I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

For thrift stores.. that would make a long list of tool gloat. However, for
dollar stores, I suggest a full set of basic tools...for lending out!

Boris Beizer

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.
....

What other poster said thrift stores -- if they actually recycle
stuff like that, there's no telling what one might find. I've found
old planes, chisels, etc., but nothing really priceless, just decent
stuff.

For dollar stores, Snickers bars are about the limit of anything
useful...

I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thrift stores sometimes have small boxes, or pieces of furniture that
can be disassembled to make other projects for less than you can buy
the wood.

The dollar sto

my favorite is the plastic table clothes, they are great for glue up
time
copper pot scrubbers for cleaning your sharpening stones or other
cleanuup
condiment bottles for storing alcohol, thinner etc. The caps on the
dispensers help!
small plastic plates for mixing on top of

Nothing useful that I remember came from dollar stores.

From pawn shops, I bought many useful tools like Mitutoyo Digimatic
caliper for $20, lots of hand tools. That was years ago, we do not
have pawn shops close to where I live.

i

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT


Not exactly "home shop", but...

I find the dollar stores have low prices on paper towels and paper
napkins for our office lunchroom. I load up on them every few months.

The thrift stores (There's a Goodwill Industries one nearby us.) often
have great buys in wooden furniture. Most of thr "knock around" chairs
at our office came from there. Just yesterday I picked up a couple of
chairs like these for just five bucks each, they'll last forever with
just an occasional regluing of a loose joint:

http://www.sailorsport.com/product_i...id_2895_10.jpg

I can't recall ever finding a tool worth getting at a thrift shop, but I
could spend myself into bankruptcy at a used tool store called the Tool
Shed (at 471 Main Street, Waltham, Massachusetts) if I let myself stop
by there more than a few times a year. G

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

arw01 wrote:
snip...
small plastic plates for mixing on top of

....snip

I mix small amounts of epoxy on the free CDs from AOL or whomever.

Bill

I mix small amounts of epoxy on the free CDs from AOL or whomever.

Bill

I cut up old gallon plastic milk jugs to mix epoxy on... they're
translucent, and you can look at the other side to check for swirls left
in the mix. Once the epoxy cures, flexing the sheet a little cleanly
pops off the old epoxy.

Erik

Sad items found in our local thrift shops are cheaply priced, well made
and often signed turned bowls and other pieces. Also nice mini bird
houses and other nicely done ornaments that sell for 50 cents, but were
likely owned and enjoyed by a late resident.

Depressing items are the trashy imports valued the same or even above
the sad items. Happy items are an unused printer for my WebTv, sockets,
plugs and cords for my table lamps, navy uniform buttons for my marine
oriented wine bottle coasters and cabochons for my box tops plus
comfortable long sleeve cotton 'turning shirts'.

I'm old and secure enough not to live in fear that the initials on a
shirt not originally mine, will be recognized by the previous owner, but
here in S. Fla. (aka 'God's Waiting Room') he's probably deceased.


Turn to Safety, Arch
Fortiter


http://community.webtv.net/almcc/MacsMusings

Jeff Wisnia wrote:
I can't recall ever finding a tool worth getting at a thrift shop, but I
could spend myself into bankruptcy at a used tool store called the Tool
Shed (at 471 Main Street, Waltham, Massachusetts) if I let myself stop
by there more than a few times a year. G

Oh great, a place I don't dare go to and it's less than 2 hours away.
Please don't tell me about these places because I can't afford them
either. G

Another type of place that can be dangerous: some factories have
surplus stores that sell crib over stock, used equipment and whatever -
I've bought computers (less than 3 years old, $69), calipers, metal
bits, workbenches and cabinets and I've seen motors, millers,
electrical stock - the list just goes on and on and that's from just
one factory, albeit a large one.

BrianC

You're safe from this one, wrong end of the country but around here (Kent,
WA) Boeing aircraft has a surplus store open to the public. Everything from
machine shop equipment and supplies to electronics to office furniture.

