The repurposing thread

[bubinga]

Thanks Senlow, I'm happy with how the handrail turned out. I'm packed in the shop pretty tight these days but I think I'll leave an open space to sit and think up on this little platform. It's a good place to take in the view and plan new projects. Nearly all of the materials in the shop have been repurposed at least once before. The big bench that the platform is standing on was originally part of a temporary bridge. Ed.

It's better than one you could buy, like if they were building a school, and had to order railings.

 

[klutchdust]

View attachment 2010975

 

[klutchdust]

View attachment 2010975

 

[zanyad]

@klutchdust neither post worked. Perhaps a picture setting (public/private)?

 

[Junker]

I don't believe I've seen a thread like this so I thought I'd start one.
Show off your repurposed items.
Prefer "useful" things versus scrap turned into "art".

I'll start with my plasma cart made from an old pressure washer cart.
Welded some shaped round stock around various places to hold the torch, ground and power cord. Made a big U bolt to hold the cutter on there which is secured by wing nuts for easy removal.

I love repressing stuff. I found this tablesaw and this drill press so I put them together and added some storage and a niling vice

Brake rotor hose reels

Upgraded the mower brake pedal with some old shelves. Added a car battery too

Baking sheet fold out tray on my car cart

 

[Junker]

I love repressing stuff. I found this tablesaw and this drill press so I put them together and added some storage and a niling vice

Brake rotor hose reels

Upgraded the mower brake pedal with some old shelves. Added a car battery too

Baking sheet fold out tray on my car cart

And a flowerpot lamp

 

[klutchdust]

View attachment 2010975

I messed up my post and the more I tried the more I failed. Moderator can delete and I'll give it a go later?

 

[PugetDude]

Click on "Report" and you'll have the option to delete the post.

 

[shortykorte]

Brought a laptop storage cart to repurpose as sanding product storage. Ended up not using and kept the shelves for scrap.
Cut them down and bent them into light brackets.

 

[slowtwitch73]

I've had a forlorn Stanley 594 soft blow hammer head kicking around in my scrap bin for 20+ years .. handle long gone and faces toast. Today.. for whatever reason was the day for it to be reborn. Found some plastic that was an off cut from a local place for the faces, and bought a pos claw hammer with a donor hickory handle at the restore for a buck.. a little bandsaw time and the handle had a profile more to my liking.

 

[PugetDude]

I've had a forlorn Stanley 594 soft blow hammer head kicking around in my scrap bin for 20+ years .. handle long gone and faces toast. Today.. for whatever reason was the day for it to be reborn. Found some plastic that was an off cut from a local place for the faces, and bought a pos claw hammer with a donor hickory handle at the restore for a buck.. a little bandsaw time and the handle had a profile more to my liking.

The blade guides look like a face admiring your handiwork.

 

[Old Man Roger]

The blade guides look like a face admiring your handiwork.

Robot leaf cutter ant face..lol

 

[slowtwitch73]

Those guides **** fwiw. Have some original Do Alls I need to mount up.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Here's another one.. must be the cold weather lol.

Kurt vise handle handle.

 

[southalabama]

I've had a forlorn Stanley 594 soft blow hammer head kicking around in my scrap bin for 20+ years .. handle long gone and faces toast. Today.. for whatever reason was the day for it to be reborn. Found some plastic that was an off cut from a local place for the faces, and bought a pos claw hammer with a donor hickory handle at the restore for a buck.. a little bandsaw time and the handle had a profile more to my liking.

Now you’ve got a claw hammer head that needs grinding and a handle

 

[ObnoxiousFumes]

Posted this wrench* on the Garage Sale thread and mentioned I want to use it as a door handle. By @mikeinri's suggestion I'm putting it here with a few other similar ideas I found online. (*It's a Ford wrench, 01A-17017B)


(These ones below I stole from Etsy)

 

[bubinga]

How cool are those!!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Here's a burnishing/bump tool for the lathe. Round bar was a intermediate shaft out of a Willys transfer case.. bearing was a take off from lathe rebuild.

