Let's build a list of good places to get used/cheap/free materials from.

42 responses total.

One seasonal way to get lumber and other things free is when the students move
out at the end of a term, esp. when year leases run out.  Old lofts and other
goodies, right on the curb!  If I have my wits about me this spring (happens
rarely, though), I'll try to take my Dad's pickup around and try to get a full
load or two.

There's the Reuse Center on South Industrial.  Lots of doors and windows,
along with lumber (not that cheap), sinks, toilets, etc. and misc. plumbing
and wiring.

I've heard there is a scrap place near the Broadway bridge; anybody care to
elaborate more?

hey, scott!  i'll be happy to go around and scrounge with you, in your (dad's)
truck.  i'll help with the spotting and lifting, and see if there'e anything
useful i'd like to fight over.  <grin>

Let me know when that magic move-out is, ok?  I live a sheltered life.

I've actually been to the scrap shop near the Broadway bridge.  I doubt it
would be too good for finding materials for projects, but it's a good source
for random hunks of metal to use in art or some such.  

Freedman's on Broadway deals in non-ferrous metal, including an occasional
kitchen sink, odd lots of copper plumbing fixtures, electrical wiring,
stainless steel mouse cages, etc., all by the pound.  They also buy by the
pound - aluminum, copper, stainless.  Will recycle old computer boards,
aluminum legs of chairs, etc.
        Fingerle's will let you take an occasional 4' 2x4 when you buy
something.
        Dumpsters around downtown often have old drywall, insulation, and
computers, and oscilloscopes, and bookshelves, and swivel chairs, lumber with
nails in it, electrical outlets.
        Once found a dumpster full of irregular socks, just waiting for the
toes to be sewn together, outside the factory.  They sell new for $8.
        BIkes are often thrown out by departing students.

In the parking lot near the Fireside Store on Huron is a dumpster which is
regularly stocked by an HVAC contractor with all sorts of sheet metal.  They
also put furnaces and things out that you can take.  And a remodeler
working nearby gives away doors, windows, steps, etc, puts them out so people
will see them and take them away.

In general, just keep your eyes on the curbside when you're out walking, and
you'll see all sorts of great junk you never realized you needed up until that
moment.  This coming from the guy with a metal plate in his pocket 'just
because', of course.

Tonight while cutting through the alley across from Zola's, we
found a discarded (marked discard) TTL amber monitor, which I am
now using, and a 386 with the memory chips removed.  There
are often interesting things in the downtown alleys.  We took
things apart to the stage where they would fit into two bike
panniers, my front basket (most of the monitor), and two back racks (the 386
was a particularly large one).  Oddly enough, nobody stole anything
off our bikes when we parked to go to a free movie.

Walking a lot tends to get you close to sources of things.  On my way to work
today, I trash picked a VCR.  There's a repair tag indicating that the owner
had it looked at and decided to buy a new one, so it is going to need some
kind of work.  However, I peeked in the tape door and noticed a toy car in
the works!

<lol>

Scott, if you get good at VCRs we could certainly use your help fixing the
easy ones, at least, for Kiwanis.  About 10 have accumulated, the donated ones
never seem to work.  Sorry we did not have time to do more than say hello to
you last Saturday, can you make it in Mon or Thurs?
        I hope the owner did not get charged $20 for the look-at.  We sold a
phonograph to someone who had been charged $20 to be told their was some tape
stuck in her tape player, which was why it did not work.  You would think they
could have taken 5 minutes to fix it for the same charge.
        You are welcome to donate the toy car to Kiwanis, we can display it
with some pertinent comment, in our top shelf museum.

I got sick of the time I was spending maintaining my VCR and bought a new one
this weekend.  I should have done that a long time ago, since the new one is
much nicer than the old one ever was.  I'll probably keep the old one around
for sometime when I get bored.

I am curious what type of maintenance the old one needed which the new one
might not need.

The old one constantly had various things breaking (a problem that started
after it was several years old).  I'm hoping I'll get several years of use
out of the new one before things start breaking in it.

In addition, the new one also has a much better picture, hi fi stereo sound
(which the old one didn't have), and does much better at TV reception, which
is rather important since I don't have cable.

Could you give us some ideas what sorts of things break in VCRs, as we are
trying to fix a bunch of them.  Cleaning the head and belts often helps, but
we have an odd one with a wavy picture that is okay when there is only one
line of text across the middle of the screen (and that is also the only time
it is in color), same problem using either a tape or the tuner.  It appears
to be some electronic problem in the output, but what do we do next, other
than give up on it?  Check transistors or capacitors?

Voltage makes sense to me since it works in low drive situations, but 
when it tries to drive too many pixels it wigs out.  But I don't really 
know anything about VCRs.

We have another one that might need a height adjustment, the top quarter or
so of the picturee is in color, the rest has a white overlay with short black
streaks.  (The repair book says to consult the specifications - hah!- and use
the adjustment gigs.  We can't make it any less usable by trying.)

Oh, if I make it over to Kiwanis sometime I should just beat on the door even
though it's locked?  I guess?