"Brian C" wrote in message
ups.com...
Another type of place that can be dangerous: some factories have
surplus stores that sell crib over stock, used equipment and whatever -
I've bought computers (less than 3 years old, $69), calipers, metal
bits, workbenches and cabinets and I've seen motors, millers,
electrical stock - the list just goes on and on and that's from just
one factory, albeit a large one.

BrianC

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT
From the local thrift store one of those counter balanced spring driven
clamp it to your desk,lathe, whatever lamps complete with energy
efficient florescent bulb $1
Baby's formula bottle warmer for hide glue pot $1
Brand new in line skate (only 1) for the 4 wheels for a steady rest
$0.25
From Dollar store laser pointer on key chain for home made hollowing
tool $1
Pete
Visit my site at:
http://www.oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/pHyde/

The plastic milk-crate style storage boxes you find at Office Depot,
Staples, etc. to use as impromptu tables and tool boxes They're light
weight and they stack. I try to do as much work outside as possible, and I
put my supplies into the crate(s), take them out to the work area, then
stack two together as a table to hold the tools I'm using, a cup of coffee,
etc. At the end of the day I separate the two crates, put my supplies and
hand tools into them and bring them back inside
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT


Not much at the dollar store maybe some use once throw away hand tools.

Thrift store is another story. I got two floor standing 3/4hp, 5/8" chuck
drill presses, Dremel Advantage (the one with the large motor), 24" aluminum
pipe wrench (lighter than my 24" Rigid), a combination wrench set
(beautifully highly polished black nickel plating more for show than work, I
don't need another wrench set but tools are hard to refuse), various other
Chinese and name brand hand tools.

If thrift shop includes Harbor Freight, see my post below.

I used two ThrustMaster Top gun video game joy sticks as stick grips in my
Baby Belle helicopter. They look pretty much identical to those selling for
$150 in aviation catalogs. I think that I got both for less than $20. I've
removed the bases, did a very small wiring mod and sold them with adapters
for $100 each. $50. w/o adapters. The TopGun joysticks are available on
ebay typically for less than $20. each.

--
Stuart Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478
(760) 408-9747 general and layout cell
(760) 608-1299 technical and advertising cell

www.vkss.com
www.experimentalhelo.com


"# Fred #" wrote in message
. ..

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT


Not much at the dollar store maybe some use once throw away hand tools.

Thrift store is another story. I got two floor standing 3/4hp, 5/8" chuck
drill presses, Dremel Advantage (the one with the large motor), 24"
aluminum
pipe wrench (lighter than my 24" Rigid), a combination wrench set
(beautifully highly polished black nickel plating more for show than work,
I
don't need another wrench set but tools are hard to refuse), various other
Chinese and name brand hand tools.

If thrift shop includes Harbor Freight, see my post below.

Those grabber things, you know, squeeze the handle and the plunger tips
grab those things that fall under a shelf, or behind the lathe. It is
so much easier than bending over sometimes.
robo hippy
Stuart & Kathryn Fields wrote:
I used two ThrustMaster Top gun video game joy sticks as stick grips in my
Baby Belle helicopter. They look pretty much identical to those selling for
$150 in aviation catalogs. I think that I got both for less than $20. I've
removed the bases, did a very small wiring mod and sold them with adapters
for $100 each. $50. w/o adapters. The TopGun joysticks are available on
ebay typically for less than $20. each.

--
Stuart Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478
(760) 408-9747 general and layout cell
(760) 608-1299 technical and advertising cell

www.vkss.com
www.experimentalhelo.com


"# Fred #" wrote in message
. ..

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
ps.com...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT


Not much at the dollar store maybe some use once throw away hand tools.

Thrift store is another story. I got two floor standing 3/4hp, 5/8" chuck
drill presses, Dremel Advantage (the one with the large motor), 24"
aluminum
pipe wrench (lighter than my 24" Rigid), a combination wrench set
(beautifully highly polished black nickel plating more for show than work,
I
don't need another wrench set but tools are hard to refuse), various other
Chinese and name brand hand tools.

If thrift shop includes Harbor Freight, see my post below.

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.


Well, mine's not a home shop, but...

