, squares and rectangles can have a use from being just wood scraps. I’m sure that if you ever decide to use wood scraps to make uniformly shaped patterns, you would encounter the odd shapes left behind.

Clever people have however also found use for them. They are used as irregularly shaped building block toys and decorations. You can for example sell a small bag of squares, rectangles, cubes, blocks, triangles, cones and so on.

Each of your product doesn’t need to be the same. You can sell whatever shape that you are able to create. You might think that there are no use for such products, but consider this: A wooden square partnered with a wooden triangle would take on the shape of a house with a roof.

Or consider this, a wooden block partnered with smaller wooden blocks could already form a pyramid type building. These kinds of toys work well with the imagination of the person playing them.

The only thing that must be done with these irregularly shaped wooden shapes is that they must be polished smoothly and varnished very well also to make them presentable to people buying them.

Although this article was about finding use for scrap wood and to earn money at the same time. This article really delves into easily creating products from scrap or regular wood. One does not need to be a skilled sculptor or furniture maker to find use for these wood.

All that one needs is an imaginative mind to make also creative use of scrap wood or regular wood. As wooden blocks have proven, people don’t really need complex products in order for them to buy. Even a simple block of scrap wood can be valuable.

Money from Scrap Wood