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Friday, February 10, 2012

It Is NOT "Garbage"!

Awhile back, I posted a bit on how "ziplock" bags make life a LOT easier when restoring an old tractor or other machine.

Well - there a a LOT of other useful items that people normally throw away that come in handy in the barn or shop. My wife has learned to pretty much ask me if I want something before she tosses it out.

Of course, it means I have to clean it up. At least I get the container, though! Now, I don't keep EVERY container I see - and I am constantly tossing a few I DID keep - but there are some that I ALWAYS keep.

Here is a photo of just some of the things that I save from the trash to use:

Another Man's Garbage....

We have:

Dishwasher Soap Container - I actually have the complete carburettor from my 1928 McCormick-Deering 10-20 in the one shown.

Artificial Sweetener Jar - I used these to hold small parts, and even as a parts washer for tiny parts.

Pickling Salt Container - Again, small parts and hardware.

Peanut Jar - I have one I cut a slot in to use as a "piggy bank" for car wash quarters. Several uses, though.

Gallon Oil or Milk Jugs - If they have the screw cap, they are useful for any number of liquids.

Glass Fruit Jars - Storage of small parts or liquids.

Frosting Containers - Good for bearings and other small, round parts. I also have one I store a 9 piece hole punch set in.

Small Buckets - My wife gets these filled with oils for her soap making. You can also get them at your local convenience store - some of them sell doughnuts, and the frosting comes in these.

Plastic Jars - Liquid storage. They work well for draining that last bit of oil out of the bottles when you do an oil change.

Small Oil Bottles - I fill these with oil to use when drilling or anytime I need oil "by the drop".

Pill Bottles - the ones with the screw caps come in handy for a lot of things. The one pictured has old ball and roller bearings. I use this one as a 5000 gram weight for my scale.

Tin Cans - hold nuts, bots, screws, etc quite nicely.

Ziplock Bags - A MUST HAVE for parts. As I remove parts from a tractor, I put them in these bags, mark them, then they go into an old "Kitty Litter" pail. When I clean the parts, I put them in a new clean bag, and back into another pail. This keeps them together, sorted, clean, and marked.

In the photo, you will see a brand new - unopened - box of "sandwich" bags, along with several laying loose in the foreground. The loose ones are actually used ones from the kitchen. I've told my wife to save all the ones that aren't "nasty". These are the ones the dirty parts go into when I take them off. Once the parts are cleaned, then they go into a new bag.

In the past, I have also kept those nice PLASTIC Skoal or other "chew" containers. These are PERFECT for small bearings, and anything else that needs packed. You just snap the lid shut, wrap a piece of packing tape around the outside, mark it, and store it.

Here is another photo of another use for a ziplock:

Gaskets In A Bag

I make as many of the gaskets for my restoration projects as I can. I use the old ones as a pattern when available, or use the "tap" method on others. I've also found a quick way to make a good pattern or gasket from an original.

The gasket in the left hand bag, is an original one. It's pretty oily and greasy, so I slid it into a bag, then used the copy machine to print it right onto the gasket material. This works quite well on smaller gaskets, and doesn't hurt the machine, or the new gasket. If you plan it right, you can make several gaskets at the same time - as long as they all fit on the "page", and require the same thickness material.

Trust me, this will save time AND your life - I'd be dead by now, if I had put a nasty dirty gasket into my wife's copier....

The bag on the right shows several gaskets that I have made, and need to finish cutting out.

I save a lot of duifferent things -

Heck, I even save the old shower curtians when my wife replaces them - they make EXCELLENT tarps for things in the barn.

This doesn't mean I go "dumpster Diving", but it does show how much usefull items we throw away, that we should be saving to use as something else.

1 comment:

  1. I use the half-gallon or gallon jugs as feed scoops. Just cut off the bottom and it works great!

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