Back in the early 80's there was a job lot store on Atwells Ave in
Providence; got pumice & rottenstone, neswting Diston saws, circular saw
blades, some really swell chrome plated brass Deco/Moderne pulls with
burgundy and black stripes which, 25 years later, I still have and still
haven't found a use for, lots of cheap spring clamps that still get used
every week in the shop.

At thrift shops, I'm always looking for stuff thats nice & can be turned
around quick; favorites are heavy commercial type steel cafe table bases - I
throw away the crappy tops, hammerite the bases, and make a nice top. I've
got a couple here now, one with I made a round curly maple top for, and the
other a teal crackle glazed tile top with a teal-dyed curly maple edge.
People buy them for sun rooms, breakfast nooks and such. An easy sale.

Also any quaint chair that will have that country look when done, popular in
these parts. Did one a few weeks ago, paid 5 bucks for an old chair with
half the black and white paint job chipped off it. Blew the loose chips off
with the air gun, left the rest. Washed it, dyed & stained the exposed
wood, sprayed with transparent tobacco brown tinted lacquer, put some brown
glaze on it. Some lucky New Yorker will be happy to pay 250 for it, took me
an hour and a half to do. Got a couple other thrift shop finds tucked away
in the shop waiting there turn - a childs executive desk blue hammerite and
chrome steel bottom with curly maple top, and an oak school chair/writing
desk thing.


--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 04:40:22 GMT, "Juvenal"
wrote:

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.


Well, mine's not a home shop, but...

... snip
At thrift shops, I'm always looking for stuff thats nice & can be turned
around quick; favorites are heavy commercial type steel cafe table bases - I
throw away the crappy tops, hammerite the bases, and make a nice top. I've
got a couple here now, one with I made a round curly maple top for, and the
other a teal crackle glazed tile top with a teal-dyed curly maple edge.
People buy them for sun rooms, breakfast nooks and such. An easy sale.

Also any quaint chair that will have that country look when done, popular in
these parts. Did one a few weeks ago, paid 5 bucks for an old chair with
half the black and white paint job chipped off it. Blew the loose chips off
with the air gun, left the rest. Washed it, dyed & stained the exposed
wood, sprayed with transparent tobacco brown tinted lacquer, put some brown
glaze on it. Some lucky New Yorker will be happy to pay 250 for it, took me
an hour and a half to do. Got a couple other thrift shop finds tucked away
in the shop waiting there turn - a childs executive desk blue hammerite and
chrome steel bottom with curly maple top, and an oak school chair/writing
desk thing.

Just took a look at your web site. Nice layout and very nice examples of
work.



+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

In article . net,
"CW" wrote:

You're safe from this one, wrong end of the country but around here (Kent,
WA) Boeing aircraft has a surplus store open to the public. Everything from
machine shop equipment and supplies to electronics to office furniture.

Ya, but anymore their prices aren't much of a bargin

--
--------------------------------------------------------
Personal e-mail is the n7bsn but at amsat.org
This posting address is a spam-trap and seldom read
RV and Camping FAQ can be found at
http://www.ralphandellen.us/rv

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT

I recently read where someone had scrounged a cutting board from a
thrift store to use as part of a band saw jig. Not me ... yet.

I get plastic shoe boxes from a local 'dollar' store to store pen kits
with their bushings and also pen blank stock. Good, also, for storing
finished smaller items. They cost a buck each and give me enough dust
free room to store a couple dozen kits or about 30 blanks. There is a
label area on the end just about the right size for a P-Touch label.
Makes it easy to keep kits & bushings together and also to keep the shop
reasonably well organized.

I also get cheap paper towels to use as CA applicators. I simply cut it
in half, (across the length) fold it into a narrow swab, drizzle the CA
on the pen body with the lathe turning at a low speed and lightly spread
with the swab. Then, once the glue has set, I simply tear off the used
end until I get down to about an inch long.

