Something for nothing

I have just finished ripping out the old weak lathe bench and replaced it with a new and stronger version with all the associated shelving etc. It was necessary because the old lathe was only a third of the weight of the new one.

It was hard work but worth it and was all done on the cheap (for "cheap" read nothing). As I speak we are having a new kitchen fitted. The huge pile on the drive is the old ripped out kitchen and I have been back and forth all week scavenging this and re-cycling that - it's like having a free B&Q parked at the front of the house.

I got the same kind of satisfaction from doing this job as I do from my model making which is mainly "fettling" models from what most people would call scrap but which I see as "treasure".

This hobby as hobbies go has the potential for being very, very expensive indeed, but I view that threat to my wallet as a challenge and try to do as nice a job as I can for not a lot of cash.

ATB

Stuart

AKA "Tight old Git"

Hi Stuart,

I like your idea of recycling, I too used second hand materials for my old lathes bench. Old kitchen tops seem to work well for workshop benches, I use a piece under my new milling machine. .Any possibility for some pictures of your solution.

Regards

Thor

Hi Stuart

I am very close behind you on the somthing for nothing lark. For many years i striped down lots of ex WD stuff and redundant machinery for our local scrapyard and was allowed to keep whatever bits i wanted, result is i have a workshop full of nuts, bolts, gears,motors,and all kinds of other bits. More than enough to last me a few lifetimes. I have two benches (one of them mobile) and a mill stand all made from scrap ally extrusions, plus the fibre optic clock (subject of another thread on here) is made from scrap brass.

Cheers Derek

Edited By David Clark 1 on 22/02/2013 18:54:53

George, that "problem" has been addressed on this Forum ad nauseum.

Personally I do not have that problem I am pleased to say.

Hi Kwil

Which is George's post on this thread ?????

Cheers Derek.

I'm happy to recycle/reuse/repair anything. I have already listed some of my withdrawals from the tip. One of my worktops is offcut kitchen top, the lathe is on just 3/4" mahogany faced chipboard - but it a mini lathe and the top is only a foot with with a frame of 3X2 underneath. Another bench is 3/4" ply but ssems to function as storage, and my electrical bench is a cheap chipboard desk with a second top 6" above the original.

One of my stepsons has started work as a kitchen fitter. I've already asked for a solid granite cutout from where a sink goes to replace my suspect surface plate.

He is accumulating large offcuts of scary expensive worktop In the garage is a decent offcut of granite composite faced kitchen worktop I have my eye on and another of oak blockboard which I think he plans to use in his boat.

Neil

It is certainly not free if you are paying for the new kitchen,

Bob

I also have a bench partly made up of kitchen side.

Gentlemen,

I to like recycling and making something for nothing, I bought a Centec 2A a few years back that needed a stand, within a few days somebody was offering a two draw steel filling cabinet on Freecycle so I asked for it and it now supports the mill with tool storage uderneath. My main interest is restoring stationary engines, in particular Lister's, and make trolley's for them and recently at work my company dismantled a mezanine floor and I got offered a good quantity of 4x2 box section steel so that is now stacked behind the garage for future trolleys.

Martin P

Edited By martin perman on 23/02/2013 09:08:00

.

Ah ... but it's a different "Cost Centre"

MichaelG

Ahhh....now theres a phrase...

Well it make me smile...

To right it's a different cost centre - my good lady paid for it out of her own pocket - when I said free I meant FREE!!

And ten grand then? - Double it more like.

Stuart

You must have a VERY "Good Lady"!

N

Edited By NJH on 23/02/2013 17:21:13

Hi, I think my best summit for nowt that I've ever had (financially that is) is my garage/workshop. It started off with the floor which was an old loading ramp for fork trucks to load up containers which are carried on lorries and also those big container type lorries. It got scrapped because the insurers would not insure it because the supporting structure was in need of serious repair which would have cost more the a new lighter duty and manoeuvrable one.

Even had free use of transport to bring it to site. The pad of concrete was free and delivered as well. The framework was next, which was a disused and rather tiered old mess room that lived it's life in a quarry.

The semi-circle angle irons originally held the roof on, which was corrugated iron. If you look at the picture closely you can see the sides were made of four frames, two each side bolted together but I had to set them apart to match the length of the floor. I had to replace all the joining plate along the bottom as they had well rusted away and also made new plates to hold the new roof angles on. There is another picture in my general photos album which show the side more clearly for those who are interested. The semi-circle angles are used here manily to carry the runners for my lifting gantry.

The sheeting covering the final framework was also free, as by the time I got to this stage there was a lot of scrap sheeting removed from a processing plant, due to corrosion where the were fixed to the purlins. Also had some metal window frames given me as well. The only major thing I had to buy was the paint.

Regards Nick.

Edited By David Clark 1 on 24/02/2013 10:32:04

A splendid effort Nick, I am green with envy. May I award you nine out of ten on the TOG scale. If the paint had been free you would have got a ten

Hi Nick

I thought i was doing well when I fished a 90volt 1/2 horse DCPM motor out of the scrap bin.

I have lashed up a test rig from a 110 volt building site transformer to give me 55 volt lumpy DC. Sometimes it works and sometimes it trips a 16amp circuit breaker so I suspect a shorted turn. If I try to stop the shaft from turning I can't feel a loss of torque so may just mark the position where it trips out the breaker so I don't try and start it there.

Cheers Michael

One thing I got waa power supply (quite big) for an old Xerox copier, it has an auto transformer, but there was plenty of room to wind on another winding that supplies my workshop with a low voltage DC supply, it powers the feed on my milling machine, an 18V hand drill, a tub for electrolitic rust removal, and anything else that requires a low voltage, its set at about 18V. Ian S C

Hi Stuart, thank you for that esteemed high award, but I forgot to mention (it was getting late) that just when I needed to rig the workshop up permanently with electricity, the electricians threw about 20 meters of 10mm four cored armour cable my way when they ripped out a redundant supply. As my workshop is about 12 meters away from the house it made the paint quite cheap really.

Regards Nick.