Saved from a dumpster, or Free finds.

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I'm glad you saved it, Bud. I still have my old Montgomery Ward 3.0 cu ft convection microwave with faux wood pattern. It's down at the workshop & I keep holding out hope that one day we can repurpose it. I wonder if it is possible to upgrade it to have more watts & still be a convection microwave. The size on the outside is about the same as a lot of the modern microwaves but it has a lot more space inside. Wish I had the skill to Frankenstein it to have a new control panel, cover it in faux stainless steel wrap, and get it working at like 1200watts.
 
bud16415 said:
Our microwave blew out the other day and I carried the old one out to the garage to cut the power cord off (you never know when you will need a cord). The thing looks like brand new even though it is about 5 years old. My dad would have hated the wastefulness of our throw away society, as he felt a toaster was something to be rebuilt and should last a lifetime. I wondered if my weld helmet would fit inside it and it does along with my weld gloves and some other weld items I want to keep clean.
!
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Many times it's just the fuse in the microwave that goes. Remove the cover and find the bus fuse and check it to see if it's OK. Easy to replace; got mine at ACE Hardware.
 
mabloodhound said:
Many times it's just the fuse in the microwave that goes. Remove the cover and find the bus fuse and check it to see if it's OK. Easy to replace; got mine at ACE Hardware.
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This one shot some serious sparks inside behind a little cover plate and the plate had a melt down. I figured it was not worth it.


I will check that in the future though. Thanks for the tip.
 
The past year, I've scored pretty good items: Henry Miller Aeron chair ($1000 new), contractor table saw, wood router, thermostat controlled attic vent fan, unused stainless steel 3 flu chimney cap, 100 sq feet new pavers, etc. It's nice that I have a truck, and keep an eye out for goodies. Even the 4 boxes of latex gloves are great for garage repair use.
 
Not exactly a dumpster but I did save an old treadmill my brother no longer wanted, which is being used a lot of now since most of us are not keen going outside. Better for my knees as supported by this article, and also a way to keep active even when we're just staying indoors. Can also work on some furniture from scraps I kept from all places... plenty of time now but thankfully with enough activities to keep me from being bored.
 
I saw guys at work pitching a Bosch Bulldog rotary hammer drill into the dumpster - said it didn't work, and they got OK to buy a new one. I took it home, found the power cord had bent too many times at the strain relief, and wouldn't let the electricity in any more. I pulled the cord into the tool about 6", cut it at the fault, and reconnected. Works great.
 
rokosz said:
View attachment 23211 one man's trash... sorry "person's" Not dumpster diving but kind of. Many decades ago I was walking back to my car (66 bug) with a friend on the west side of Manhattan in the early AM. Hey, what's that? Turns out its a1930s maybe 20s filing cabinet. I managed to get friend and cabinet in the bug. Peculiar design: the top drawer isn't a drawer: the top of the cabinet is a lid for that top drawer space. Perfect formy 45s. It even had the original alphabet dividers (heavy paper board with the tabs edged in black metal). It has stood me well. When it gets too full I know its time to recycle the oldest paper.

The 22 and 27 golf club reminds me, just a year or two ago I Craigs'd a 98 Infiniti. Obvious scrap dealer bought, I signed over the docs. He said he'd be back to pick up the 98. I get a call about 20 minutes later from him. I signed over the wrong docs: I signed over my wifes '13 Infiniti. Holy Shdoodoo! What a mess. I drove to where he was, refunded his cash and he gave me the docs. Ultimately donated the 98 -- once I got proper replacement docs...
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When I had a wood shop, we dressed a few up with pine and alder much like this one.
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