Cheapy, cheep, cheep

[skyline1]

Like many of us on this forum, I find that (inevitably) the prices of everything are on the upward spiral

Raw materials, energy, labour (not that that matters to us much except when SWMBO demands our time for domestic matters like eating)

So I thought I'd post about money saving ideas in the workshop.

This being the break room, any ideas, Ladies and Gents

Practical ones, Impractical ones, just plain impossible ones, The Good, The Bad and the "gotta be worth a try don't cost me owt" ones

A first one to start you off

You know how printers can put a pattern on paper, what about if we cut them out and stack them on top of one another could we make 3D shapes ?

Laughed at 20 years ago !

 

[GreenTwin]

They are 3D printing sand molds in foundries now.
No patterns required.
Great for rapid prototyping.

Edit:
As far as saving money in the shop, I pick up discards in the neighborhood, before the garbage trucks run.
I got a perfect $700.00 dust collector the other day.

And I picked up a bicycle carrier that plugs into the trailer hitch on a car.
I was in the hardware store later that day with the wife, and showed here a 48" piece of angle iron for $48.00.
I told her there was four times as much steel in the bike carrier that I picked up that morning.

People toss some really good stuff out on the curb sometimes.
Many people don't know exactly what they are looking at, and so they don't bother to grab the stuff.
.

 

[ChazzC]

Like many of us on this forum, I find that (inevitably) the prices of everything are on the upward spiral

Raw materials, energy, labour (not that that matters to us much except when SWMBO demands our time for domestic matters like eating)

So I thought I'd post about money saving ideas in the workshop.

This being the break room, any ideas, Ladies and Gents

Practical ones, Impractical ones, just plain impossible ones, The Good, The Bad and the "gotta be worth a try don't cost me owt" ones

A first one to start you off

You know how printers can put a pattern on paper, what about if we cut them out and stack them on top of one another could we make 3D shapes ?

Laughed at 20 years ago !

You mean like this (Grandson's Egypt Project):

This was one of the few times my wife thought having tools was a good thing (Craftsman bench top bandsaw with a 3/16" blade made quick work of the corrugated cardboard cut-outs).

 

[skyline1]

Green Twin

A man after my own heart ! A fellow "skip vulture"

It is always a good idea to knock on the door and ask, though,

I've had the reply "I've got a half a dozen of 'em if you want 'em" before now !

More like this recycles, repurposes, scrounges, valuable scrap !

Regards, Mark

 

[ChazzC]

Save Time & Scraped Stock:

When making a part to mount on one of my machines, I will frequently make a paper template just as a sanity check (easy to do since I create 2-D drawings for just about all of my projects):

 

[skyline1]

You mean like this (Grandson's Egypt Project):

Cool !

3D printing, we were doing it decades ago, son !

Regards, Mark

 

[skyline1]

When making a part to mount on one of my machines, I will frequently make a paper template just as a sanity check (easy to do since I create 2-D drawings for just about all of my projects):

Me too! An old-fashioned paper template can save a lot of embarrassment

 

[timo_gross]

You mean like this (Grandson's Egypt Project):

View attachment 162843


View attachment 162842

This was one of the few times my wife thought having tools was a good thing (Craftsman bench top bandsaw with a 3/16" blade made quick work of the corrugated cardboard cut-outs).

As far as I remember I saw an automated machine for this somewhere in the video space. Piling papers on top of each other, spreading glue at the right positions and cut the paper.
Yes, found an "advert" obviously the order of operations may vary.

I am not sure how that relates to saving money. Yet another machine to buy?!

Just printed paper templates before cutting "real material" I do occasionally.

My pro tip to save money in the workshop: "Get rid of the entire workshop!"
I saw a youtube once where the guy said something like: "we live in the age of DIY, everything is cheaper DIY". I agree with the first part that a lot of things are possible, but nothing seems to be really cheaper (when time and pre-invested tools are considered) it is also hard to find anything that we cannot just buy.

My workshop is a financial desaster, I think they call it hobby!

I think I buy far too many things that turn out to be the wrong thing for the job or I never use them at the end.
Too many projects at the same time.

