Repurposing handy items (sub title: I am a cheap bastard)

[weekendrider]

Free stuff that has come in handy.
#1<Seems clothing manufactuerers are shipping with these handy little plastic clips with hangers. I see a third set of fingers.

#2< It is time for the home shows so I picked up some handy bag liners.

 

[retiredgentleman]

Glad to hear I'm not the only cheap dude on this site.

I was helping a friend move out of his house, when he said he had a folding file holder unit that he was going to throw out. I said I'd take it. I bolted a scrap piece of plywood to the top and painted it. Makes a real handy portable work table in the garage.

 

[1974jh5]

A buddy works for a company that rents medical equipment, he gave me this rolling basket thing that was a stand of a heart monitor etc which his company was throwing out. I stuck a piece of plywood on the top with some holes drilled in it and it's great to have near me when I'm working on something: I drop screwdrivers in the holes and use the baskets to hold bolts, etc. Keeps crap off the floor and at an easily reachable height.

 

[hamamatsu]

Medicine bottles...the see thru kind they use for liquid medicine, they are marked ounces on one side and CCs on the other side. I wash them in dish water soap and use them to measure liquids in the garage...like for fork oil and whatever. I don't know what they are made from, but they hold up to gas and engine cleaners. I keep one in my saddle bag with Seafoam in it for when I fill the bike up.

 

[Downeaster]

I am a charter member of Packrats Unanimous. I couldn't even begin to list all the stuff I've "re-purposed".

My wife heard/read/saw on TV that Teflon is now on the Evil Plot list, cookware-wise, so I got to buy her a whole new set of cake pans and cookie sheets (not much of a sacrifice, I admit...) All the old ones went out to my shop.

Since I retired in October, I've been doing a fair bit of small engine work. Seems like 90% of the stuff that's brought to me suffers from carburetor issues. The cake pans are EXCELLENT for keeping all the parts together when disassembling, cleaning and reassembling a carb.

I usually use three: One for the dirty carb, one for the parts I remove, and one with the rebuild kit all laid out by category so I can keep track of where I am in the process.

 

[I am Carbon]

I have plastic peanut butter jars holding screws and things
plastic containers from KFC for screws

 

[jd750ace]

I got this lift out of a dumpster. Works great on the smaller bikes and the riding mower. Hey, it was chrome!

 

[flthead]

being in the autobody trade , i save the thinner cans . make great parts holders .cut 1 side out bend the tabs over. no sharp edges . el cheapo nut an bolt drawers

 

[gggGary]

I cut the side out of quart oil containers and I uh BUY plastic bus tubs. the bolts and small stuff goes in the oil cans bigger pieces in the tub parts all stay together for later reassembly.
+1 one on peanut butter jars for fasteners and what ever. The trick is getting them after the dog has them licked clean and before he chews them to death.
Have I mentioned all the uses for the stainless steel strips from windshield wipers?

 

[weekendrider]

jd750ace, super nice find.

 

[1974jh5]

I buy those plastic tubs, 7 quart I think? and there's a shelf in my garage with a bunch of them labeled metric bolts/nuts, SAE bolts/nuts, brackets etc. It's not free but dayumn does it save time and aggravation.

 

[h3llb3nt1]

I use the old cat litter buckets for for storing all kinds of stuff and coffee cans are good to degrease small parts

 

[bergoff]

I use coffee cans to keep and sort my brass since I reload for my 45. Also since I live across the street from a hospital I will dig through their dumpster. I scored a cabinet with a power supply and a locking door that I store oil and paint in.

 

[weekendrider]

bergoff are components getting hard to find for roll your own?
The empty shelves are saying get the molds, powder and press back out, jus wondering if there are shortages there also.

 

[jd750ace]

jd750ace, super nice find.

I have a friend that uses one at his shop for Vespas all the time. His has the acme screw and a crank handle, but I got the high end hydraulic one that is handy when you need to bump it up a bit. You can do it at ground level, whereas the one with the screw, ya gotta get up to adjust it. I do like the fine adjusment the screw offers in both directions though. My buddy Milton called me about this one next to his house while a repo was in progress on a mobile home, and they dropped a 20 ft dumpster and were throwing away all the personal property. He knew I wanted one from wathcing me use it an marvel at how handy it was over at "Little Shop of Scooters" so he gave me a buzz. It's fantastic!

 

[bergoff]

bergoff are components getting hard to find for roll your own?
The empty shelves are saying get the molds, powder and press back out, jus wondering if there are shortages there also.

Yeah it is kind of. I can't find the powder I like locally. So I'm using some old stuff. Primers not to bad I use small pistol primers with federal brass. And for bullets I cast my own from wheel weights and a set of doors that were in the dumpster that were full of lead from the x-ray dept. I dont have a press yet. A friend lets me use his as long as I pick up brass when we go to the range and give him all the 223 and large revolver brass.

 

[hardrock785]

got a buddy thats a heavy truck machanic he has a table that thay roll you into surgery on , stainless steel, works great like a mobil work bench.

 

[haxto]

got a buddy thats a heavy truck machanic he has a table that thay roll you into surgery on , stainless steel, works great like a mobil work bench.

My shifter linkage (forward control) is a chrome square rod, its previous life was as a meat squewer in a rotisery oven, my chrome head light bracket was a hack saw frame, my battery tray was drawer slides, my leather bag under head light that holds wiring junctions gets it firmness frim being built around a sports water bottle, the tray for my electronics box was a cover plate for a side burner of a gas barbeque pit, my apes were made from XS stock bars with 5" of shopping cart tubing added with rebar plugs, and my drag pipes were posts for chain link fencing

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[cycleholic2010]

This thread is awesome. I am glad I am not the only one who repurposes all kinds of things. Coffee cans for storage. Nails for cotter pins. I always save any left over wire from any project. An old single light fixture for a 120 test light... The list never ends. I have storage bins full of junk I keep just in case. We recently cleaned out my grandfather workshop after he passed away and he had EVERYTHING in there. All kinds of things he had repurposed.

 

[cycleholic2010]

Here is one of my recent ones. Had to put new railing at my renter house. The black rails are actually pvc spray painted black.