The repurposing thread

[AlNH]

Probably not new to many here… An old sneaker makes a great drill holster

*my first post on GJ!

 

[Old Man Roger]

Great first post..lol

 

[cpttuna]

older but goodie. empty syrup bottle and valve stem. You have a nice bottle to keep oil in for your lawn and garage needs. I added the electrical connector for ease of use

 

[don long]

I finally have something to contribute here.
I've been working on a 1970 el camino these past weeks and want to clean up the engine compartment by smoothing out the firewall
The last area I needed to address was the hole for the steering column and brake booster



After cutting out this area and welding a new piece of steel in the hole and putting the holes in it for the brake booster I needed to come up with some way of mounting the end of the steering column to the firewall.
I had purchased a swivel mount for the column bet he column was too short to reach the firewall

Here is my repurposing project. I found this old road flare out in one of my sheds while looking for something about 6" in diameter



First I sand blasted it to make sure it was solid. Then I took the top plug out to see what was inside

It looked pretty bad but I kept going, next I cut the top and bottom out of it using a die grinder





I placed the swivel bracket in the can to see if it would fit and I was pleasingly surprised how well it fit So I continued on with the project



After sand blasting the inside of the can I welded a piece of steel to the top of the can after cutting a hole in it big enough for the swivel part of the bracket to fit through



I dressed the welds, drilled holes in the steel to bolt the bracket to and cut the can down to 3" tall



Now the road flare is ready for the transformation. It makes a great looking pocket for holding the steering column through the firewall



And here is the finished project after smoothing the rust pits on the inside of the road flare.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Here's a bicycle bottom bracket and headset press I cobbled together. For some reason had a plethora of 7/8 sockets.. packet an old Craftsman with a couple acme nuts, welded them in and pressed in handles made from a rod out of a printer (nice stuff).

 

[slowtwitch73]

Here's a line lock for tarps, tents etc. Made up a bunch out of an Al crutch I got off the side of the road lol.

REI wanted 40 bucks for 4 and a bit of rope from MSR. This is what I said to that

 

[mrvm]

 

[dmittz]

So I have an Old 4 drawer verticle file cabinet and also some off cut pieces of 1/2in plywood. Both were going to be thrown out then I got thinking This might be a good opportunity to organize and store my cordless power tools. I also had some left over drawer line kickimg around so the only thing I bought is the custom tinted paint (tinted to match the tool brands)

Anyway here is what I have come up with so far...



So far all my cordless power tools fit in only 1.5 drawers. So I either need more tools or will have to think of what else should go in the other empty drawers.

 

[mikeinri]

Wow, I really need to do something like that!

Mike

 

[WoodsTruck]

I had to weld in some repair panels under my enclosed trailer today. Awkward positions put me on the hunt for a pillow or some kind of rest for my head. Came back with an empty 1 gallon oil jug. A little fatter than an antifreeze jug but it had enough flex to make it reasonably comfortable.

 

[cpttuna]

i am always hanging stuff either in the garage or the jeep. Clips come in handy. Some of my clips started as Wal Mart hangers. If you want them they let you keep them if you want.

 

[mikeinri]

Wow, great idea. I've recycled seemingly metric tons of those...

Mike

 

[mrvm]

i am always hanging stuff either in the garage or the jeep. Clips come in handy. Some of my clips started as Wal Mart hangers. If you want them they let you keep them if you want.

I always felt like a cheapskate saving them clips but they’re still useful when they no longer can hang my jeans dry.

 

[mikeinri]

It's funny, We use plastic hangers with clothespins to hang wet bathing suits in the RV (on a curtain rod in the shower). Dealing with loose clothespins *****, they're always flying off the hangers.

I really just need to grab some of those hangers with the built-in clips. Probably have some hanging in one of the boys' closets.

Mike

 

[555]

Tool roll made from a KOA Campgrounds bag. It holds a set of Craftsman torx head screwdrivers.

 

[Copymutt]

All components repurposed. Rotor for the coal. Cheap hair dryer w/ heat coil disabled for air supply.

 

[mikeinri]

Tool roll made from a KOA Campgrounds bag. It holds a set of Craftsman torx head screwdrivers.

Wow, that's a great idea!

I don't love KOA, but do have other favorite campgrounds!

Mike

 

[harley jim]

All components repurposed. Rotor for the coal. Cheap hair dryer w/ heat coil disabled for air supply.

I need to build one of these, I have collected the parts but not the time, lol

 

[cpttuna]

I am always looking for something to make a file handle from. Well, today. I made one using the bottom support from an old mini blind. I was taking out the old string anyway and decided to take off the bottom support and keep them. The support felt nice in my hand so I decided to make a handle. I used fiberglass resin for a filler.

 

[captain14]

I am always looking for something to make a file handle from. Well, today. I made one using the bottom support from an old mini blind. I was taking out the old string anyway and decided to take off the bottom support and keep them. The support felt nice in my hand so I decided to make a handle. I used fiberglass resin for a filler.

I may have to “steal” that idea!

 

[Zeus36]

Has anyone repurposed a radial arm saw? Hardly worth putting it on Craigslist.

I made one of mine into a poor man's surface grinder. Aluminum plate as a table top cover, machinist vise (drill press vise) to hold the work. Used a fine 6" grinding wheel. You can either move the motor head back and forth along the bearing track, swing it left or right (radial), or leave it in place and just slide the vise holding the work around the aluminum plate after you bump the arm height down. I was able to use a magnetic digital angle gauge to set up an angle vise for regrinding the bevels on a tool.

 

[Wiz02]

I made one of mine into a poor man's surface grinder. Aluminum plate as a table top cover, machinist vise (drill press vise) to hold the work. Used a fine 6" grinding wheel. You can either move the motor head back and forth along the bearing track, swing it left or right (radial), or leave it in place and just slide the vise holding the work around the aluminum plate after you bump the arm height down. I was able to use a magnetic digital angle gauge to set up an angle vise for regrinding the bevels on a tool.

