Joel OF Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Hi folks, I'm looking for some ideas, can anyone suggest scrap/waste objects that can be repurposed into useful and aesthetically interesting household objects like lamp shades, bowls, shelves etc etc etc. I love the idea that junk can be given a second lease of life with a bit of care and inginuity. At first I'd just make things for myself but if I got good I'd like to sell pieces or maybe give some bits are birthday/Christmas presents. I don't have to look any further than my brake disc forge to see that junk has a second use. My tastes are quite "raw" and "industrial" and I'd like the things I make to reflect that whether it be for me or a gift. (E.g I made my coffee table out of a pallet and my CD boxes are old oil cans with one side cut off. Those are very basic examples without any forging involved but you get the idea). I'd like to make things where you can see what the junk "ingredients" are as that's the charm of it and harnessing the innate qualities of the junk to work for the the item you want to turn it into is half the point, so there's no reason to hide that. I would like forging to be a part of this process so it's a combination of "prefab junk" and wrought iron, E.g making some legs for a brake drum to turn it into a lamp shade. That's a really rubbish idea but you get my drift. Any ideas would be really appreciated! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wroughton Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Kurgan, I like to just wander aimlessly through the rust. Some things will jump out at you. Smaller japanese motorcycle gas tanks make great bodies for long legged birds like herons and storks. Anything that is in abundance is a good bet also to replicate a certain look. Discs from disc harrows and their spacers are one of my favorites. The discs already have a hole and with a little cap resemble the old enamel barn lights that seem to be popular now. Other times I'm looking for a specific look and size and the biggest scrapyards are best when looking for that one thing that will fit perfectly into place with everything else. Alas, we can't find everything we want in a scrapyard......so I've created my own. I'm a pack rat and my scrap pile has grown accordingly, old farm implements disassembled and not, the same for wagons, iron crusties, buckets of failed forgings, scrap steel, rail road garbage, steam valves and gauges. Tons of chain, circular and large bandsaw saw blades and the cast iron bases from old machinery going to meet its maker. Careful what you wish for. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Cheers for the reply. I'm like a kid in a sweet shop at scrap yards & like you I do get a rush of ideas according to what I see, but I was just wondering if there's typical scrap objects for repurposing projects? Like how everyone knows brake drums make good firepots and all breakers yards are going to have brake drums, is there a common knowledge that (off the top of my head) metal dustbin lids make good lampshades for example? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 old washing machine is a lot of metal to work with, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I gave a talk about that at the SWABA meeting I hosted last Saturday, lets see: Ocotillo plant made from flattened wood auger bits set into a local rock. Farrier's rasps: hatchets bent around and forge welded, rasptlesnakes, lizards, knives, spurs Electric fence pole: (3/8" round with triangle sheet metal piece on the base) I made a dragon with the sheetmetal the wings saw blades: bowls round punchouts: cowboy hats I use the valve caps from welding bottles to make wind bells from using scrounged chain with a chile pepper forged from NON-galvanized steel pipe on the end. Part of the "demo" was a visit to my local scrapyard where one member loaded up on stuff to make large "flowers" from including the lobed insert for a tractor wheel. Four tined pitchforks 2 to make legs for a spider Garden rake mounted to the wall of the shop to hold files with golf ball handles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 A bowl from saw blades has intrigued me! Do you cut off the teeth or do you make them a feature somehow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george m. Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Dear Kurgan, I've never made one but I'd suggest bending them back in towards the body of the saw blade. That way it is still obviously a circular saw blade but not dangerous to casual passers by. In my minds eye I see it as married to a smaller dish shape for a base and the teeth bent our to form a horizontal rim. Good luck. Please post some pictures of your projects. Suggestively, George M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Nice idea! Old paint cans must have a common salvaged use, maybe as lamps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 "Do you cut off the teeth or do you make them a feature somehow" Yes! Grinding the tips off some too; or mounting two bowls with the teeth interlacing, or having the bowl upside down mounted on a wooden base with the teeth in a slot they cut; or... Some saw blades have nice cut outs in the blade that make them a good choice for lamps with a night light in the base as they cast interesting shadows... or cut shuriken out of small circular blades... I tried out my new screwpress once making shield bosses from some circular sheet metal drops. Worked a treat save that One I played around with came out very mammiform and was snatched up by one re-enactor I knew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wroughton Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I make shingles out of large band saw blades and on the leading edges of the over hang I usually torch them to the melting point with a cutting torch tip. Makes a nice little round blob on the end and it's still obvious that it was a saw blade. You can do that with a Tig welder too but it's tedious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Large band saw blades being over 1 foot wide; or large bandsaw blades being over 1" wide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wroughton Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 10" to a ft. They're rusty already Thomas and my local bladesmith made off with soo much of the good stuff that his little Nissan truck was draggin butt. I have a ton or so left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Funny how localized scrap can be---we have lots of old rock drill shaft and mine trolly rail from the mines and very little lumber mill scrap where I am at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimsShip Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 I found Tin punching to be very relaxing on days I can't get the time to drag the forge set up outside. Perhaps you can do some designs on the oil cans for candle holders or something? I know it's not forging, but it's still pounding metal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 Yeah a lot scrap at my local yard just seems to junk from office conversions and the like as I live in a city, pure heaps of mangled rubbish, but you get the odd diamond in the rough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 Pretty much anything can be repurposed for something. I got my scrap from