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Anybody else get stuff out of the trash?!


280zwitha383

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I'm always getting flamed by everyone I know for picking up stuff I see lying by the dumpster. If I'm throwing some trash out I'll look around a little first but it's not like I'm going dumpster to dumpster or dumpster diving. My wife, her friends, my friends, everybody says something about it. I've found some pretty cool stuff. Atleast I think so. Am I just a loser or what?

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When I first bought my house in a new housing development, I use to make a circuit of all the construction dumpsters. It is amazing how much new or miscut material gets thrown out by construction crews.

 

My wife would laugh at me, but to this day I can still go to my stock pile of OEM baseboards that the home stores quit carrying years ago.

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well since copper is really valuable...at my school where I got my welding diploma me and a few other guys would make a weekly trip to the dumpster. One time we found an electrical cabinet that had like 50lbs of copper in it...we went dumpster diving pulling copper and aluminium out to sell off as scrap.

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At the Art Department at USF where I got my art degree, we had sort of a communal place where everybody would throw away old junk and projects that you were free to scavenge through in order to find stuff you might use on something else. Problem was, it was right by the printmaking studio, so if you left something outside to dry (like a silkscreen for instance) it was liable to get up and walk away...But there is nothing wrong with rescuing someone else's discarded stuff, so long as it doesn't have that special "dumpster funk" when you try to bring it home...

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Yeah, been called a trash picker by my friends too. The apartment complex (an old mill) where I lived in NH was mainly college students. There was a continual flow of people moving in and out. There was some sort of unwritten rule, big trash (furniture, etc) goes in front of the dumpster, anything usable went on the side. Kind of a grab bag sort of thing. I got some good stuff. New monitor, working Gateway computer, wine rack. I also contributed when I got rid of things. I could see the dumpster from my window, it was fun to see how long something lasted. 10 gal Fish tank... not even 30 min. Big ass green couch... 2 hrs

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are you kidding me? I signed up for my local 'freecycle' (freecycle.org)- it's the greatest thing since 2 ply TP.

 

I had some one give me a n/a 280zx once!!

 

also I can post things I dont want and SOMEONE COMES TO GET IT- no more trips to the dump. I highly recommend it. everyone here should check it out

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When I first bought my house in a new housing development' date=' I use to make a circuit of all the construction dumpsters. It is amazing how much new or miscut material gets thrown out by construction crews.

 

My wife would laugh at me, but to this day I can still go to my stock pile of OEM baseboards that the home stores quit carrying years ago.[/quote']

 

 

I'm in the same boat now. I got all the wood I need to use for the supports in the attic out of the dumpsters. I felt a little funny driving down the street with 12' long 2x8's hanging out the back of my Prelude. Oh well the price is right.

 

They are about to start on the house next to me. I can't wait to get all kinds of stuff.:-P

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I've always had pretty good luck digging through the metal dumpsters on the Navy bases out here. Engine shops and machine shops routinely throw out turbo and superchargers, metal stock, pipe, plate, delrin and nylon stock, etc. Where I'm working now, I'm the only one that throws away stuff into the metal dumpster, so nothing of any real value ever makes it in there. There are some civilians that work in the shop next to me that spend a large part of their workday sorting through the local dumpsters. One day they found a dumpster full of some old worn out flight deck safety vests, the inflatable kind that they wear on carriers in case they get blown overboard. What use does any "normal" person have for a CO2 inflatable life vest? I'm not sure, but there were only 1 or 2 left in the dumpster once the vultures had finished.

 

Mike

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well if you come across an extra supercharger let me know...lol

My local city dump has a full size dumpster filled with just aluminium...And if they catch you taking stuff out they get upset...:-(

I just need to find some company that throws away good stuff...not any around here though. Maybe down near my college by the ocean thee will be some shipyards that throw out "gold".

I got a piece of 1/4" thick 2" leg angle iron that was about 7 feet long. I'll make some jig out of it in the future most likely. I have a half completed A-Arm Jig that I made out of some 3/16" steel "T" bar that a friend had that came from a oversized garage door opener.

I have a buddy that got a piece of I beam, from an older man, that was 3 feet long, 12" wide top and bottom and about a 30" tall center part. It was in excess of 1/2" thick!

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My "treasure" finds:

Movie theater popcorn butter comes in 5-gallon steel drums. They throw them out, and I take them to the garage. They make great-smelling trash cans in the garage.

 

Someone threw out a mini deep freezer at my apartment bldg. I cut out the compressor and used it as both an air compressor and a vacuum pump. - for evacuating A/C systems.

 

Local A/C service shop throws out empty 30# refrigerant "bottles". They make great portable compressed air tanks, but they have a 1-time safety valve that pops out at 150#. (Ask me how I know, see compressor story above above)

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I always thought " Why not use the radiator from an air conditioner or freezer as an intercooler?" It looks the same. Aluminium tubes running back and forth with thin aluminium like a regular radiator.

 

except that most acs/frigs dont handle 15psi on a daily use :coollook:...but that does leave an interesting idea for a go-kart!

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