"I call those project boards..." I suppose.. I used to think of them
as future project boards. Unfortunately, right now it seems I have so
many odd-sized short boards left over from previous projects clogging my
lumber racks that I think of them as scrap... You know the short ones
you hate to throw away but aren't really big enough in size or number to
build your next project with.. -Jim

On 1/3/2010 7:23 PM, Mark & Juanita wrote:
Jim Hall wrote:

Actually these weren't really small scraps. I don't remember exact
width but I think they were around 4" wide boards, about 20" long.

I guess not. Around here, I call those project boards. Scraps are about
3/4 to 2 inches wide by 20 inches or more long.

A
total of six boards of varying thicknesses, jointed, planed and then
glued together face side to face side creating a block of wood 20" long.
That block was then cut in half, making two 10" blocks. I then ripped
each block on the bandsaw into 4 pieces about and inch wide or so,
jointed and planed those and then "face" glued two of the sections
together, dadoed the grooves for the scissors and finally glued the
remaining pieces together to form the final blocks.. Every other row
was reversed, or flipped upside down before gluing, so that you get an
alternating pattern. Hope that makes sense..

Probably too much information I suppose.

I get what you are saying -- it's not an easy process to describe

Here's a short answer to your
question, I joint small scraps using a hand plane instead of a jointer.
If you don't get exactly a 90 degree corner you can usually clean if up
on the table saw. You just need a flat straight edge to start with..
Karl and Leon probably have a better way of doing it. Maybe they'll
chime in..

-Jim

On 1/2/2010 8:10 PM, Mark& Juanita wrote:
Jim Hall wrote:

These used up scrap and were a big hit at Christmas with the quilter I'm
married too..

Very cool. I am so stealing that. Thanks for sharing. Just out of
curiosity, how do you joint your small scraps safely?