Thanks, @Zeus36 that's a really cool idea.

 

[ChefRex]

I made one of mine into a poor man's surface grinder. Aluminum plate as a table top cover, machinist vise (drill press vise) to hold the work. Used a fine 6" grinding wheel. You can either move the motor head back and forth along the bearing track, swing it left or right (radial), or leave it in place and just slide the vise holding the work around the aluminum plate after you bump the arm height down. I was able to use a magnetic digital angle gauge to set up an angle vise for regrinding the bevels on a tool.

Pictures needed!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Here's a couple made with plastic I got for free from the local university... there's a plastics manufacturing place in town that drops off thousands of pounds of plastic in all shapes, sizes colors etc. I grabbed a bunch a number of years ago.

A place to put the bike pump (on the bike stand)... not sure why I didn't do this 20 years ago.

And some easy bike storage under the metal shelving.. so easy even my wife and son can use it!

 

[Sweetcorn]

A 52" diameter x 8" thick grist mill stone, an old crab winch from the ship yards, and some pieces of beams I got from the demolition of an old Cleveland building = neat yard art for my barn.

Made an adjustable center hub so I could true it up because I wanted it to spin. Spins shockingly easy now. I'll try to add a video later...
I made a crank handle for it that drives the small gear so it turns with minimal effort.

 

[Mr.N]

A 52" diameter x 8" thick grist mill stone, an old crab winch from the ship yards, and some pieces of beams I got from the demolition of an old Cleveland building = neat yard art for my barn.

That is awesome! Add a trough to hold water and get a straight edge on it to sharpen tools.

 

[Old Man Roger]

That is awesome! Add a trough to hold water and get a straight edge on it to sharpen tools.

When I first saw the picture, that’s exactly what I thought it was.

 

[bonneyman]

You guys have some awesome ideas and beautiful execution! Dang!

 

[Sweetcorn]

That is awesome! Add a trough to hold water and get a straight edge on it to sharpen tools.

Haha, as soon as I got done installing it, my 11 year old son said we needed to sharpen something on it. I grabbed an old ax and we sharpened it. We both had fun.

 

[lilredex]

I am always looking for something to make a file handle from. Well, today. I made one using the bottom support from an old mini blind. I was taking out the old string anyway and decided to take off the bottom support and keep them. The support felt nice in my hand so I decided to make a handle. I used fiberglass resin for a filler.

Here are some similar shapes made from some hard Maple that was on hand. They are a perfect size for small files.

More DIY handles.

DIY File Handles Without a Lathe.

One of my favorite "free wood" locations had some mahogany (looking) sticks today, so I grabbed a few. They came in various colours and weights, and were part of some crating, probably originating in a country like Indonesia. My project was file handles, using only a plane, rasp, and...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[lilredex]

Here's a couple made with plastic I got for free from the local university... there's a plastics manufacturing place in town that drops off thousands of pounds of plastic in all shapes, sizes colors etc. I grabbed a bunch a number of years ago.

A place to put the bike pump (on the bike stand)... not sure why I didn't do this 20 years ago.

And some easy bike storage under the metal shelving.. so easy even my wife and son can use it!

That plastic has a multiple of uses. Mine also came free via friends that work in a fish processing plant in Newfoundland..

 

[mikeinri]

Cool, reminds me of a test tube (or vial) rack. I work in biotech/pharma.

Mike

 

[WoodsTruck]

On the plastic theme:
My BIL used to do concrete and had some work to do in a mall where they were disassembling something like a Macy's display that had these large chunks of 3/4" plastic. He gave me some for a sink cover in the high school booster concession trailer I was working on. Once we had those fit where we wanted, I realized we needed a sanitary place to store them when the sink was open. I had repurposed an old fabric sign from a Christmas tree that was delivered to the city of Portland (I had to climb the tree to set the rigging slings), an old carpet edge strip and some U-bolts from weather stations I didn't use. Run through the sewing machine and we now had a storage pocket for the covers. Total cost? $0.05 in thread and time.

Just like the shop, you can never have enough counter surface.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Here's a quick n dirty Dana 30 spindle puller using two of the mangled nuts from the axle and an orphaned angle grinder handle.

 

[RivennHewn]

I repurposed a Boom Stick into a solar kiln.

Boom sticks were logs that were chained together (with boom chains) around the perimeter of a log raft to hold the logs together as the were towed across the water to the sawmill.

I retrieved one awhile back and cut it up into lumber, which I used to frame my solar kiln.

It’s Douglass Fir, and it has been in the water for a very long time. Long enough for the Toredo clams to eat tunnels all through it. It’s still amazingly structurally sound material.

 

[WoodsTruck]

Cool post. When I worked in the woods in Idaho there was a lot of history with the splash dams used to transport logs in the winter run off to get them to the mills. Didn't use many tug boats to hoard them to the mill like the PNW folks do.

 

[Old Man Roger]

That worm looks like some kind of alien..lol

 

[RivennHewn]

Cool post. When I worked in the woods in Idaho there was a lot of history with the splash dams used to transport logs in the winter run off to get them to the mills. Didn't use many tug boats to hoard them to the mill like the PNW folks do.

I was reading a bit today on different methods of transportation over water. Different regions had different styles, mostly dependent on the body of water. Rivers would be a different setup than lakes and each had their own variables.

 

[RivennHewn]

That worm looks like some kind of alien..lol

Stuff of nightmares. Some varieties grow to 6 feet long!

 

[mikeinri]

Wow, learned something new, had never heard of a solar kiln before!

Are those clams edible?

Mike