 

[y'sguy]

Awesome! I regret not ever learning that skill and owning a metal lathe.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I Love my table saw but I move it often and the lack of an adequate outfeed table has been a real drag. I needed at least 4’ of additional table to avoid end drop as I near the end of a cut. Checking through my junk pile I came up with everything I needed. The table is made from an old 48” square aluminum traffic sign. A few minor dents in it but they beat out. I back framed the sign with some extruded aluminum stock that is very rigid. I’m not sure what it originally was used for. To clean it up I scuffed the bare side of the sign with a wire cup wheel in a checkerboard pattern.

It is held to the frame with recessed screws every 4”. The two legs are from a portable construction sign base. They had a good locking mechanism and are both strong and lite. I added a 3" adjustment foot to the bottom of the legs by threading an aluminum block cut to fit in the square tube then riveting them in. I did make some new leg mounting plates out of a scrap of aluminum plate. A couple clamping blocks hold the new outfeed table flush to the saw table using two C clamps under the table. For storage I just slide it on top of the saw. It takes just a few minutes to be up and running now with enough outfeed table that I can handle full sheets of plywood without help. Works great. A few pics. Ed.

 

[mikeinri]

Well done, @Oregon rock crusher!

Mike

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Thanks Mike and guys. This outfeed table works so much better than the roller stands I was using. Last thing I still need to work out is an overarm dust collector. The blade is already wrapped with a dust shroud and port for under table collection. It swings with the arbor and gets most of the dust without limiting the saw but I think the overarm blade guard/shroud will nearly eliminate it. Ed.

 

[mikeinri]

...Added a car battery too

I got tired of replacing L&G batteries on my tractor, upgraded that to a car battery (same physical size, but light years better performance) a few years ago and haven't looked back!

Love your other ideas, especially the table saw re-purposed for the drill press!

Mike

 

[rust in the eye]

A friend made this mostly from his old cedar deck boards and a few of my old cedar fence posts.

 

[Jgaz]

We bought this entertainment? cabinet for $35 from FBMP.
My wife was looking for someplace to store and consolidate her sewing machines and supplies.

I replaced the back on the upper section. Built a shelf and repaired one of the drawers.
All this was done with materials I had “in stock”.
My wife stained it to a more red color from the dirty brown as purchased.

 

[mrvm]

Not my idea but I may borrow it one day….

 

[fishwatcher]

I've had a forlorn Stanley 594 soft blow hammer head kicking around in my scrap bin for 20+ years .. handle long gone and faces toast. Today.. for whatever reason was the day for it to be reborn. Found some plastic that was an off cut from a local place for the faces, and bought a pos claw hammer with a donor hickory handle at the restore for a buck.. a little bandsaw time and the handle had a profile more to my liking.

Awesome work! How did you shape the plastic faces? They look perfect.

 

[impala4speed]

Not my idea but I may borrow it one day….

Such a simple but awesome idea! Something I never would've thought of.

 

[slowtwitch73]

Awesome work! How did you shape the plastic faces? They look perfect.

Holesawed them out of the chunk and had just enough meat on the length and dia to finish off on the lathe.

 

[Slupie]

@Oregon rock crusher I love the PM66 blade dust shroud, now I have to get off my **** and make one for my PM 66. Nice outfeed table. I also noticed that you have few green PM tools in the background.

 

[Vise_Squad]

I guess this qualifies. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/vise-info-thread.355753/page-93#post-10526502

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

@Oregon rock crusher I love the PM66 blade dust shroud, now I have to get off my **** and make one for my PM 66. Nice outfeed table. I also noticed that you have few green PM tools in the background.

Thanks Slupie, I have collected a few older PM tools the last few years since adding a bit more room to the shop. Most are the older pea green. I've added a couple more since this pic was taken. The saw is the 12" model 68 though. Not as common as the 66 but a bit more work space in front of the blade. I'm still getting dust collection worked out on some of them. I seriously considered a Saw Stop but I'm all in vintage PM for less than that one SS. Ed.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Never really thought about it till now. I was given a mirror with frame for a dresser. Thought I would sell it on Kijiji. Never sold. So I had a bunch of shoulder flashes I collected when in Air Cadets. Was going to make a frame but did realize how many flashes I actually had.
The frame was just sitting there and I thought that would work.
So I did some measuring bought a piece of glass and some matting. Found some wedgey cap buttons and badges and now I have them framed and hanging on the wall
Funny thing as I could not sell the unit as a whole, but the solitary mirror sold very quickly. And get this for the same price I asked for originalily

.