Doing more research before an impulse tool purchase is also a good thing.

Greetings Timo

 

[ignator]

I think I buy far too many things that turn out to be the wrong thing for the job or I never use them at the end.
Too many projects at the same time.

I do all that too. And you know, there's a glow of joy, with minions of simultaneous projects, they all get done, or not, and I don't care. Someone will clean up my mess. Worrying about it kills the fun. The wife is happy. As long as excess funds available for the time left expected to spend it, I can't see an issue.
At the big estate sale, or dumpster dive, there will be stuff available for scroungers. Just same as I did.
I do not go to auctions any longer, as that resulted in too many things brought home to fix, or store.

Happy Solstice.

 

[piper184]

For me the nearest store is 20 miles away. There is a machine shop 20 miles in the other direction that allows me occasional access to their drops bin where I get to scrounge up new material. They are amused by the "old guy" who likes to make things in his "pretend" shop. I usually buy some regular steel of one size or another at the same time and they are very generous with the price of the drops. By going only 2 or 3 times a year I don't become a pest and always try to not bother them.

Scrounging is close to hoarding in my wife's view, but when I make or fix something without having to drive to the store it helps my status.

Being retired I value my time at zero and I "earn" whatever the price of the object is spread out over time invested. When I add in either the time and $ it cost to go to the store or shipping fees, It usually breaks in my favor.

A neighbor once asked me why I keep buckets of bolts when I can just go get the one I need for fifty cents. He never considered the $20 and hour of time it takes to go buy one fifty cent bolt. He also was making 3 times as much as I was at the time so our values were quite different. I can usually make that bolt in less time than it takes to go to the store.

Along the same lines, if I keep a supply of new bolts on hand as stock. I buy when I am at the store and not when I need it. Stocking up. Or prepping if you will.

Sometimes I need a specialty tool. If it seems like it will be a one time use or lightly used, I will buy the low dollar item. If I wind up using it enough to wear it out, I have proven that I can justify a high quality tool the next time. To me there is no sense in having a $300 tool sit on the shelf when the $60 one did the job and wound up on the shelf. The left over $240 can be used for something else.

If I ever find DB Cooper's money bag in my yard, I might change my idea of value.

 

[Dan]

As far as I remember I saw an automated machine for this somewhere in the video space. Piling papers on top of each other, spreading glue at the right positions and cut the paper.
Yes, found an "advert" obviously the order of operations may vary.

I am not sure how that relates to saving money. Yet another machine to buy?!

Just printed paper templates before cutting "real material" I do occasionally.

My pro tip to save money in the workshop: "Get rid of the entire workshop!"
I saw a youtube once where the guy said something like: "we live in the age of DIY, everything is cheaper DIY". I agree with the first part that a lot of things are possible, but nothing seems to be really cheaper (when time and pre-invested tools are considered) it is also hard to find anything that we cannot just buy.

My workshop is a financial desaster, I think they call it hobby!

I think I buy far too many things that turn out to be the wrong thing for the job or I never use them at the end.
Too many projects at the same time.

Doing more research before an impulse tool purchase is also a good thing.

Greetings Timo

Timo, I agree from a ledger point of view but…. what is the entertainment value of a hobby worth? Everybody needs a hobby if for no other reason than to save your eyes from staring at a screen too long. Long may the chips fly or 3D prints rise or….

 

[Richard Hed]

Timo, I agree from a ledger point of view but…. what is the entertainment value of a hobby worth? Everybody needs a hobby if for no other reason than to save your eyes from staring at a screen too long. Long may the chips fly or 3D prints rise or….

After retirement, it is well known, that people who sit and watch the telly, die withing 2 years of retirement. Often withing two weeks! Those of us who keep busy and NOT sit on our a$$is, live a LOT longer. Someone once said "let the dead bury the dead", what this means, we would say in our words today is "let the deadbeats bury the dead". Those people are already dead, it's just that their hearts are still beating. They should have the good sense to part themselves out to people who need the parts and THEN die so we don't have to use precious resources on them.

