ONE MAN’S TRASH IS ANOTHER MAN’S TREASURE…
I really lucked out several weeks ago. I normally ride the bike out to the Asylum whenever I don’t have anything large to haul out or when the weather permits me to. But this trip was one of those non-cycling days because I had accumulated a bunch of supplies at the house that needed to get moved out to the shop and it was also time to restock the food/beverage supply (which is much easier with the truck as well). Lousy weather was also forecasted, so I was trying hard to beat the rain while running all my errands.
Everything was going pretty good… I finished work on time (which is somewhat unusual for me since working from home the last couple of months), I picked up all my groceries (even got some good BOGO’s), and traffic wasn’t bad at all for a Friday afternoon. I even took a new route and drove on some roads I had never been on before (that’s always fun, right?). Everything was going like clockwork.
But as I drove into our neighborhood, things got EVEN BETTER when I spotted a steel cabinet sitting next to the dumpster. I didn’t even stop to look at it because I was now on an important mission… to unload the truck as quickly as I possibly could and get back there and grab that thing before anyone else did. LOL. I really didn’t need to stop anyway because I could see from the truck it was something useful to me. At that point, I didn’t know just HOW useful/fruitful it would end up being.
After making room for it in the truck, I high-tailed it back there while nearly running over my neighbor, who was enjoying a walk before the rain hit. Just kidding about almost hitting them, but I’m sure they knew something was up when I didn’t stop for a typical chat. At least I waved. I’ll catch them next time… I’m sure they figured I was on one of my typical “missions”. They know the look!
It turned out to be a very nice 5-drawer SteelMaster brand index card cabinet with heavy full-extension slides. Looking it over closely, it was in really good shape considering its age and considering it was just dumped off in the grass. I don’t see any major dents, and I have to look pretty hard to see the minor ones. The slides work nicely, although they could use a touch of lube in the rollers. Drawer pulls and latches are still all intact and working perfectly yet. A little bit of surface rust on the top surface was really its only blemish.
I was pleasantly surprised with my haul, knowing it was a good quality cabinet in decent shape, and in a nice configuration for shop storage. But it even got sweeter when I rolled the drawers open… they were still full of junk! But reasonably useable junk for a guy like me. Some electrical supplies, including one of those little stands with alligator clips to hold your wires together while soldering them (needed a second one for at the house!). Some small isolator mounts (can always use those!). A whole set of lug nuts, Velcro, some tools. And a bunch of raw aluminum stock to build new junk with.
But the last drawer verified this cabinet was meant for me to find... motorcycle parts!!!
IT WAS A SIGN!!!!
The carb wasn’t something I could actually use, so it later went on ebay…
and sold for $75!!! You gotta like FREE MONEY from stuff INSIDE a free cabinet! A couple other bits are on ebay, so we shall see if my 100% profit increases in value.
To top it off, I had just gotten it hauled back to the shop and safely under cover when the rain came down. It was kind of like that feeling when I just finished mowing the yard, blew the clippings off the sidewalk, and just stored all the equipment away right before the skies open up and soak everything. Needless to say, it was a very satisfying afternoon of “dumpster diving”.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the cabinet yet. Drawer depth is great for storing cordless tools, mechanical and electrical components, and a number of other stuff. Since it has fixed dividers in the housing between the 5 drawers, I think it would look nice with a black and yellow paint scheme. If I can’t find a spot for it in the bit shop, the cabinet style closely matches a SteelMaster single pedestal tanker desk I have in my home office. So another option is to repaint it to match the desk (battleship gray) and use it as a compliment to the desk. The drawer pull handles, in particular, are a perfect match.
It’s nice having options.
