OlderThanMe Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Well I used to be big into it at the local technical school school when I was at welding class. When everyone else was shortening their life spans on smoke break I went down to the dumpster. One time I got about 20 pounds of clean copper. another time I got some 2" angle iron that was 6' long (used for a control arm jig that is still being made). Just yesterday at work I got some aluminized heat shielding out of a dumpster at my work... I may make a header blanket for it or something for my car. Maybe some on the exhaust tube that runs .5" from my right foot... I got a couple video cards and audio cards as well. What have other people gotten from dumpster diving? On a related note... I am thinking of building a melting furnace to melt down aluminum into usable nuggets or for pouring intake manifolds. Maybe cola cans for intake manifolds? Or for when I mess up my first head that I try to modify I could just melt it and come up with a design for a better head to pour. hmm... I have some crazy ideas there too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinOlson Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I dumpster dive with the senior mechanical engineering at my work. He makes are from what he finds. I haven't had too many exceptional finds. I am planning on doing dual exhaust out the side of my 280z with some harley mufflers I got from the local dealerships scrap bin Here is the "found" art the senior engineer does in his spare time: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7620029@N04/ Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I grew up in the Bronx. My whole neighborhood was a dumpster. When I needed materials, I would wander into an abandoned lot where dumping was a part of life and scrounge. Nothing beats finding free stuff! Bike parts, car parts, road signs, hoses, plywood, all kinds of metal, sometimes we even got radios and other electronics. We actually made a roller coaster out of milk crates and old lengths of lumber we found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 One time I got a BMX bicycle missing the front wheel out of the dumpster and some scrap steel, and some handles from an exercise bike. We took the bicycle and chopped it out big time. Extended the fork about 5 feet with a huge rake, front wheel was from a lawn edger, HUGE ape hangars... The thing was impossible to ride (I made it 150 ft) but it was fun! The pedals came within 1/2" of the ground so you had to lean to pedal...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexideways Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Most of my furniture LOL, no j/k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted July 5, 2007 Author Share Posted July 5, 2007 Most of my furniture LOL, no j/k. I go diving in furniture as well!!! what have you found? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWRex Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I'm a plumber on usually residental jobsites,and you would not believe what the woodframers chuck in the dumpster.If I dumpster dove for a year,I easily would have plenty of lumber literally to build a decent sized house,no joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 You said something about building your own furnace fro melting metal. Check out this link if you ahven't already seen it. http://www.backyardmetalcasting.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 I bought my house at the early stages of a new housing development. I use to make regular tours of the construction dumpsters in front of the new houses. These houses were the type where all the walls were constructed in a factory and shipped with numbers on them, so there was never much framing material. But if I hit the dumpsters about the time the finish carpenters, electricians and plumbers were working I use to clean up. I got more caulk, mouldings, rolls of Tyvek tape, plumbing fixtures, bags of motar mix, sometimes entire kitchen cabinets or sinks. Nice thing is 15 years later no one sells baseboard that matches what is in our house. But I have my supply from the dumpsters. The thing that finally made me stop is one day I looked into a dumpster only to find it empty except for a single briefcase. I figured somebody had stolen a briefcase, taken whatever was valuable and dumped the rest. So the nice guy that I am I figured who ever lost the case might value getting the papers or day planner back, so in I go for a look. When I opened the case I found about two dozen well used porno mags, a scanky rag, a bottle of hand lotion........and maybe 4 dozen used needles. Haven't been in a dumpster since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 Dammit, can you mail me back my briefcase pleez! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIM73240Z Posted July 5, 2007 Share Posted July 5, 2007 being in the construction industry, i get a ton of stuff from the dumpsters. prior to that though i would hit the bagel places at closing to get food for the next few days. glad i am past those few years jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.