ON the other hand, those of us who are not already dead, contribute to our families by (and society) by teaching the teachable and enjoying life during retirement.

 

[timo_gross]

For me the nearest store is 20 miles away. There is a machine shop 20 miles in the other direction that allows me occasional access to their drops bin where I get to scrounge up new material.

I have good (or maybe bad?) luck. Within a radius of 20 miles I will probably find most tools and materials . So there is on the one hand no reason to improvise, on the other hand a lot of temptation to buy stuff.

 

[ChazzC]

I have good (or maybe bad?) luck. Within a radius of 20 miles I will probably find most tools and materials . So there is on the one hand no reason to improvise, on the other hand a lot of temptation to buy stuff.

Do I buy rather than make? Yes, sometimes; if what I need is beyond the capabilities of my equipment (and/or abilities: could I make a device to accurately measure thickness/diameter to an accuracy of 0.0001”? Probably, but why would I?).

I also will buy a tool rather than make it for expediency so that I can get on with a project rather than delay the process. On the other hand, I many times will buy a tool so that I can “improve” it to better suit a specific need, again saving time and money by not having to start from scratch. Being retired and “of advanced years,” I don’t have an abundance of either.

 

[Tom-AMS]

I save on cut-off blades for my manual lathe by making several from old sircular saw blades.

 

[Tom-AMS]

for those using water-soluble oil based coolant: it will often get foul smelling, especially in hot weather. Instead of paying $35 to $50 for just 10 to 12 Coolant Odor Control Tablets, use a couple tablespoons of Borax (about $5 for
4 lbs box) Borax is the active ingredient in most coolant tablets. Been using it for years in my commercial shop, as well as home workshop's shop.

 

[olympic]

My dentist gives me old dental picks and burrs. I have far more than I will ever need, and they are used frequently on small stuff.

Even the smallest burr will fit into a Unimat chuck, and a while ago I made a great rotary valve for Rudy's beam engine with one.

 

[clockworkcheval]

Do I buy rather than make? Yes, sometimes; if what I need is beyond the capabilities of my equipment (and/or abilities: could I make a device to accurately measure thickness/diameter to an accuracy of 0.0001”? Probably, but why would I?).

I also will buy a tool rather than make it for expediency so that I can get on with a project rather than delay the process. On the other hand, I many times will buy a tool so that I can “improve” it to better suit a specific need, again saving time and money by not having to start from scratch. Being retired and “of advanced years,” I don’t have an abundance of either.

Hi ChazzC, 0,0001" sounds like 2,5 microns. When instructing my three grandchildren on working in my machineshop a standard action is to let them measure the thickness of a cigarette paper with a micron measuring dial instrument. They find that depending on the brand that thickness varies between 20 and 30 microns, thus reaching the very limits of the scale of the micron measuring dial instrument. It drives home the notion that a micron is a holy grail never to be attempted in the home workshop. We do use it though in our horological society to measure the spindle run-out of our Swiss Schaublin 102 lathes - should be well under 5 microns for a 50 year old machine.

 

[ChazzC]

Hi ChazzC, 0,0001" sounds like 2,5 microns. When instructing my three grandchildren on working in my machineshop a standard action is to let them measure the thickness of a cigarette paper with a micron measuring dial instrument. They find that depending on the brand that thickness varies between 20 and 30 microns, thus reaching the very limits of the scale of the micron measuring dial instrument. It drives home the notion that a micron is a holy grail never to be attempted in the home workshop. We do use it though in our horological society to measure the spindle run-out of our Swiss Schaublin 102 lathes - should be well under 5 microns for a 50 year old machine.

I guess I was pushing the envelope a little to make a point, but in theory I should be able to create a 40 tpi male & female thread and use old school dividing methods to mark a thimble with 25 graduations and a vernier (or a large diameter direct-reading thimble). Putting a value on my time of $1/hr I’m certain I could buy a 0 - 1” x 0.0001” micrometer before I made a reliable 0.001” one (but someone made the 1st micrometer with less equipment than I have).

However, even though I have instruments that resolve to 0.0001” (or less), I realistically work to a couple of thousandths.


Charlie