[TheForge] Scrounged riches long ramble

[Jerry Frost]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Fels And Phoebe Palmer" <artgawk@thegrid.net>
To: <theforge@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, August 01, 2003 12:45 AM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Dumpster Find


> Alix;
> Dumpster diving is a spontaneous art, like jazz. One works with what is
> given.
>  For us, as blacksmiths, a dumpster can be a giant giftbox.
> We live in an age when iron is so cheap, they literally throw it away.
>   It is as close to being rich as I expect to get.
>    Pete F
>


Rich is what we are Pete.

Being rich isn't about money, it's about having enough, fullness. More than
that, it's having enough of the right things. I don't know how else to say
it. Before I got married I made more money than I spent by a factor of about
three. When we started building I dropped over $100k out of pocket, cleaned
myself out I did after pulling in my assets. Then we mortgaged ourselves to
the hilt. Deb and I are barely staying in the black right now. But I've
never been richer. <grin>

Deb cringes when I load the truck with bottles and cans for the dump,
there's no telling what I'll bring back. Over the past six months or so I've
been keeping my eyes open for a 300 gl. fuel oil tank to make a charcoal
retort from. I'm not going to pay for one of course I'll find someone who
doesn't want to spend a couple hundred bucks disposing of it. Heck maybe
I'll put a message on the boards at the local supermarkets offering to
dispose of fuel tanks for reasonable rates. Only if I tire of the hunt
though. <grin>

I thought I hit the jackpot about a month ago but it's a 500 gl. tank.
<sigh> Did I say no thanks I want a 300 gl tank? Yeah right! It's sitting
out back waiting for the 300 gl. for an insert. My envisioned charcoal
retort only got better. Originally I was going to use the 300 gl. tank as an
incinerator with a door large enough to put a 55 gl. drum in it, to make
charcoal. Now I'll have a 500 gl. incinerator with a door large enough for
the300 gl. tank. A guy's gotta be flexible dontchaknow. I'll be using waste
oil to fire the charcoal, free for the hauling. . . . Of course. <grin>

About the only time I buy steel anymore is if I have a fab project. The guys
at the vehicle maint shop don't even show interest when I'm dumpster diving
anymore. I used to ask their permission but it started to irritate them so I
stopped. I had to tell the guys at work to please stop picking up leaf
springs for me I have plenty. Last time I hit the local spring shop I shot
the breeze with the foreman for a while and was lucky to get away without
having to haul off all their drops. Yeah, I have enough leaf spring stock.
If I want some more coil spring though I'll have to hit the recycling center
and buy it for $.15/lb. but I still have plenty.

RR spikes too. Showed somebody a RR spike snake I made once and the next
thing I know he drops off a couple hundred lbs. of spikes, a bunch bolt
plates, derails and some other right of way finds too. Had to pack the
darned stuff home too or I would've hurt his feelings. I got even though I
gave him the blasted snake. <grin> Same thing happened with RR rail, I made
the mistake of saying it's handy to have some around, now I have a couple
thousand lbs. of the stuff. There's probably 50,000 + lbs. of it at work
I've carefully NOT shown any interest in. Same with the bent luminair poles,
guardrail, culvert and other potentially useful stuff. It costs them $ to
haul it away, if I were so silly as to mention I could use it I'd be stuck
with it, delivered.

Another fellow I met was interested in blacksmithing but we only got
together one time for a short session. Though he was working about 300 miles
away, he ws living about 25 miles away and commuting on weekends. The job
was rebuilding a coal fired power plant and he stopped by several times with
fire bricks and other salvaged goodies. He also dropped off a couple hundred
lbs. of RR spikes, bolt plates and the like while I wasn't looking. <sigh>
He's since moved to a reasonable distance from work and I'm happy for him. I
miss the goodies but I'm glad he and his family are living together full
time again. Besides I have ENOUGH RR spikes already!

A couple years ago I almost ended up with a couple old printing presses. The
printer bought a new one that replaced three old type set types and he
wasn't able to find anybody to buy them. It would've cost him a couple
thousand to haul them to the recycling center and he understandably didn't
want to spend money to rid himself of working machinery. Talked a friend
into them though so all that GOOD stuff is still available. Don't know how
I'll get any of it without having to haul off one of the whole darned
presses though. Hmmmm.

Truth to tell, I've had to learn to be careful or I'd have more "good" stuff
than even I want around, let alone what Deb will put up with. Understand,
Deb's a wonderful and tolerant gal, she just doesn't want people visiting us
to feel like they're visiting a scrap yard. That's reasonable. . . I guess.

Wonder what they'll think of  a100 lb. power hammer ripping loose? All I
have to do is scrounge a bit more, just a little bit. <grin>

More than once we've been told it's more cost effective to buy new stock
than scrounge and this is true. I've never fabbed something for someone out
of scrounge, it ISN'T cost effective. I don't mean I haven't hit the
recycling center before putting out for new, I have but I don't use
scrounge. A good friend and I built the foundation for his hangar from "H"
beam bought from the recycling center. I had to straighten it after Mike let
it lay jackstrawed all winter but even that was worth the look on his face
when I made 40' lengths of bent and twisted wide flange snapline straight
with a drilling hammer and a 2 lb. hammer as a backer. Wouldn't do it for a
living though; not in MY shop anyway.

If you're trying to make a living you'll go broke in no time trying to use
scrounge or even good salvage from the recycling center on a regular basis;
you have to have consistant resources and scrounge just isn't. If I got a
commission requiring a whole bunch of 3/4" x 5" sq. stock, those pesky RR
spikes would still stay right where they are as I headed out to the steel
store.

You have to consider a lot of things when using scrounge. Mild and spring
steel is easy, it's when you get into high carbon and alloys you have to be
careful. Very careful. It's on the scrap heap for a reason. Sure, I can
identify scrounged steel well enough to use it. I can also determine if it
has a fatal flaw, usually. I'm NOT about to make something for someone with
material that's USUALLY going to be safe! There's also the time involved. In
the time necessary to test a mystery piece of HC steel well enough to
properly work and heat treat it I could've driven to Anchorage, bought it,
returned and made what I want.

Regardless, I LOVE the hunt. Scrounging is as much fun as making things. For
me anyway.

Can you tell I've had enough coffee tonight? I got put on graveyard shift
for a while, as we're working on a couple busy multi- lanes in Anchorage and
it's too dangerous to do during the day. I'm too old to switch to days on my
weekends so I'm up all night, drinking coffee and bored. What the hey, I
retire in 2 1/2 years and if I lose my mind completely I might miss this
crap.

Night all.

Frosty
------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.