how to get free and legal diy supplies

[Ansil]

ok havent posted in regularly in a while so i thought i would do this as i got kind of hung up  on a trhead below..  here is what it cost me to build my pedals as i am doing a small run on these.

but here is how i get some of my freebies..


i get free wire from the electric company.. so to all you diyers  look around your area and find out where they are redoing a substation they throw away hundreds of feet of fiberoptics and coper wire all different sizes  once it hits the dumpster it is public domain also on this note if you ask them for it so they dont' have to pay for the dumpster fee of haulign off heavy wire they are more than glad to load it in your car or truck or in my case station waggon.

buckets from local grocerie stores that contain icing for cakes.  these and a dril make a great bucket sander

steel wool can be obtained from local plants if you have some in your area.  there is a local machine shop in an food grade oil plant that i used to work for that i get used steel wool for . they only use it for fine polishing metal so there are no burs in there to hurt your boxes or bad chemicals all i did was ask them to keep a box for me.

also local highschools have steel wool that will gladly do the same..  also highschool shop classes wood shops.. dont' usually get all the use out of there sand paper and gladly let you come in once a week and get it.

oh  for packing material.. talk to your local ice companys that make and service ice chests liek when you go to the gasstation and see the ice machines that you gt ice for 99 cents go and find those companys they always have extra styrofoam they will let you have just to haul it off..

try your local mall and ask the watch retailers if you can have their watch boxes..  the brown ones that are like 6*6*5" in dimensions.  they throw them away and would be happy to give them to you..
i will try to think of some others..


other things.. talk to your local mall  i did mine and i got 10 touch screen comptuer monitors from the bread company i used to work for when they closed. they didnt' pay their rent so the mall sold there computers and i got all there scraps when they did demolition on the place.  you can also get soda machines too. so you can cut down on soft drink prices.
also on same note i have got it down now to

4$ switch
6$ box
20 cent chip
20 cent of wire
2$ for 2 jacks
25 cent for ac adaptor
75 cent for caps
25 cent for solder
50 cent of paint

25 cent for Logo
1$ for two knobs
2$ for 2 pots

free leds for now.

sand is free for sanding bucket sander 5 of them at 15 minutes yeilds five boxes
steel wool free  3 minutes each to get a smoother coat on boxes.

painting and cooking 5 boxes  1 hour

wiring 5 harnesses 1 hour

box to ship it in free.
styrofoam to pack in free


17.40 in parts...

10$ and hour to build them

of course i do have alot of freebies so i can't complain.

[smoguzbenjamin]

That's pretty amazing how many freebies you get But you gave me a few good ideas

[Eric H]

Some real good ideas, Ansil,

-Eric

[Ansil]

i have done my homework on freebies.   i get tons of stuff to desolder with the heat gun.  i have had like 30jobs in my life and i always look for a way they can benifit me other than just making a buck..  :)

as always glad to help.

[sirkut]

Ansil, I want to personally thank you for the heat gun idea. I purchased one and you are correct! The parts do literally fall off the board. I can salvage so many parts now. ICS(a LOT of useful ones), sockets, leds, etc. I can't thank you enough, I _was_ spending hours desoldering with a solder sucker to get parts out..you've saved me literally days!

[smoguzbenjamin]

How much does an average heat gun cost? Might be handy if I'm gonna salvage parts more often

[sirkut]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1310859&cp=&searchId=5316704675&keywords=heat+gun&parentPage=search


here is one.

[afranks]

Ansil,

You are a Jawa of the highest order, and I *do* mean that as a compliment!

:-)
-alan

[ExpAnonColin]

You can get the jacks for cheaper than that through my ebay lot splitters-cutting cost even more for you

-Colin

[Ansil]

i got some wire on the way to you collin i had to resend some stuff via mail today..   hope that will cut down some of what i owed ya.  dont' really rem what i was going to get from ya but if you wanna send some jacks or something my way you can always ooopen carefully the package i send you and tell them you want to return it as you didnt' know what it is..

[MRTelec]

How do you get soda machines from a mall?   :?

[Hal]

awe man, thats awesome.  I love how you specify "free and legal."  HA.  Good ideas there.

[Xlrator]

This is a salvager's treasure.  :shock:  I took apart a few VCRs over 10 years ago and I'm still using some of their parts.

I got this today from my dad and he told me he bought it from a guy for $75 about 15 years ago. The guy he bought it from paid $700 brand new!! And this thing still works just fine!! Just a little dirty. She's coming apart tonight.  :twisted:

[Ansil]

This is a salvager's treasure.  :shock:  I took apart a few VCRs over 10 years ago and I'm still using some of their parts.

I got this today from my dad and he told me he bought it from a guy for $75 about 15 years ago. The guy he bought it from paid $700 brand new!! And this thing still works just fine!! Just a little dirty. She's coming apart tonight.  :twisted:



HEY XLRATOR you aint got a beta vcr in working condition do ya by any chance..  

not to hijack my own trhead but i got some stuff that is only on one of these video tapes that i need transfered to a vhs..

[Ansil]

How do you get soda machines from a mall?   :?

when they do major remodeling they sometimes scrap them in favor of newer machines.. its best to just hang out and ask the maintenance crew or the mall  manager. not the secretary  cause they won't give you nothing.

[Xlrator]

Ansil - No I don't. Not anymore  :twisted: J/K

But I do have one more top-loading VCR to disassemble.

[niftydog]

Old microwaves; use the keypad and timing sections to make your own digital count down timer!     Also, synchronous AC motors, relays, springs etc.

Old printers;  most printers have about three good quality stepper motors in them.  I got a real nice low profile transformer out of an old apple printer, looking like a candidate for re-wiring!  Buttons, LEDs, gears, rubber belts...

Old "dustbuster" vacums;  great for high energy batteries!  Usually the motor dies long before the batteries cark it.

Old hard drives; fantastic for rare earth magnets.

Old CDROMs; small solenoids and stepper motors.

Old, OLD TVs have good transformers too.  Any old valve equipment is good for beefy transformers.

the list is endless.  all for free or next to nothing.

[Jered]

One small note:  I would ask before taking any wire, especially if its in its own dumpster and not just mixed in with the regular garbage. You see, those guys don't pay to have the dumpster hauled off, they get PAID for the copper. Any sheet metal shop, the dumpsters in the back, the shop gets PAID for thier scrap. The only thing that you pay to have hauled is garbage.
  So be careful and ask before you take or you could find yourself getting roughed up, or worse arrested.
  Jered

[Ansil]

very good point in deed there Jered it is better to ask..  also if you are stateside then it is best to know which company does your recycling in your state and or city..  in mine BFI does not recycle metal. the only basic recycling at all is the cardboard.  so it pays to ask before you go dumpster diving.

also music stores throw away old guitar cases  dead amplifiers old parts like handles and rack case parts.

[Manolo Dudes]

I use to pick up old VCRs from a local dumpster. They are a treasure for parts, specially minute trimpots that fit even in the smaller PCBs.

Old VCRs have lots of coloured wires, tons of transistors and other assorted useful parts.