Household items re-purposed for garage use.

[IH82BL8]

I have an old turkey baster that I use to remove old gear oil from my shifter turret. It's also good for sucking coolant out of cylinders after pulling the head. Our dental hygienist is also a family friend and, when visiting our house, was astonished to see a set of dental picks in my tool chest.

Any other creative ideas here?

Thanks.

 

[trainwreck]

Chinese food takeout containers are great. I use the shorter sauce tubs for holding random sockets, and the taller ones for anything from fasteners to paintbrushes.

 

[tdkkart]

Toaster oven- used for heating 2 cycle engine crankcases for bearing removal, works for heating bearings for other items also. Anything that fits and needs heated.

 

[mobetta]

haha - reminded me of another use for a baster-
out wheelling a friend- she cracked her Yota's T case. drained it into a gallon jug, JBwelded right over the crack(which wasnt too bad, but a leaker) and set up camp for the night. next AM, she laid under there for about a half hour w/ that turkey baster re-filling the transfer case. saved us from a serious tow, we were about 20 miles from a real road.

 

[rsanter]

your BBQ
you can preheat items for welding
you can heat a ring gear to expand it to install on a flywheel

an old shallow cooking sheet/tray. good for taking apart small items and keeping all the parts contained

bob

 

[Tigwldr]

Just the normal stuff most everyone does. Ziplock Containers to hold screws and nails. Baby food jars for small screws.

 

[Test Tech]

I have a small wire shelf style cart that was origionally meant to slide between two cabinets in the kitchen. when my wife didn't want it anymore I took it to the garage and turned into mobile storage for lubricants and spray cleaners.

 

[cashishift]

Old nut containers for holding nuts and bolts.

Old spaghetti sauce jars for letting brushes soak in chemicals to clean them.

 

[Daddy_Rabbit]

large cookie sheets make awesome drip pans for smaller leaks.

 

[creativecars]

Plastic coffee containers, big enough to see in and get your hands in too. They also have a snap on lid, for liquids.

 

[wornoutoldman]

cupcake tin 12 hole use it to keep hardware sorted nice when doing heads

 

[Boyd]

I turned an old bath cabinet into a garage stereo cabinet, does that count? The cabinet holds the stereo and shop towels/handcleaners/scrub brushes for the sink below.

 

[Auzivision]

Does this decorative catch tray making my calipers look rusty?

 

[ZenMoto]

Used kitchen dish-washer off Craigslist installed in the garage. Throw engine parts in dishwasher (if they're really nasty, you do need to at least scrape them down a bit first), fill soap-tray up with Simple Green and run it on hot.

Parts come out looking like they came off the assembly line.

 

[Ray-CA]

A few years back we re-did the kids closets and took out four sets of basket systems. They were five-drawer stacks and I added casters to the bottom and a sheet metal tray to the top. I kept one and keep all my shop rags and towels in it. Gave the others to my car-buddies.

Kinda like these:

 

[Jack Olsen]

Bar sink:

Cake pans:

Both in one picture:

 

[drmoonshine]

I used my old kitchen cabinets in my garage but I'm sure most of you have done this.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Kitchen utensil tray - good for sorting hand tools in the toolbox. Same for plastic storage containers. I have a stainless restaurant sink and counter for a wash shink. I also have an old toaster oven, but haven't used it for anything yet.

With my wife being a Perfusionist, I get a LOT of surgical equipment for the shop. If they open an 'OR kit' (towels, lap sponges, suture, suction bulbs, bovie ends, etc.), and don't do a case, everything gets thrown out. Many OR staff will take the unused kit and donate it to their vet (we do), but sometimes I pull stuff out for our shop. Suction bulb (same as turkey baster) used for sucking out old brake fluid for my annual brake and clutch fluid changes. I also get towels and such, which are great for cleaning stuff. I've even gotten some hemostats and tweezers that weren't working as they should, my two favorites are my titanium vessel forceps and my DeBakeys.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[cjbcpa]

The Turkey baster is also good for removing most of the brake fluid from the reservoir before doing a complete fluid change. I do this on my track car a few times a year and it makes it quick job.

 

[Ken P]

I've got a double over / under oven that I plan on using to cure powder coated parts in someday.

 

[Falcon67]

Coffee warmers make excellent bearing heaters for press on axle bearings. Keeps the coffee cup hot too. Wire racks help for double decking things in cabinets. I have a three tier wire kitchen wall rack that holds spray cans, etc.

 

[crewchief888]

great idea for your lights jack

cookie sheets for drip pans
(originally bought them to use as teardown pans for pumps and control valves)
baskets & strainers from restuarant suppliers make nice parts cleaning baskets
found a really nice SS funnel from restuarant supply

old bathroom vanity light fixture, took off the fu-fu glass globes and put in floodlights
saved a couple 36" ceiling fans from the house to use in the garage.

nearly anything the wife tosses out, i hold onto for a little while, i end up finding a use for it most of the time.

 

[Scout Driver]

The trays that TV dinners come in are great for organizing small parts and fasteners when working on projects.

