Cheap/Free Fab Materials, Share Your Tips!

[J20Hunter1]

My wife calls me a Dumpster diver I pick up all kinds of stuff sit out for trash

[devildog80]

And all because you see value in every piece you save.

Nothing wrong with that.

We need to show some of the uses from some of those saved items we have put to good re-use.

Like a square electrical box salvaged from an older replaced A/C unit disconnect, and a cord cut off an old dust sweeper, makes a nice 4 way outlet added to a work bench.

Tell us about some of your own.

[2nd Day]

Best thread ever.

Former owner of my house was a scrapper and I've been uncovering buried items on my land from 20 years ago.

I'll have to think twice from now on.

I'll be hitting up the scrap yard for sheet metal for my floor pans soon!

Sent from my LM-T600 using Tapatalk

[devildog80]

Yep, save the bucks where you can

Anybody else have something?

Nothing too small.

[jpswapmohn]

On the wood topic, my brother work for an defense contractor. They get large stuff delivered on TEAK pallets. He grabbed a trailer full of them, was able to work them through a good planer and did 1/2 of his house flooring with it. It looks amazing with the stress marks and nail holes. I have no idea why they use it, but I asked him to grab some more and I would figure out how to get it from him.

[devildog80]

Good use of Teak wood for sure

Somebody else have an idea?

Come on.....lots of refurbish things out there!

[devildog80]

Aluminum security seal as used on shipping containers.

Used one this weekend to make a holder inside the distributor of my '84 GW, to hold the wires back away from the reluctor wheel.

Thin enough to pinch under screw on bracket where wire comes through side of casting, then small tab bent over cap lip to outside, holding wire away from rotating part.

NEXT

[threepiece]

Have we really ran out of frugal fortunes here?

Come on lets keep the tips coming, as financial crunches never cease, and saving money where we can should always be a priority for all of us!

Be damned to those who scoff, at those of us who save anything from waste.

I still have an old pair of leather moccasins, as you never know when you will need or could use, a leather washer.

Indeed!
I do not exaggerate when I tell that nearly 90% of the trash that leaves my shop was previously discarded by someone else. Moreover, 90% of the tools/tooling, metal stock and building materials I have here was also previously discarded. Look what I found a few weeks ago here. https://www.shopfloortalk.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=54642 I suspect one could only manage to do this in the US. I feel I am becoming less of a “weirdo” now that our borders are opening up to people who REALLY know what it means to be resourceful.

[Yeller]

Threepiece, your in good company we build a lot of stuff out of my hoarded piles of scrap and have a bunch of thrown away equipment as well.

[devildog80]

Speaking of the moccasins I saved.....they did get cut into washers a few weeks ago, to repair my rear window motor.

NEXT.....

[threepiece]

Threepiece, your in good company

That is nice to read, mine is often a lonely life.