Inspired by Pete's recent post on the use of the ends of drinks cans for use on a Bogie tank wagon. I thought of another really easy to create use of drinks cans for modelling purposes. First slit the bottom end off the can, this is easy to do using a Stanley type knife to get it started and then if you find it easier you can cut the rest of the way around with sturdy scissors. I would leave approximately a 10mm lip but you can leave a bit less as in the image below. Then snip vertically down all the way around at 5-10mm intervals cut down to the line when the can starts to flare outwards (it's quite visible on the inside) it's isn't too critical thay each cut is exactly to the line. Then start folding some of the pieces over. I folded the first two or three until they were horizontal but once I had some room to manoeuvre I bent them right round to the underside of the rim. Work your way around until you can then finish bending those that you left partially bent. Once bent fully, you are left with a remarkably smooth underside. This gives you a really useful paint palette or for mixing epoxy etc. once they get really messed up you can still pop them in the recycling having a had a second or more life from them. Then slit the middle section vertically and you can use strips cut off it, for wrapping things that you don't want marking by the vice or lathe chuck. I always have a couple of can's worth behind the lathe but until today I hade been putting both ends in the recycling. All in took around 5 minutes to make.
In a similar vein I use the small plastic tubs supplied with either a kebab or curry. Both the lid and upturned tup are great for paint and putting drops of super glue on to allow easy transfer to the model using a cocktail stick. Once dry the remnants can normally be popped off. They also make good containers for small bits, the containers that the rice and curry arrives in are great for storing all the bits from a kit ...... seems like a good excuse for another curry mmmmmmmmmmm Paul
I did a little more potentially useful recycling today. Earlier this week I discovered a brand new round file which needed a handle. The very next day we received our grocery order and in it was a new dish washing brush which meant the old one was being discarded as being worn out. As I was about to put it in the recycle box I wondered if the handle was solid as an idea was forming. I popped it in the workshop and this morning I had 10 minutes to saw the remains of the brush head off to see if the handle was solid. Having determined that it was solid, I measured the file tang and cut the brush handle to length leaving the comfort grip. I drilled out the cut end to accept the file and a few bashes with a rubber mallet later and I now have a file that is really comfortable to use. I have to admit that the colour is not great but I am not too fussed about that.
It might vary from recycling centre to centre, but if you have resin on any material it is generally no longer considered a recyclable material. And any that is in the collection when sorted would be deemed to contaminate the entire batch and it then all either goes to landfill or gets ground down for less desirable uses.
On the subject of re-use, my favourite items which only end up in the recycling if badly damaged and I find a 1001 uses for are :- 1) Pots which contained houmous, even from different stores and brands often have compatible tubs and lids, clear stackable and quite tough enough for most items that fit them. 2) M&S Lasagne al forno foil trays, usable for anything from storing parts, cleaning parts, sorting, catching drips from pipes and echo well when dealing with plumbing leaks below floorboards, bailing out flooded pots, shaped, nested as needed for many other tasks ... Both items nest well for storage so it makes for easy collecting. P.s. 3) plastic milk bottle tops for small amounts of paint or adhesives, they have only just become classed as recyclable now they are no longer coloured green or blue, just bottle coloured, I have plenty of coloured caps! Jim
That figures, I have to be careful not to spoil my tub and tray collection Re-use, then recycle, I was doing it long before it became big news, just made sense to me, or was I just too mean to throw things away Jim
If you are Jim then so am I. Sadly I think that many of the younger generations see retirees as wealthy people who stole their wealth somehow. When the reality is that many are just comfortable which is a fair way from being wealthy. As for stealing that perceived wealth, I don't know about you but I came from a large family and my father was a farm labourer. Until I started earning myself, pretty much everything I had, was a hand me down from either my older brother or friends/family etc. It's what we did.
I know what you mean Rob, although my family was small, my dad was very handy being a toolmaker/fitter at an electronic valve manufacturer and bought our 'luxury' goods, e.g. fridge, wireless, 9 inch tv, white goods and such like, usually faulty or broken and repaired them, money was tight but he still managed to feed us all well working 5.5 days a week and put a roof over our heads in the days of single income families. It really annoys me too those who decry the baby boomer period generation, they do not realise what our parents went through to give us a leg up, luckily he was determined, and so was mum, that my brother and I got an education just about the time universities stopped demanding a wealthy background. I studied hard as my thirst for knowledge has always been hampered by a poor short term memory and a brain resistant to absorbing numbers of any kind. Not much has changed there, I now think, ho, ho that I have had a 70 year old brain most of my life as now I am approaching that decade my mental facilities haven't degraded much further yet Anyway now I am able to buy what I want new, and in the spirit of my upbringing, keep on repairing them like the everlasting broom, 4 heads and two handles, I keep on repairing our Dyson! That means I have been able to afford more goodies especially due to the amount of DiY I do, car, appliances, house etc, although my reducing energy and eyesight are becoming a hinderance. I think the main problem now is that many see what were luxuries only a decade ago are minimal essentials now, very noticeable in the FreeCycle wanted ads around here. So much for a quick reply Well Rob we shall just have to shrug off the way we are perceived and let those who are young sort themselves out, we can only help our kids out so far Jim
We retirees didn't steal the wealth of the younger generation, we and our parents made our own 'wealth' by hard work! I was born in 1947, rationing lasted into at least 1953 after WW2, car ownership was a rarity (I was the first in our family with a driving licence and my first car didn't come until 1965, due to working 7 days a week), and I'm quite sure that back then, none of us with aspirations to own rather than rent our home had any idea that property prices would reach the dizzy heights they have. Couple that with mortgage rates that reached 16% in the Thatcher years, to coin a well-known Yorkshire phrase, "They don't know they're born" in this day and age. The problem with todays young is that they feel they are 'Entitled', they get married and want new house, furniture, new car every 3 years, kids, holidays and eating out regularly, stuff we could only dream of back then. At least we appreciated what little we got, and it won't be us that 'reap the benefits' of our house value increase once we 'kick our clogs'! Keith.
Yes, especially the 'Entitled', the first time at work I heard of a young colleague getting a bank loan for a summer holiday absolutely astounded me, and that was only the beginning, luckily our lad has grown into a sensible keep within your means man. He first found out about the real cost of things when he starting discussing how many paper rounds he had to do to buy this or that, since then he has kept a very pragmatic head on his shoulders over finances and makes a surprising number of purchases from charity shops, certainly not led by fad or fashion and still dresses smartly and enjoys a good social life. Jim