I use duct tape for a mixing surface for epoxy (cheap, stays put, easy
clean up) and also childrens' craft sticks, aka Popsicle sticks, for
mixing it. I use both ends and then use diagonal wire cutters to lop off
the used part and use them a couple more times. Yeah ... that's mighty
cheap of me, but why pay more when this works? Tape and sticks from the
dollar store.

CA is pretty sensitive to moisture, so I dry my pen bodies with a broken
down used blow dryer that is a refugee from the trash pile. It's held
together with rubber bands and not even good enough to donate to the
thrift shop.

Bill


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"Bill in Detroit" wrote: (clip) I use duct tape for a mixing surface for
epoxy (cheap, stays put, easy
clean up) (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's a good one--I'll use it.

A buddy is a independent computer tech support guy. I think he mostly
runs around yanking off viruses, and helping newbies. (Think he's doing
ok, seems to always be working, and gets $75/hr.)

Anyway, he stop's by Goodwill from time to time and loads up on used
computer cables (USB, ethernet and the like). At the one he goes to, he
says you can get a whole box full for pocket change.

A few times a week, a client will need one, and he lets them know he
'just happens' to have a used one out in the car... he'll gets $10 to
$15 bucks a pop for them.

Erik

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Bill in Detroit" wrote: (clip) I use duct tape for a mixing surface for
epoxy (cheap, stays put, easy
clean up) (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's a good one--I'll use it.


Thank you, Leo. Not my idea but I'm told that one sign of true genius is
the ability to recognize a good idea and run with it. ;-)

Ahhh ... NOW I notice why this is appearing all over the place! The OP
cross-posted. Well, the thread will veer off right now.

Bill


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"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 04:40:22 GMT, "Juvenal"
wrote:

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.


One of my most used tools is free.

I take a 16 oz soda bottle, and drill a small hole in the cap. I fill the
bottle with whatever coolant/lubricant I want, then use it for a squirt
bottle to apply to my work while I'm cutting. I never have to fuss with the
stupid cheap pump bottles, and I get the coolant exactly where I want it.

Dave Lyon wrote:

One of my most used tools is free.

I take a 16 oz soda bottle, and drill a small hole in the cap. I fill the
bottle with whatever coolant/lubricant I want, then use it for a squirt
bottle to apply to my work while I'm cutting. I never have to fuss
with the
stupid cheap pump bottles, and I get the coolant exactly where I want it.

Next time try a plastic bottle with a push/pull top that comes with dish
washing soap in it.

Also quite useful for filling wet cell batteries with distilled water.

Lew

Brian C wrote:
Jeff Wisnia wrote:
I can't recall ever finding a tool worth getting at a thrift shop, but I
could spend myself into bankruptcy at a used tool store called the Tool
Shed (at 471 Main Street, Waltham, Massachusetts) if I let myself stop
by there more than a few times a year. G

Oh great, a place I don't dare go to and it's less than 2 hours away.
Please don't tell me about these places because I can't afford them
either. G

Then perhaps we shouldn't mention that the Waltham Tool Shed is a
franchise of the Tool Shed on Rte 12 (W. Boylston St.) in Worcester (
www.used-tools.com ). Or mention that it's possible to hit both in one
day...
--Glenn Lyford

"Lew Hodgett" wrote in message
news
Dave Lyon wrote:

One of my most used tools is free.

I take a 16 oz soda bottle, and drill a small hole in the cap. I fill
the
bottle with whatever coolant/lubricant I want, then use it for a squirt
bottle to apply to my work while I'm cutting. I never have to fuss
with the
stupid cheap pump bottles, and I get the coolant exactly where I want
it.

Next time try a plastic bottle with a push/pull top that comes with dish
washing soap in it.

Also quite useful for filling wet cell batteries with distilled water.

Lew


Yea, I've used those too. They tend to apply more liquid than I usually like
to use.

robo hippy wrote:

Those grabber things, you know, squeeze the handle and the plunger tips
grab those things that fall under a shelf, or behind the lathe. It is
so much easier than bending over sometimes.

I used to have one of those, but I dropped it behind a set of shelves
and I've nothing to reach it with...