 

[Slupie]

Thanks Slupie, I have collected a few older PM tools the last few years since adding a bit more room to the shop. Most are the older pea green. I've added a couple more since this pic was taken. The saw is the 12" model 68 though. Not as common as the 66 but a bit more work space in front of the blade. I'm still getting dust collection worked out on some of them. I seriously considered a Saw Stop but I'm all in vintage PM for less than that one SS. Ed.

Nice collection of pea green machines. I have a lot of respect for older machines and as an owner of 1939 Delta 6" jointer, 1941 Delta DP-220 and 1986 PM 66. The older machines are built like tanks and need an ocasional bearing replacement and that is about it.

Hahaha, I should have paid more attention to the throat plate and realized it was a 68 not 66.

 

[Levaughn]

A friend gave me this 1928 Majestic Radio that belonged to his Aunt. It didn't work and wouldn't be worth a lot if restored. I removed the radio, middle section and kept the top. I sanded it, fixed the veneer and stained it.

 

[Jayman17]

I Love my table saw but I move it often and the lack of an adequate outfeed table has been a real drag. I needed at least 4’ of additional table to avoid end drop as I near the end of a cut. Checking through my junk pile I came up with everything I needed. The table is made from an old 48” square aluminum traffic sign. A few minor dents in it but they beat out. I back framed the sign with some extruded aluminum stock that is very rigid. I’m not sure what it originally was used for. To clean it up I scuffed the bare side of the sign with a wire cup wheel in a checkerboard pattern.

It is held to the frame with recessed screws every 4”. The two legs are from a portable construction sign base. They had a good locking mechanism and are both strong and lite. I added a 3" adjustment foot to the bottom of the legs by threading an aluminum block cut to fit in the square tube then riveting them in. I did make some new leg mounting plates out of a scrap of aluminum plate. A couple clamping blocks hold the new outfeed table flush to the saw table using two C clamps under the table. For storage I just slide it on top of the saw. It takes just a few minutes to be up and running now with enough outfeed table that I can handle full sheets of plywood without help. Works great. A few pics. Ed.

Ed nice work on the outfeed table, did you ever consider putting the other side of the sign up? That decision would have been a struggle for me. Might have looked unique with Detour Ahead side up...

 

[BMW Rider]

Never really thought about it till now. I was given a mirror with frame for a dresser. Thought I would sell it on Kijiji. Never sold. So I had a bunch of shoulder flashes I collected when in Air Cadets. Was going to make a frame but did realize how many flashes I actually had.
The frame was just sitting there and I thought that would work.
So I did some measuring bought a piece of glass and some matting. Found some wedgey cap buttons and badges and now I have them framed and hanging on the wall
Funny thing as I could not sell the unit as a whole, but the solitary mirror sold very quickly. And get this for the same price I asked for originalily

.

Nice collection of flashes, I spent six years in Air cadets at 185 Olds Squadron. Still have friends from cadets, some who still volunteer with them.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Thanks Jay, I was mostly concerned with function and the printed side is not near as slick as the bare side. you possibly could coat it with something to make it smoother but those letters are not flush with the reflective surface and kind of sticky...It would certainly give it a different look though. Ed.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Nice collection of flashes, I spent six years in Air cadets at 185 Olds Squadron. Still have friends from cadets, some who still volunteer with them.

Don't know what years you were around but i spent 2 at Penhold and one at Barrie. We might have run into each other years ago. I still chat with a guy from around Red Deer from time to time.

 

[BMW Rider]

Don't know what years you were around but i spent 2 at Penhold and one at Barrie. We might have run into each other years ago. I still chat with a guy from around Red Deer from time to time.

Way back in the late seventies and early eighties.