Daswulf Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Nice! Get it while it's still out there to get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Yup, *never* expect a "scrounge" to be there at a later time! Though there are some things I let the scrapyard "store" for me; mainly things like leaf and coil springs as they come in constantly. Isn't it amazing how much good stuff gets dumped? I assume some are estate cleanouts as many of the good tools are older versions. (Just picked up a craftsman electric drill and saber saw recently so I could have one at each house; now I will have 2 of them up north---but they are in better shape than mine were! (20 UScents a pound!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 I must be living in the wrong part of the U.S. Nothing anything like what you guys are finding in our metal scrap yard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazz Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 I think some, if not most of this stuff comes from local industry, like the chain hoist. The power cord cut off is telling, as though those who discarded it did not want any liability to follow them. Several times now I have seen small piles of manual chain hoists there in various stages of disassembly. I guess they come from some place that services them or maybe some outfit that just beats the snot out of them. I used to salvage the chain from them and then sell it to the local used tool place but sadly they are closing up shop. One time I was at the scrap yard and there was a LARGE pile of measuring devices - vernier calipers, height gauges and other similar tools, some that I did not recognize but sadly just dumped from a truck and pushed into a bigger pile by a dozer and most were bent and twisted beyond salvage. Those came from a used machinery dealer that closed up shop. Yes, its tough as the maker green part of me and the hoarder part of me wants to save it all but its just not practical. I do keep my eye out for bits of wrought iron but have not found any lately. And yes, that is exactly what the local yard charges me, .20 cents a pound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 .20/lb???? Here we have to pay .34/lb. And really nothing in the yard.........that I can put to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 I think I get a price break as they don't have to haul the stuff I buy to Dallas to sell it on and I pay cash and I never argue or try to haggle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Best thing I saw at the scrap yard last weekend was a ladder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 Another miserable hot day today so i decided to go to the flea market. Aint been there in years. Not much to be had, oh of course they had the NASCAR stuff and some candles, one guy selling honey had a tank full of bee's. Well i could not make a 30 min drive and leave empty handed. Found an old guy that had a pretty beat up small raw hide mallet, but even for a buck a passed on it then i found these. $3 for hammer eye tongs, even though beat up a bit and the reigns bent, easily fixed in a nice hot fire, well they followed me home. I asked about any other tooling and he said it was getting plain old hard to find and expensive. 2 hot cut hardies went for over a $100 at auction he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 I don't find anything around here anymore. I'm just going to work on making my own Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazz Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Good plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Tongs are not to difficult to make once you get the hang of it. That is the first set i have ever bought. All the others i made. My biggest problem is with making the reign side of the boss, i always want to flip them to the right rather than the left. Tooling around here is crazy expensive and half the time the seller does not even know what it is. Just that it is old and must be valuable. So it boils down to "need a tool, make a tool." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 I hear you. Same way around here. I've bought most of my tongs. I need some to hold bigger stock though. I don't know if my skills are up to making very good ones. I was thinking of getting some quick tongs. Cheap enough and still require some work on my end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris C Posted July 21, 2019 Share Posted July 21, 2019 Quick Tongs are great, CGL. I made a pair of them the first two evenings I pounded steel. Don't know anyone who would mind grabbing them to hold hot steel. Ten Bucks............so they are an inexpensive way to get tools and good way to learn some stuff along the way. I imagine I'm make my next pair from scratch..............but only because I got some experience with the Quick Tongs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTMichaud Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Most of what I find is roadkill. There was a fairly large sized pin in the middle of the street on my way in to work this morning. IF I wasn't already running late, I'd have grabbed it. If it's still there on the way home, I'll grab it. Not too likely though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojo Pedro Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 I would be way behind if it wasn't for quick tongs. I bought the bundle and each one ended up better than the last. Well worth the money. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Quick and rapid tong bundles are well worth it. You get four or five sets for the price of one new set. It's probably still a good idea to learn all the steps in the process from scratch. Twist tongs are my go to for light duty stuff though they're just too simple. A hole a rivet a twist and shape the bits. When my skills increase and I have a need for heavier duty tongs I'll order some rapid or quick tongs. They're not much more complicated than the easy twist tongs made from flat bar but are far superior. I'm sure they will hold up better to heavier use. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyGoatLady Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Thanks for the feedback on the quick tongs guys. I appreciate it. MrTMichaud: We never find roadkill. I live far enough in the country that I think everybody hangs onto their stuff. We have friends who live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and you wouldn't believe how much stuff people throw out. I guess big city dwellers have a different outlook on things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrTMichaud Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 It's usually stuff that probably ended up falling off up people's truck's on the way to the scrap metal dealers or the landfill. At less than 100 a ton for mixed scrap steel, they probably don't even notice a pin or an old tie-rod falling off. It annoys my wife that I pick it up. BTW, not surprisingly, that pin was no longer around when I passed by on the way home yesterday... It would have made a nice bottom tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 Believe it or not, neither WPD (Wasilla PD) nor AST (Alaska State Troopers) would have an abandoned vehicle left half in the ditch about 50' to the left of our driveway haul off. We had to pull out in the traffic lane to see if it was safe to pull out. If it's on the other side of the road we can see traffic coming but not on this side. I was actually told by AST I could be charged with theft if I had it hauled off if the owners wanted to press charges! I had to hunt to find who to talk to, MatCom (the consolidated EMS dispatch) wouldn't even make a call or tell me who to call. Right of Way is the dept. that can have junk hauled off. I got to chatting with the director, the only person who wasn't on the road having junk and trash hauled off the the roads. She only had 3 or 4 personnel, not even a receptionist, that's why she was answering the phone and doing paperwork herself. We had a good gripefest, AST and WPD's refusal to help is high on both our gripe lists. Anyway the point here is it's easy to get a permit to haul junk off road right of ways, just ask them. I get 3 free dump run passes for every load I pick off the road. Our driveway verge is wide enough litter bugs use it to drop dump runs and I have to pick it up or wait weeks for the right of way employees to get around to it. Sooooo, give Right of Ways a call and see what they have to say if you pick up the rest of the junk when you make a find it could pay for your propane or coal too, even if it's just free dump passes. Hmmmm? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyBones Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 You still have dumps? They closed up all the ones around here. The trash company takes everything, and i do mean everything. You can put just about anything in the trash here. Couches, beds, engine blocks, dead animals, anything. I would bet they are like the east coast trash companies, "family" owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 We have to haul our trash to the collection station and pay to throw it in the compactor ourselves. Any big stuff we have to go out of town to the dump. However the trash collection station is right across the street from my favorite junkyard. My wife is AMAZED at how cheerful I am about hauling the trash for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 25, 2019 Share Posted July 25, 2019 I say dump run but I mean transfer station run, the refuse company deals from there. However there is a transfer station AT the landfill and occasionally they'll have you drive around and toss it in front of the dozer and compactor. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daswulf Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 FINALLY got an airgas tank to turn into a bell. Geesh, you'd think these were either toxic or forbidden around here. Heck, it's still good but I use larger tanks and it was kinda free. Also doesnt have the local supplier tag on it so would be a bear to get refilled/exchanged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHCC Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 A couple of little goodies from Logan Steel’s Bargain Barn to confuse the TSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 2 hours ago, JHCC said: A couple of little goodies from Logan Steel’s Bargain Barn to confuse the TSA. Think it'd confuse TSA more than the 3 year old that caught a ride on the luggage belt on the news tonight? There was video of almost his whole 3 minute ride but he didn't look like he was having much fun. TSA inspectors grabbed him off the belt as he was rolling past. It's worth a laugh because he wasn't hurt or lost for long. What you going to do with the drift pin John? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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