I generate a fair bit of offcuts, scraps etc. in the normal course of flute making. I commonly reject some of the wood I am using when I discover flaws in it, sometimes partway through the process. Some of this wood ends up in a few woodstoves including mine. But a bunch of it is being made into buttons. Cali Hackmann who is better known for her hurdy gurdies (see http://www.hurdygurdy.com) uses these and some of their own wood scraps to make some pretty fancy buttons. See http://www.etsy.com/shop/BrackenCreekButtons. So if you wanted buttons in Blackwood, Mopane or Boxwood, this would be the place to get them. And you would know that some of the parts of the same trees used for buttons also went into making some fine instruments.
I’d never thought of buttons – I’ve made wheels for toy wagons before.
I’ve been making fire starters from the coarse sawdust from roughing squares. Melt some paraffin, add the shavings till they’ve absorbed almost all of the wax, and then spoon the stuff into egg cartons. When we’re camping, light a couple of the egg compartments, and they catch the firewood pretty well without needing a lot of kindling, which is pretty scarce by July when we go to Acadia.
