Can any wood be repurposed?

[Positively Ralf]

I have no idea if I'm asking the right question but may aswell ask it with the hopes someone understands.

So my job is throwing away a custom office desk that was made for one of my bosses. It's a pretty solid desk and some of the pieces are heavy. I was told it was made about 15 years ago. Like I said, there are some really heavy pieces and was wondering if this wood can be repurposed to making something like a cue shaft? Unfortunately it's been sitting on the side of the building and it has snowed here. Is it even worth saving and doing something with it? I'll see if I can upload a picture.

 

[epoxypop]

I have no idea if I'm asking the right question but may aswell ask it with the hopes someone understands.

So my job is throwing away a custom office desk that was made for one of my bosses. It's a pretty solid desk and some of the pieces are heavy. I was told it was made about 15 years ago. Like I said, there are some really heavy pieces and was wondering if this wood can be repurposed to making something like a cue shaft? Unfortunately it's been sitting on the side of the building and it has snowed here. Is it even worth saving and doing something with it? I'll see if I can upload a picture.

If it's been sitting outside in the weather maybe you should try to upload it on a truck and make it go away, lol Just poking at you my friend. Might have been some nice wood, but now maybe mot.

 

[BarenbruggeCues]

I have no idea if I'm asking the right question but may aswell ask it with the hopes someone understands.

So my job is throwing away a custom office desk that was made for one of my bosses. It's a pretty solid desk and some of the pieces are heavy. I was told it was made about 15 years ago. Like I said, there are some really heavy pieces and was wondering if this wood can be repurposed to making something like a cue shaft? Unfortunately it's been sitting on the side of the building and it has snowed here. Is it even worth saving and doing something with it? I'll see if I can upload a picture.

Type of wood ( my guess...walnut or oak or pine or alder) Is it veneered or solid wood?
Thickness of wood
Length of thick pieces
Solidity of the wood

Probably had a finish on it. Snow shouldn't matter. The longer it sits outside the worst it'll get.

You haven't made it disappear yet?

 

[Inferno]

Depends on the type of wood.

Either way, before you could turn it into a cue piece, let it sit in a decent environment for about a year to let the wood settle (after being in the elements).
If it hadn't been out in the elements, this step would already have been taken care of.

 

[RidgeRaider]

Better question - Is it worth it?

Wood really isn't expensive, especially wood from a desk. I'd imagine less headache and cheaper in the long haul to just buy good wood.

 

[Kim Bye]

Yes you can repurpose hardwoods. I have shaft blanks made from old bowling alley floors, but if shafts is what you want to make, that's gonna have too meet some quite specific criteria. Could you use it for other wood projects that's not that critical in terms of grain etc. yeah, that would probably be fine. The question is: is it worth it. If it's some generic wood of not particulary good quality, just move on. Are you sitting on a treasure trove of BRW, yeah, obviously it's worth processing.

 

[Inferno]

Better question - Is it worth it?

Wood really isn't expensive, especially wood from a desk. I'd imagine less headache and cheaper in the long haul to just buy good wood.

You have a good point.
Unless you have some important or OLD wood, it's not really worth the hassle to repurpose an old desk.
An example would be that when I built my first house I had come across a seller that was offering up some reclaimed marble from a 200 year old library. It was 1.75" thick. My construction consultant thought I was nuts for wanting it because marble tiles were so cheap to install in comparison. I would have loved to have had that marble as the main floor and extending it to the front porch but, ultimately it was just too expensive to get it from the East coast to the West coast.

So, if the desk was 200 years old, from someplace historic, it would be worth it. Otherwise, bag it.