Creative uses for scrap materials

[Victor Robinson]

I'm not a hoarder (though my wife may feel differently), but sometimes when I come across a material, I just know it will come in handy SOMEHOW down the line. And often when I chuck stuff I don't have a use for, I later realize that it could have come in handy.

I thought we could try to come up with uses for various items that don't have an immediately obvious purpose in the shop and might get thrown away, only to be proven useful down the road in some capacity.

This is a bit of an experiment, but I thought the thread could work by posters listing various junk/scrap material they have around the shop and seeing if others have found uses for it.

I'll start:
styrofoam (e.g. from packaging)
short lengths of pipe (EMT, brass drain, etc.)
carpet underlayment/foam

[Paul Steiner]

Carpet foam is a great sanding pad. Put it on your bench sand your work on top, it does not move around or pick up scratches.
I have always wondered about using carpet foam instead of aplohstry foam. Would it work if you stacked 4 or 5 pads to make a seat cushion.

[Victor Robinson]

Good idea for the carpet foam - I've used it as a cushioning material to rest things on. Also used it to grip a brass pipe in my bench vise while I went at it with a hacksaw.

I've used carpet foam in sort of an upholstery manner like you are wondering about - except mine was decorative upholstered panels. I stacked 2-3 layers of 1/2" carpet foam. I think it would be fine for a seat cushion as long as you wrapped it in a decently thick layer of batten. Otherwise you can kind of feel the small lumps.

[John McClanahan]

I use mouse pads to replace the rubber pad on sanders. Contact cement to stick it on.

John

[Richard Wagner]

I use mouse pads to replace rubber pad on my push blocks. Contact cement works well to adhere the two.

[Charles Wiggins]

I save a lot of crap too, but I have a history of finding alternate uses for things. Most modern sculptural methods are based on re-purposing materials and methods from construction or industry.

In my college sculpture classes we learned how to build a piece out of Styrofoam and cast it in metal. I ended up doing a whole series of pieces using Styrofoam packing crate pieces and casting them in aluminum and building tree trunks out of wax and casting them in bronze and combining the pieces. I later started using the foam packing without casting it and building the trees out of cardboard.

Styrofoam also comes in handy when you're trying to crate artwork for shipping, especially if it is an odd shape with projections and the like.

In grad school I built a 6' tall Wild Thing based on Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are for the Curriculum Lab in the University Library out of 100% reclaimed junk. Most of it came out of dumpsters, or was just laying around in the scrap piles in the studios. The base was scrap plywood, the frame was made out of carpet roll tubes and laminated cardboard. The scales for the lower body were also cardboard and the upper body was covered in carpet. The head, hands, and feet were laminated and carved from 3" blue foam insulation from a dumpster on a construction site. The claws, horns, and teeth were made from scrap wood. All of the paint used was left over from other projects. The hair and beard were fake fur donated by a fellow sculptor-hoarder. I don't have any digital pics but I've attached a couple of pics off the web so folks would know which Wild Thing I was talking about.

When we moved into the new house there was a sizable scrap of plexiglass left over from the previous owners. It was filthy and scratched and had paint splatters on it. I ended up using it to reinforce the lid on my Dust Deputy collection container.

I have dozens more examples. It's in my blood. A couple years ago I was mounting my grandmothers blanket rack in my mom's bedroom and I discovered that my grandfather had used pop can tabs as hangers.

[Myk Rian]

My Wife wants to toss much of my excess.

[Dan Hulbert]

I recently rescued some packaging styrofoam. Has come in handy as a sanding block. Flat, easy to cut to size, and light weight. Also easy to spot in my messy shop. White block stands out amidst the other cutoffs.

[Andrew DiLorenzo]

I saved a boxy piece of styrofoam and put a piece of clear glass on top to make a solar oven. It is part of my hurricane preparedness supplies. I used it once to cook rice and figure it could purifiy water if I was willing to wait for it to heat up.

[Jim Neeley]

My Wife wants to toss much of my excess.

Hey Myk..

My wife and I have reached a detante.. She started commenting about my wood and tools so I started pointing out her 3-lifetime-supply of yarn and fabric.. and detante was reached. The L-N planes snuck into my shop quietly and discreetly... the ClearVue (still in boxes) wasn't so successful... and I'm still strategizing on my dream of a Hammer A3-41. Does Hammer sell a "cloak of invisibility"?? :D

(Big) Jim (AK) - [from RF]