Big Lots has the best price on plastic container's, peg board hooks, if
you know the good stuff from the really cheap stuff you can do ok

Andy Dingley wrote:

I used to have one of those, but I dropped it behind a set of shelves
and I've nothing to reach it with...

What ... no shop cat?

Bill


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On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 13:30:02 -0500, Bill in Detroit
wrote:

Andy Dingley wrote:

I used to have one of those, but I dropped it behind a set of shelves
and I've nothing to reach it with...

What ... no shop cat?

Mine's so so fat she'd get cought 1/2way down the wall!

Dave Lyon wrote in article
69gkh.283623$FQ1.78404@attbi_s71...

"Mark & Juanita" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 04:40:22 GMT, "Juvenal"
wrote:

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote...
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in
the
home shop environment.


One of my most used tools is free.

I take a 16 oz soda bottle, and drill a small hole in the cap. I fill the
bottle with whatever coolant/lubricant I want, then use it for a squirt
bottle to apply to my work while I'm cutting. I never have to fuss with
the
stupid cheap pump bottles, and I get the coolant exactly where I want it.




Those bottles actually cost us a nickel in many states.......

Bill in Detroit wrote:
Andy Dingley wrote:

I used to have one of those, but I dropped it behind a set of shelves
and I've nothing to reach it with...

What ... no shop cat?

Bill

Wrong tool.
Shop cat = self cleaning wiping rag.
Generally better if not self owned, next doors cat is cheaper to run.

John

In article om,
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote:

I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT

I'm very dependent on two items I bought at the thrift store - don't
think I spent more than $5.00 combined.

The first is a very large canning pot that I use to boil roughed bowls
of the 12"ish size. It's one of those blue speckled enamel jobs with a
lid. I think the price of $2 is still on the lid.

The second item is a 3"ish deep teflon coated fryer. I drop old candles
and crayons in to melt and use it to dip green wood that I may not get
to soon enough. Works like a champ and is much quicker and better at
sealing - and waaay less expensive - than the Anchorseal type products.
Everytime I look at the $3.00 Sharpie-d price on the lid it just makes
me feel all good and warm and nifty inside.

--
Owen Lowe

Northwest Woodturners
Pacific Northwest Woodturning Guild
___
Tips fer Turnin': Place a sign, easily seen as you switch on your lathe, warning you to remove any and all rings from your fingers. Called degloving, extended hardware can grab your ring and rip it off your finger. A pic for the strong of stomach: www.itim.nsw.gov.au/go/objectid/2A3AC703-1321-1C29-70B067DC88E16BFC/index.cfm

Besides, rings can easily mar the surface of a turning as you check for finished smoothness.

From the dollar store, a large scissors that I use to cut sandpaper sheets
into squares and strips. Cuts through 4 sheets at once. Been using it
since forever, not sure I ever had to resharpen it.

Mike Paulson wrote:

Mike Paulson wrote:

Mike Paulson wrote:

From the dollar store, a large scissors that I use to cut sandpaper
sheets
into squares and strips. Cuts through 4 sheets at once. Been using it
since forever, not sure I ever had to resharpen it.


Might want to try a hacksaw blade next time.

Wrap masking tape around one end to form a handle.

Lew

Too_Many_Tools wrote:
I would be interested in hearing what items fellow home shop owners
find in thrift stores and dollar stores that end up being useful in the
home shop environment.

Thanks in advance.

TMT

I find that the $ shops usually have brush sets (1/2" to 2") that come
six or eight brushes for $1. In this regard, at least, I'm a big
believer in use once, throw away. Great for staining, oiling, etc.
and the smallest ones can be used for gluing. And no cleanup after!
Oh and cheap artist brush sets too. Great for gluing small areas where
overspread would be a problem.

FoggyTown

Hmm, for cutting sandpaper I've an old hacksaw blade attached to the
edge of my workbench. I slip the sand paper behind it and tear as needed.
John

Mike Paulson wrote:

From the dollar store, a large scissors that I use to cut sandpaper sheets
into squares and strips. Cuts through 4 sheets at once. Been using it
since forever, not sure I ever had to resharpen it.