Scott

 

[JC23]

Those cheesy magnetic note clamps you see on the fridge are great for hanging notes on everything from the tool box to cars. They're too lightweight to hold much else. See 'em in the Dollar stores all the time.

On the toolbox, a borrowed tool is 'logged out' so ya know where it is. A note like NO OIL will keep you from forgetting and starting an engine at the wrong time.

I also use 'em to remind me what I'll need to buy next at the swap meet or tool shops. If I write it down when I think of it, I have less chance of forgetting it. Between those and sticky notes, I got 'em on every work surface.

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Old kitchen table for an outfeeds table on the table saw. Old kitchen cabinets are in the shop, and an old cart on wheels that my mom had as tool cart.

 

[JCQuick]

I have an old fry baby that i use to heat gears + its oil friendly

 

[rpmwwe]

I use a beater from a cake mixer mounted in my drill chuck to stir paint. Stainless steel measuring spoons and measuring cups have also come in useful when I mixed TSC tractor paint, thinner, and hardener for small painting jobs. The instructions said to mix one container of hardener with one gallon of paint. I didn't need that much to paint some shop equipment so I measured out reduced portions to get the proper ratio.

 

[Printer Mike]

My missus complains about missin' Tupperware...

 

[IH82BL8]

large cookie sheets make awesome drip pans for smaller leaks.

I forgot to mention that I also use those. They're great for keeping track of small parts during teardown. I used mine last year when rebuilding two carburetors.

 

[Krokodil]

Nice lights Jack!

 

[bazzateer]

Kitchen cabinets, dish-washer becomes parts washer, electric oven becomes powder-coating oven.

 

[Scout Driver]

A "white board" is nice for keeping lists, drawing up schematics, leaving notes or drawing obnoxious pictures.

Scott

 

[DCarr]

My Wife changes the throw rugs in the house about once a yr. I take " last Years " and use them in the garage to lay or stand on.

 

[qdvuu]

I use a steamer pot (aka double boiler) from Goodwill as a mini parts cleaner (mine's enamled which gives it that cool camping trip vibe). I fill the lower pot about half full and put the parts in the upper pot (which is sieved with holes). This way I insert and remove parts without making a mess, and a nice feature is that I don't have to fish out the small parts with my hands. There's also a lid to keep the fumes down, and when not in use I seal it with a plastic sheet and bungee cord.

 

[sonnyboy]

I keep a liquids measuring cup for mixing 2 cycle fuel in small amounts. I don't use the fuel enough, and if I mix a whole gallon, it just goes bad before I can use it all.....

How about old T-shirts and boxers (washed, of course) for shop rags.....

Ditto on the plastic drawer organizers....

I've got a couple of those clamp-on desk lights that have the adjustable arm that make good worklights......

An old window A/C mounted in the wall.....

Bar stool at the workbench.....

Cabinet doors made into shelves (there is a factory in town that makes them, and they just throw them away if they have even the slightest cosmetic defect. I know a few people that work there, so any time I need some, I just make a phone call and pick them up.)

Probably have more too, I'll post it there are any good ones.

 

[Berserker]

Pyrex glass measuring cups, clean nice. Lot of coffee cans. I like them when I am working on stuff, for nuts and bolts. You can seperate parts of the job out too.

I've got the turkey baster too, for removing oil from Harleys.

I've got some of the wood boxes that clemantines come in. Good for small stuff.

No one mentioned milk crates????

Old rusty kitchen seratted knives work good. I probably got an old butter knife floating around too.


I haven't taken anything bannished anything lately out there.

 

[ambenz]

Cabinets ( the one on the right my Dad made back in the 80's to put our first microwave on), Fan, TV, and cut up area rug to park the car on for the winter.

 

[nickleone]

I buy swing arm lamps at GoodWill etc for about $2-$4 each and use them for lighting around the work bench. You dont need the clamp to hold them just drill a hole and stick the end in. Sometimes they work on the car where there is a hole to stick them into. Like this http://tinyurl.com/46thbbz

 

[e-tek]

Chinese food takeout containers are great. I use the shorter sauce tubs for holding random sockets, and the taller ones for anything from fasteners to paintbrushes.

Good idea, but don't you get hungry every 2 hours??

large cookie sheets make awesome drip pans for smaller leaks.

cupcake tin 12 hole use it to keep hardware sorted nice when doing heads

The missus is gonna wonder where all the baking **** is going! Next you guys will be looking for an Easy-Bake Oven!

My Wife changes the throw rugs in the house about once a yr. I take " last Years " and use them in the garage to lay or stand on.

I use these too. A nice carpet to have under "just painted" cars when re-assembling keeps things nice and clean and is easy on the knees.


I use a strainer to sandblast nuts and bolts. Holds the parts while the sand goes right though.

Old kitchen stove hood would make a great fume hood for painting, welding, etc.

 

[Phuckin' Jim]

I do a lot of the things already mentioned. Ihe only other one I can think of right now is the old couch cushion I keep for sitting on/kneeling on if I'm working down low on a vehicle. It also comes in handy when leaning over a rad, working on an engine.
I sure would have liked to have had it when I changed plugs on my F-150.....