parting cars out, clearing out barns, hauling scrap for others, and stuff left over from my machine and fab shop where we rebuilt a lot of winery equipment. Scrap is all around us, all you need to do is look close around you. Dumpsters have provided lots of scrap metals for me, as small companies don't want to deal with dragging 10#-100# of scrap to a yard for just a $1, or $2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Oh there's all kinds of "things" at scrap yards, alleys, ditches, etc. etc. that can be used. Okay, this is just MY little thing and has no real meaning in the "real" world,"repurposed" just grates on me for some dumb reason. Anyway, in my years as a field guy we spent lots of time in the bush villages and 5gl. Blazo cans were everywhere as that's the only way they got fuel for stoves, lamps, etc. I've seen Blazo cans opened up and turned into fine and dandy shingles on homes, shops and just building's sides and rooves everywhere. One of my favorite uses was as lamp shades, carefully placed nail holes cast planetarium shows on ceiling, walls and whatever was in the room. Some folk added little turbine blades that would turn the entire shade to make the stars turn around the room or some tubines turned shades inside the pierced shade to make the stars blink or turn on and off. Oh yeah, the turbines are powered by heat rising from the light bulb. I have all kinds of "stuff" I've salvaged, largely with better structural applications than artistic, for instance I salvaged a good 50 ATV crate frames when it was more expensive to ship them back than pay for new ones so the local Honda shop just left them stacked outside the fence. I also have a couple old SS vac hoods from the materials lab trash bin. These I have plans for, the small hood is going to serve it's original purpose in my shop. The bigger one is badly bent and folded, if they'd just asked me I would've repaired it but on the trash pile it went so now it's in MY resource pile. I'm thinking this one will make some cool lamp shade/reflectors. I'm thinking a dragon fly with LED lamps aimed at the underside of the wings. Auto parts have lots of potential, I use old hood springs for some of my smaller pattern welded stuff. Tie rod ends make good skeletal joint shapes. Headlight inner shrouds make good lamp shades. AND don't forget hubcaps! Those are good for all kinds of nifty thingies. Anywho, keeping an open mind and letting your imagination flow at material opportunity sites really helps. After a while a person has serious trouble keeping a wildly ranging imagination from making you forget just what the heck you came to the closet for. <grin> Oh yeah, you can always ask here, we're full of off the wall ideas. . . Well, full of IT anyway. <grin> Frosty the Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunch Posted October 14, 2012 Share Posted October 14, 2012 Okay, this is just MY little thing and has no real meaning in the "real" world,"repurposed" just grates on me for some dumb reason. I bet that like me, you just LOVE it when pet owners "rehome" their pets. Does it somehow make people feel better about themselves to say "I rehomed my dog" rather than "I gave away my dog"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Better than "I had to make my dog metabolically challenged..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joel OF Posted October 15, 2012 Author Share Posted October 15, 2012 I thought salvaging is using old materials for the job they were intended for, eg cladding as cladding, whilst repurposing is using materials to create something different? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 To me salvaging is reusing previously used items---no tie in necessarily to what the previous use was. Repurposing is just yuppie speak to make it sound more upscale than what poor folks have been doing forever! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted October 15, 2012 Share Posted October 15, 2012 Me, I scrounged scrap to reuse in my projects, in the art world it's called "found objects", great fun that! No matter what you call it, it is good for the world to make use of material that is scrounged, salvaged, repurposed, reused, found or dare I say it acquired by less than authorized means. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 Me, I scrounged scrap to reuse in my projects, in the art world it's called "found objects", great fun that! No matter what you call it, it is good for the world to make use of material that is scrounged, salvaged, repurposed, reused, found or dare I say it acquired by less than authorized means. If you pick it up, you authorised it, and are responsible for your actions whether they are legal or not, be prepared to take the consequences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Typical yuppiespeak like Thomas says ( politically correct jargon ). Depending on your clientele, you make your case i suppose. I use silo banding for a few things. I also use scrapped AG steel a bit and whatever else I can find. I also use new steel. There will be a huge difference between city and my area, never mind USA and England. The silo banding is just that. 5/8 banding from a demolished 75-80 year old block silo. See, some folks here would say " well he got that cheap and he is charging a lot for it ". Never mind the fact that I drove 45 miles to get it and spent 4-5 hours with a torch cutting it out of the pile of block and then bending it into submission for the trailer to drag it home and THEN making it straight enough to stack on the rack outside. By the time it is then used for fire irons or tripods or whatever else ( and hammered completely straight on the anvil, cold) I have become good friends with it. :) Some city folks will then be told it is " Green " material in that I saved it from the scrap going to China. They will be happy with that. " Re-purposed " is not a term I have used but I may. Thank you. Sometimes I just say that the material started life as an overhead door spring or a rake tooth or whatever. I live in farm country and we use what we have (which in the long run is often new material simply for the size and shape we need to start with). Please don't think I mean any disrespect of city folks. Simply not true. Life and terminology is all in the eyes of the beholder many times and the friendly attitudes of smiths. Welcome and thanks for the thread. By the way. I was trained in tearing down buildings and/or salvaging lumber as a young man. I was put together with a claw hammer and a pile of lumber and a barrell. The lumber went over the barrell and the nails got dropped into the barrell. The lumber was then stacked. The nails in the end got pulled from the barrell and straightened on something like a tractor drawbar and put into cans for future use. My grandparents were born in the 19th century and parents born in the teens of the 20th century. Those folks could squeeze a buffalo nickel and make it pass gas. I dearly miss them and those times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Ten Hammers, I heard on the bounce, that my Grandfather thinks I'm the only one of the grandkids or great grandkids or great great grandkids that could weather another great depression---he taught me well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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