No, if it is Mon or Thurs 9-12 the door is unlocked, if it is Mon or Thurs
pm, call us first at 665-2211, we may be there until late, or call us the day
before and we can be sure to be there for you Mon or Thurs.  (Jim does not
have a way to get in other days).  Sat afternoon is also possible.  Let us
know today whether to stay longer tomorrow.  995-9463

Today I went to the Ann Arbor Reuse Center.  This is a place on South
Industrial where they collect and resell things.  It had been several months
since I'd been there.

They are now *stuffed* with things.  It's more like a huge garage sale than
a building material salvage place; with old skis, coffee mugs, and novels.
Sort of a huge version of the Kiwanis sale that also has doors and windows
and such.

Jim thinks it looks more like a junkyard than Kiwanis, which is more selective
and has more volunteers putting in more sorting hours, but the prices are
lower at Reuse Center (if you can find what you are hunting for).  They have
a much better selection of building materials - doors, windows, sinks,
toilets, lumber, plenty of paint, sand, concrete, light fixtures, etc.  The
clothing is by the bag, the computers are as is.  They have the advantage of
being open every day (Kiwanis only Sat am), but are not well heated.  The
people working there are very nice and simply cannot keep up with it all. 
Also have lots of very part time volunteers.  They do not take beds, but they
seem to accept nearly anything else (so far, they will fill up soon).

I needed a sheet of 1/8" pressboard and a piece of 1.5 inch PVC pipe.
Got it all for $1 at Reuse. 

We needed 3" PVC and they only had the grey electrical type.
Cheapest prices in town for paint, and a large color selection.

Reuse Center no longer accepts paint.  We were able to give away two five
gallon buckets that Klaus could not give to the Reuse Center by offering them
to our neighbors, who realized that they only had to add a bit of white to
have enough to paint their house all the same color.

Jim recycled a box spring - pulled off the cloth, cut off the springs
(recyclable as ferrous metal) and took apart the 5/8" x 3-5" wood slats to
use as garden stakes.  Recently we needed wood roughly 1/2" thick to use in
framing a porch for ventilation hatches and it was just the thing.  We may
have the only porch built partly of a bedspring!  Angle iron (bedframe) was
also useful for stiffening some top plates.  And for installing a windows (at
Kiwanis) in a block wall that needed to be held up over the window.  It is
probably stronger than the material sold for that purpose.

UM Property Dispo has some interesting stuff, if not particularly 
useful.  Timing is key.  I managed to get a set of brand new H/K 
computer speakers for $10 ($30 at Beast Buy)

The want a full $10 for their keyboards though - for which the same could be
had at Best Buy.

We need replacement dish racks for a Hotpoint "Potwasher" dishwasher,
model HDA960-03. The old ones have rusted badly and the support bracket
for the upper (glasses, etc) rack has rusted out and failed. I haven't
checked on new ones yet, but used are preferred for now as we will
probably redo our kitchen and get new appliances within a year or so. 

Try the yard next to Big George's for used parts.  I don't know how
interchangeable these are between models.  We use racks like these next to
the sink to drain dishes as they are larger than standard drainers.
Big George threatens to do something awful to you if you leave appliances
there, but I cannot imagine they would object to you removing a piece of one
that is obviously headed to the dump.  

A couple of years ago I got my hands on an old piano which had been damaged
in a fire. I completely disassembled it, salvaging the soundboard which was
quarter-sawed spruce about 1/4 inch thick and very useful for building musical
stringed instruments such as a harp and a hammered dulcimer. There were also
some very nice ash 4"x4"s as well as some fine maple in large sizes. Also many
good screws and bolts, as well as all the tuning pins I'll need for a long
time. Had to throw the metal frame, though. It wasn't much use unless I wanted
to build a piano... I did the disassembly at work since they had the space
and I don't. My boss was getting a bit irritated by the time I finished,
though since it took me a couple of weeks to do the job.

We use metal bedframes as angle iron.  For things like strengthening stairways
and installing windows in block walls (as header).  You can also make them
into futon frames by inserting a row of 2x2" s.  Old jackets are a good source
of long zippers for fixing other old jackets.  

It sounds like you're using them in a way that doesn't involve welding, then?

I've heard some concern that bedframes are less than ideal for welding, I
believe because the steel is hardened in bedframes and this somehow doesn't
lead to the best quality welds.

My bedframe in college was spot-welded angle iron.  It wasn't welded 
very well, though, so maybe you're right. ;)

Jim asks if anyone happens to have 2x 5" or 1x10" of 3/4" o.d. aluminum rod,
threaded or otherwise, that they can part with.  We need to join 8' sections
of 1" o. d. tubing.  If not, will try the hardware store or ASAP.  
3/4" o. d. tubing might also work.  To use in assembling snow guards on our
stainless steel roof, which clamp to standing seams.

We located it at ASAP - 12" precut for $3.12, unthreaded.  Stadium Hardware
only had the hollow tubing, with 1/16" wall.  We may also try Friedman's
nonferrous recycling.

What is non-hollow tubing?

heh.

Nonhollow tubing is something that you can unthread.

You mean, threaded tubing is nonhollow, or solid? What is solid
tubing?

Our threaded rod is non-tubing, which makes it solid.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss