The wife wants to divorce me, calls me a junk collector

allen levine

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Im on the way home last night taking my wife back from her doctors appt, and I drive by a home that obviously is having alot of work done.
An enormous pile of junk wood in front, so I stop and while my wife is yelling at me Im embarrassing her, I pick through the pile, and take my free wood cutoffs and some pine and pressure treated with nails in it.
The entire ride home I had to listen to her tell me that homeless people and destitute people do those things.Besides she says, youre going to scratch up your car.

But I love scraps. Someones garbage is my gold.
Why let it end up as land fill. Its not even going into a fireplace to keep someone warm(not the pressure treated for sure).
Call me green.

This is the kind of stuff I use scraps for, since nothing is over 2 feet long, and I adjust the widths to the sizes I have.

I always put something in a picture when I make childrens things so its easy to see the actual size.
Planters, little critters, mostly kid furniture, benches, lounges, whatever sizes I get, Ill cut. Just wanted to share. Anyone know a woman that doesnt mind a junk collector?

The table is actually slices of a 2x4, maybe 8-10 inches wide, I just rip slices.
8 screws each, some brads, some glue, and bingo, I have a gift to bring when I visit someone, and they always seem to appreciate it.(well, most of them, started 2 years ago)
 

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My EX use to complain when I rescued gold from someone's trash.

Next thing you know she was complaining because I didn't take her anywhere. :dunno:

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
I salvage whenever the opportunity presents itself... you'd be surprised what you find for raw materials, art projects... and even sometimes what things are worth. A few years ago I picked up a box of old picture frames in my travels, and one of the framed photos inside sold for almost $3,700 on eBay.:thumb: :thumb::thumb: My own little Antiques Roadshow story! :)

--MJ
 
Allen,

We must be related somehow, I feel the same way about finding used lumber as you do. My problem, though, is there isn't much lying around here in Santa Fe. I have to resort to pallets I used to get from work, before I retired, but that's another thread.
 
Busted . . .

I have no " overhead " because of Fort Bliss' " Packing & Crateing " Dept. Seems like anything under four feet of anything is scrap. To them it is I guess. Took LOML along diving the Bliss dumpsters on a saturday. CID stopped to say Hi and run our numbers and IDs. She doesn't go along any longer even though about half our home improvments and % 99 of my materials for the " business " are courtesy of the US ARMY. Go figure.
 
On craigslist, out here on LI, the amount of free furniture is absurd
Once in a while Ill pick up a chest of drawers, not for the wood, but for the handles and pulls.
Some of these things are 50-75 years old, discontinued numbers, and just unique.
Although I have no control over the thing, I sometimes try to clean them up with the dremel, but IM not much for having that much control over such a small tool.
Im afraid people who see me at their garbage at 8:30 during the dark hours of the winter, are going to be frightened, or think Im a derelict and call the police on me.
I once was taking the wheels off an old carriage someone had thrown out and they started screaming at me to get away before they call the cops!
I ended up going to the depot and spending 9 dollars each for crummy little hard rubber wheels.(what a waste, so I made a wooden jig to cut circles on the router, now the few wheels I need are wood)

Taking apart pallets is just backbreaking work, and I dont get enough hardwood without holes to use for much.
My contractor neighbor will always bring home his cutoffs for me from deckwork, too bad not many people are getting decks these days.
I missed out on a nice cedar fence, I just couldnt get there in time to beat the sanitation men.
 
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Just tell her she'll get stuck with half the junk.

Or... half the treasure, heh... ;) It's been my experience once they figure out how much could possibly be gained from the acquisition of "cool stuff," their perspective changes.

Craig's List is a wonderful source of treasures, yes, I agree completely!

--MJ, not that I've ever been married or enny'thin... :)
 
I feel your pain, Allen. Mine used to do the same thing until I used an old door (including the jamb and trim) to make these. The only "new" wood is the drawers (Poplar w/spalted Beech fronts). The sides were glued up panels from the jamb. The top and bottom was made from the door itself and the moldings were milled from the trim.;)
 

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Allen I've been known to rummage a little too. If you looked in my garage, you'd think it's a more than a little. I've made tables, chests, shelves, desks and many other items without any cost at all. Some I've sold, some I've given away, but I furnished my house with most. Here are a few pics.
 

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Way to go, Mr. Green Levine. Salvaging wood is useful and important. Kudos to you. I believe our former governor has some info about worse ways to embarrass one's wife than active recycling - a new term we can coin for what you [and I] do.

All the best,
Ken
 
I guess I have it lucky. Back when I had my truck, my wife used to come home and say, Fire up the truck I saw a nice something or other on the way home from work. She could never pass up chairs no matter what condition they were in. Although she never did understand taking home scrap wood, she never complained about it. :thumb:

Mike
 
I have no " overhead " because of Fort Bliss' " Packing & Crateing " Dept. Seems like anything under four feet of anything is scrap. To them it is I guess. Took LOML along diving the Bliss dumpsters on a saturday. CID stopped to say Hi and run our numbers and IDs. She doesn't go along any longer even though about half our home improvments and % 99 of my materials for the " business " are courtesy of the US ARMY. Go figure.

El Paso, huh? I retired from the Police Department there in 1998, and moved to the Austin area.

I've been know to cut across several lanes of traffic on busy downtown streets to help an arborist clean up after trimming or downing a tree. Even the limbs can be turned into bowls and such on the lathe. Picked up some really cool spalted hackberry in a residential area in San Antonio one time. The abuelas next door got a great giggle out of that. :rofl:

Heck, when they took down a bunch of big oaks and pecan trees nearby for a highway project, I grabbed my yellow hardhat and chainsaw of a Saturday morning and headed out to harvest some logs. No one even bothered to ask what I was doing there.
 
thats some nice workmanship from someone elses scrap.
really nice.
If I could turn out work that nice I dont think the wife would complain.
(how many planters and chairs do we need, my backyard looks like an outdoor furniture store)
 
I have atleast have the kids trained. They will be out for a walk and come home with peices they have found.:thumb: They wife on the other hand will allow me to stop. Are car is use to hauling lumber, my hardwood supplier reffers to my car as a compact truck.:rofl:
 
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