Free sources of materials.?

Looks exactly like the overflow pipe I pulled out of our bathroom. Galvanised and until I got it ought I thought it was lead. I did manage to bend it, just. I haven't tried machining it yet.

Neil

All blindfolded darts at the bull. It is definitely the barrel from a Model 1847 Congolese Monkey Musket.

Hi

You need to get some of the modern yellow plastic coated gas pipe if you can, that machines beautifully.

Never seen a weld in it, got some short lengths when they were doing repairs around here, wish i had more.

When they first started making and distributing coal gas for lighting purposes they used musket barrels joined up and sealed to carry the gas, obviously a bit hit and miss but cheaper that specially made gas tube. The way they keep digging up the roads to replace gas tubes I think they are still using the old musket piping!

Clive

Mmm That looks like a handy bit of tube.

One of the tele co firms in Christchurch bought up the redundant gas supply pipes in the city, left them in place, and fed the optic fiber cables through them. Ian S C

The company I work for is Italian and we make very large to small industrial washing machines, these are made such that each machine was come in parts that will fit through a standard door and then assembled inside the room where they are required, certain sub assemblies arrive with bracing, all of the machines are made of high grade 306/316 stainless and when we have built the machines the bracing pieces are skipped, usually into the back of my van, as they are no longer needed. The biggest piece to date I have acquired was 6' long 6" wide and 1/4" thick with two small holes at each end, there are usually smaller pieces as well, we also throw away castors made of stainless with nylon wheels fitted with sealed bearing which I either pass on to friends to make skates with to move stuff around or I strip for the bearings etc, all of the above would otherwise be scrapped.

Martin P

picked up job lot of stuff from auction that included 3 electric tile cutters, used nvr switches of two, one on my ml6 myford and one to repair my belt sander.

guy at club took motor of one to make tool post grinder.

always take brushes out of motors.

microwaves are good for strong magnets.

I have just dismantled a 12' long window blind consisting of vertical slats that can be moved laterally and swivelled about their long axes. I was curious as to how when you pull the control cord the slats space themselves out automatically like so many squaddies taking up their dressing. It turns out that each slat has a length of spring steel attached with a hook at each end which connects to the adjoining slat - the same idea as the telescopic swarf guards one sometimes sees.

Anyway, I now have twenty or so lengths of spring steel c 4" long x 1/4" wide x 0.008" thick which seemed too good to throw away without first asking whether they are of any use to someone.

Incidentally, the swivelling is achieved by a very neat piece of engineering: a tri-lobed rod runs the length of the blind and engages in the bore of a tiny worm which in turn rotates a gear attached to each slat - rather like the feed rod on a lathe.

History just drips from Your country!

 

Rick.... That's not old boiler tube by any chance? It's just the wall thickness looks a lot thicker than your normal malleable gas pipe. I think gas/heating pipes have a high lead content which make its crap to weld. I can stand to,be corrected.😋

John

Next time you stop at Mcdonalds ( for the kids you know !) for a snack.

The coffee sticks make excellent epoxy stirrers and there's no limit to the number you're allowed!

Oops going senile I mentioned this earlier in this thread

Always worth asking about cardboard at department stores as we get rid of large ( 5ft by 3 ft) bits and it's great for templates etc. For the same reason if you know a printer it's worth asking for a few sheets of litho sheet ( thin aluminium which is great for shims etc).

Film pots 35mm are good for small amounts of oil, thinners for cleaning small brushes etc.

.

I saw one of those on antiques roadshow last week.

Nick

Next time you visit the dentist, if you ask nicely you may get a handful of these:

Shafts are 2.3mm, hardened steel and the small one (bottom right) is a diamond coated ball nose cutter.

* Danny M *

Two of us model engineering types in Wellington NZ have just had the opportunity to strip a very large commercial colour laser printer - What a wealth of bits and bobs - shafts, bearings, 10mm flat aluminium plate, switches, stepper motors and heaps and heaps of metric screws and bolts

Photocopiers and large printers are great

Bring on the next one

This is a view of my workshop - Need to get to the scrap dealer this weekend

Bruce

And I thought I was a hoarder. I got talking to a neighbour this morning who has recently retired but did own a breakers yard. He was telling me about all the old engineering lathes, milling machines, pillar drills, stainless and mild steel, etc, etc he used to break up for scrap. Had I known...........

old bike wheel spokes are good for thin rd rod.

also make good pointers and depth gauges.

also had some good bearings of bikes.

Surely, you only put stuff in a skip as an absolute resort?

There is very little scrap metal in the world. Only when it is too small to hold for further work, or when it is already in small blue or brown curls!

My experience of rebar is that it is not nice stuff to turn.

Wish that there was space for all the stuff that "will come in useful one day", (Probably for my great grandchildren!)

Not tight, just careful, y'ken!

And I'not a Scot.

Howard