Nothing tickles a woodworker’s fancy like finding free wood—be it from a relative cleaning out a barn to a neighbour disposing of old furniture. Using this kind of windfall not only saves money, it also diverts good wood from the landfill. In my experience, woodworkers are environmentalists when it comes to conserving lumber. We are always finding ways to make efficient use of materials and avoid waste.
Recently, I installed prefinished hardwood flooring in my living room. When purchasing flooring, you need to order a certain amount extra to allow for waste, which inevitably means at least one small pile of short scraps. Some of the leftovers should, of course, be kept in case you ever need to patch the floor. But the rest is available as free wood to use in other projects. I made a cold-air return frame and candle holders that look great in a living room with matching flooring.
Before you start:
There are a few steps you need to take before using prefinished hardwood flooring as lumber. Steps 1 and 2 remove the tongues and grooves for the cold-air return frame. And Step 3 removes the finish for use in the candlestick project.
 | 1. Install a dado blade in your tablesaw and cut a rabbet on the groove side of the board. The width depends on the size of your existing cold-air return frame. |
 | 2. Now, Switch to a ripping blade and flip over the board. Set your fence to cut just past the tongue, leaving as wide a board as possible. |
 | 3. To remove the factory finish when making the candle holders (or any other project that you want to finish yourself), simply make a light pass through a plane. |
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