Is anyone else here a Womble?

[Monkey Mark]

The Wombles motto is "Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish".

I've always been a fan of recycling/up-cycling but it seems to have become almost an obsession.
I can't help but take a little peek whenever I drive past a skip or building site. And it's a ritual to check our works skip each Monday morning as there's often bits been put in over the weekend.

I've had some useful finds over time but it's becoming worrying. :lol:
Today there is a rubber sheet, probably an industrial type mat. I can't see how large it is but its 2 or 3 mm thick rubber. I was just about to pull it out when i though "what the heck am i actually going to use it for?". I'm still fighting the urge to get it now.

Surely there must be others that do this too?..... For my own sanity, please let there be others. :roll:

 

[mind_the_goat]

Dammit, you are not alone.
I also can't pass a skip without having a look, although I do manage to remember to ask myself the following:
What will I do with it?
When will I be able to do it?

Given the list of project material I already have waiting to made into projects, those 2 questions do help.
As it is I have a pile of wood, either salvaged from our own house renovation or picked up from the beach, a couple of cupboards in the garage containing things of no immediate use but sure to be useful one day. Also a few things I've picked up from salvage yards or 'bargains' I've seen on ebay. A lot it's going to have to go soon and it's going to be painful. I will try freecycle or ebay for some of it which may help me feel a bit better about it.
My last skip find was at work, a Record 52 1/2 QR vice, I work at a large IT company, so that was somewhat unexpected.

 

[ColeyS1]

Yeah man, I'm a womble and love it ! It forces creativity, makes you learn to work with what you've got.
I've nearly got all the parts required for...
A handgrenade solar garden light
A large waterwheel
A crinkly top curved greenhouse
A hot air balloon flower pot
A tumble dryer clad planter
The list goes on

My most pleasing find lately was a garden clock. I was looking and looking and looking and managed to find one I liked on the net for 60 quid. I visited the dump and found a better one just looking at me for a quid ! Keeps time beautifully, just needs a bit of work- you know how it is


Coley

 

[monkeybiter]

I'm having a big clearout at the moment, resulting in piles of stuff to go to the tip. The trouble is if I don't shift them quick enough I start finding things in the piles that I want to keep and take them back into the workshop :roll:

 

[bugbear]

I went to the local dump to get rid of a trashed vacuum cleaner and came back with a Moulton 'F' frame!!

BugBear

 

[monkeybiter]

I came back with somebody else's knackered wooden chair, now on the growing 'to-do' list #-o (hammer)

 

[MMUK]

I used to be until my storage facility threatened to take it all to the tip. I think my parents have forgiven me now though.....

 

[No skills]

Yeah in the worst way. Trouble is the rubbish comes to me, I don't even have to look for it...

 

[sunnybob]

Grab that mat! I have one I found two years ago and its on the floor in front of my bench. Just that 3mm of rubber makes standing a much easier chore.

 

[BearTricks]

I didn't do it before I started woodworking but now I find myself looking at every old pile of pallets, every truck that drives past with a pile of crap on it, and every skip I walk past.

I'm getting a car on friday, so I'll actually have a boot for all those times I've fantasised about pulling up and throwing something in the back. Time will tell if I actually do it.

 

[Monkey Mark]

Grab that mat! I have one I found two years ago and its on the floor in front of my bench. Just that 3mm of rubber makes standing a much easier chore.

It's in the back of my car, the temptation was too strong!

I now collect for woodwork. I like to make some of my own equipment so have motors , switches etc piling up too.

I'm running out of space and certainly have more ideas than the time to bring them to life.

 

[Water-Mark]

3mm matting sounds like drawer lining to me!

I'm also guilty, as i imagine most here are.

 

[graduate_owner]

It's not just me then. My trouble is I have so much clutter in my shed that I am regularly unable to find the stuff I really need to get at. I try de-cluttering every so often but am usually unsuccessful, because throwing stuff away is so hard to do.

K

 

[Eric The Viking]

I went to the local dump to get rid of a trashed vacuum cleaner and came back with a Moulton 'F' frame!!

BugBear

Good catch! Decades ago, as a schoolboy, I went to a lecture by Moulton, about the Mini suspension and the development of his bicycles (cycling round in circles in a hangar to test air resistance, etc. Very inspirational.

For myself, at the dump I have scored three steel hinge-out tray toolboxes (with some tools), a set of Moore+Wright punches (abused but usable), and most recently a rather quaint valve power transformer (haven't tested it yet). Also an old 5 gal Jerry can (usable). The wood section seems to be pretty rubbish though - anything good gets buried in seconds, under mountains of MDF and MFC.

It continues to amaze me what good stuff people throw away, especially what goes to landfill. Interestingly, the chap who does the non-ferrous bit at our local scrappie is a keen woodworker (I gave him this URL, but I don't know if he's joined up).

And so far, the people at our local dump don't mind too much what goes back in the car boot, as long as they're not after it themselves!

E.

 

[No skills]

To make myself feel a touch better I have had a clear out this morning.
A whole two bags of rubbish...

 

[No skills]

But...


Phil chisels have arrived and I've also just taken apart an old (100 year) **** house door and got a couple of good pine planks out of it.

Feel better now..

 

[ColeyS1]

To make myself feel a touch better I have had a clear out this morning.
A whole two bags of rubbish...

Are you sure it was rubbish and not just materials for a future project ? [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]

Coley

 

[No skills]

Well...
That's always a bit of a grey area for me.

 

[beganasatree]

Mark your just like the rest of us,welcome to the club.

Peter.

 

[NazNomad]

I'm definitely a Womble, but I do have the odd 'ruthless day', which I immediately regret.