DoN. Nichols wrote:
(...)
So the reason for wanting submissions from others is to get
other ideas of what to enter in your personal copy of the list -- not to
find items in other's collections.
That is almost exactly right.
Right now, I see that my 'personal copy' of the list will be virtually
the same as everyone else's copy. Perhaps as much as one revision
later than everyone else's -- but that only means I have one or
two more items listed than those shown on the distributed list.
I figure that Monday afternoon, I will want a free - or low cost
part for a project. I won't necessarily know that I already own
several of these parts because they are cleverly disguised as something
else. I will end up driving to my local store to pay full list
for a tiny bag of parts which are duplicates! That is hugely inefficient
in terms of time and money. The Circular File will reveal how
I might be able to uncover these parts without ever having to turn the
ignition key.
I am not interested in the actual physical parts in your collection.
Even if you agreed to be my parts warehouse for free, it would be
a non-starter because the cost of shipping tends to be some huge
multiple of the value of a typical part. I would be time and money
ahead just by picking up those parts during a grocery run.
I'm keeping my eyes and ears open to ways to change that equation
so that I can trade my box of 10-32 socket head machine screws for
your box of 6 mm hex nuts, without having to pay shipping, but I
don't see how that is even possible; it is not my reason for the File
right now.
(...)
O.K. But you also have to remember to remove it from the list
(or perhaps add a "count" field, and decrement the count to zero when
you take the only one -- that way, the entry is there for future
additions of more of the same. This could save the number of lines
needed when you have several (or many) of identical or near-identical
items.
I did not envision the Circular File as an inventory, local or global.
The only reason that a Circular File entry would fall off the list
is if that source dried up for a significant number of users.
When most soft drinks are packaged in pure plastic cans, our note about
the 4 thousanths aluminum sheet source will disappear, for example.
If the Circular File evolves into a Global Inventory, that's fine.
There are significant stumbling blocks though and as we've seen,
most of them are huge show-stoppers. I admit I just don't see that
happening.
Another interesting (and possibly useful) field would be
"personal/for-trade" to remind yourself that you want to hold on to
something, or to let someone else nearby (say another member of the
local metalworking club) know that there is a possibility of exchange
for a given item.
That's far outside the 'project charter' as it stands right now.
Hmm ... perhaps with provisions for a "many" entry instead of a
numerical count -- for things like crimp terminals of a given size in a
plastic bin. (I've got insulated crimp ring, fork, and spade terminals
in wire sizes from 28 Ga to 4/0 and lots of different hole/slot sizes.)
Have a look at Jim Wilkins' File entries on pipe.
He shows us that we can make assemblies that telescope or form axles
using a very inexpensive part which many of us already have.
You probably could combine his entry with a bicycle inner tube to form a
rolling - seal pneumatic actuator for (all together now) No Money!
(...)
Also -- scrap left over from aluminum siding on a house is
fairly thin, with a fairly tough plastic skin. I've got one strip of
this stapled to the wall to the left of my surface grinder with the
bottom two inches folded up into a 'V' to capture the grinding dust
otherwise slung against the wall.
Excellent! How wide is it and how thick? What is a typical length?
What are some trade names for that material? How did you locate
the piece you have and what advice would you give to someone who
needs to locate a couple feet of it next week?
I see folks using that stuff to make a control panel, for instance.
(...)not to make a nationwide or worldwide
pool of parts which would require shipping back and forth.
As you imply, it's just not practical to pay 8 smackers to ship
a part that most would describe as worthless. I'm willing to
listen to ways that we could share parts economically but that
was never on my radar as a top ten goal.
O.K. Because if I started entering my hex and round bar stock
in about 6' lengths, especially the 12L14 -- that would not be going
anywhere. It is for *my* future (and as yet unknown) projects. :-)
Good!
Same for the 5" long 6" diameter 12L14 cylinder -- left from a
6" long one bought from an on-line drops source to make a part for my
Nichols horizontal mill. I don't know what it will be used for, but I
do remember that it cost more in the shipping than in the material cost.
So tell me how you used a discharged fire extinguisher bottle
as a plant sprayer! That's the kinda thing I'm looking for.
Oh, I see you kinda did, below.
Hmm ... my (Fluke) DMM leads appear to be tin-plated brass, so
the strongest magnet around would do little to hold them. :-)
I have my DMM leads looped over the protruding end of one of those
magnets. Works Great!
(And none are used for storing floppies to the rack. :-)
So.. that wouldn't work? 
Of course it would -- as long as you wanted the data which was
on them to be gone for security reasons. :-)
Write Only Memory? Kewl!
[ ... ]
At a recent gathering of the local metalworking club
(combination yard sale and picnic) I picked up a 1 gallon can which had
held "Flux-Off" (for cleaning printed circuit boards after soldering
them), and which came with a right-angle faucet. I expect to (after
running some compressed air through it for a while to get rid of the
remaining solvent dregs) pour in one of my remaining two gallons of
Vactra No.2 waylube and store it on a shelf where the faucet can be used
to deliver just the right amount without having to lift and tilt the
container. (Some 2x4 will be cut to form supports to match the curve of
the container.) So -- this is yet another thing which (could go in the
list -- except that it already has a planned use. I knew what I was
going to use it for when I bought it. :-)
It should go in the Circular File anyway. The idea is to make others
aware of your novel use of this can!
BTW As the list grows, it might be good to have a web site, or an
FTP site to save it for downloads, and just post the URL.
I agree. Any takers?
--Winston