Uses for useless things

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Find uses for things we all throw away

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I hate to throw away stuff that is not rubbish, just not able to do its original job because something else broke. Add your solutions and other items needing a use here.

1. The spring from clothes pegs as the modern plastic ones have an half life of three days unlike the old wooden ones.

2. The plastic cover that comes on every 3 pin plug these days. Are the brass pins so fragile they need protection in transit?

3. 35W 24-36v fully potted constant current LED PSU. Because of the potting it is too dificult to get inside to alter the voltage/current.

[egaParticipant @ega]

Bazyle:

I use your 2. as a convenient way of avoiding unwanted electrical contact with other items in the box housing a cordless drill.

The similar items that come with IT leads can be useful but, of course, this is not the re-purposing I think you had in mind.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi Bazyle, i believe the plastic covers on the 3 pin plugs are for protecting the items they are fitted too, to protect them from scratches etc. during packing and while in transit to the purchaser, not to protect the pins.

Regards Nick.

[Bob StevensonParticipant @bobstevenson13909]

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but, I have found that it's more or less imposssible to build, repair or work on clocks without the use of McDonalds coffee stirrers….. I rarely go to McD myself and have not been there in over a year, also I don't actually drink coffee, but I have a group of 'supporters' who go there just to keep me supplied.

……..Where to begin with the multiplicity of uses?……Glue three stirrers in sandwich using white wood glue, add fine abrasive paper to one side,…shape to required profile section and you can get into any difficult area of a clock part. Use for mixing and spreading,…for working int othe shape of a profile as a template……shave down and turn into a screw hole with a drop of oil to make a perfect model of the thread for reference…….cut to shape for polishing fine grooves and edges using T-Cut etc…..use in sections to line jaws of parallel pliers (keep in place with dob of grease)……split the tip an duse to hold very small screws during reassembly……..shave down to use a fine soft little wedges……the uses are varied and endless.

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

She cooks my tea

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

If a use can be found for the item, even if not the original one, it cannot be useless.

An item that I use at Shows, when they happened, started life as a candle stick. Slightly modified, and with the aid of an Aluminium ball and a supply of compressed air, attracts attention from youngsters, and sometimes, their parents!

The process is known as adaptation, I think.

One mans meat is another's poisson! Apologies to all French speakers!

Howard

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

Posted by Bazyle on 04/12/2020 18:25:58:

I hate to throw away stuff that is not rubbish, just not able to do its original job because something else broke. Add your solutions and other items needing a use here.

1. The spring from clothes pegs as the modern plastic ones have an half life of three days unlike the old wooden ones.

2. The plastic cover that comes on every 3 pin plug these days. Are the brass pins so fragile they need protection in transit?

3. 35W 24-36v fully potted constant current LED PSU. Because of the potting it is too dificult to get inside to alter the voltage/current.

1. The spring from a modern plastic clothespeg is made from hardened cheese. I picked up one of our wooden ones recently – we use them on the inner bags of cereal packets – and found the spring many times as strong as on the plastic ones.

I think I could make a mousetrap with it. However, this is unnecessary owing to our new lightspeed cat. AFAIK we didn' 'ave no meeces anyway.

Edited By Mick B1 on 04/12/2020 20:30:42

[VicParticipant @vic]

I had several electronic items damaged in transit because they failed to fit the plastic plug covers and it damaged the casing. They are clearly not to protect the plug but anything else in close contact.

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Posted by Henry Brown on 04/12/2020 19:58:42:

She cooks my tea

I suspect not for much longer if she sees this😢

[DiogenesIIParticipant @diogenesii]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 04/12/2020 20:10:02:

…started life as a candle stick. Slightly modified, and with the aid of an Aluminium ball and a supply of compressed air, attracts attention from youngsters, and sometimes, their parents!

One mans meat is another's poisson! Apologies to all French speakers!

..if it hadn't been for the lapse into French, I don't Le Petomane would have sprung quite so immediately to mind.. ..however.. ..just thought I'd share that with you …sweet dreams, all..

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by DiogenesII on 04/12/2020 21:33:04:

Posted by Howard Lewis on 04/12/2020 20:10:02:

…

..if it hadn't been for the lapse into French, I don't Le Petomane would have sprung quite so immediately to mind.. ..however.. ..just thought I'd share that with you …sweet dreams, all..

.

Hoist by his own petard [as the Bard would have it] ?

MichaelG.

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

Posted by V8Eng on 04/12/2020 21:09:52:

Posted by Henry Brown on 04/12/2020 19:58:42:

She cooks my tea

I suspect not for much longer if she sees this😢

No problem, she's not referred to as "The Enemy" for nothing! We get on very well, I do as I'm told and everything is fine…

[V8EngParticipant @v8eng]

Posted by Henry Brown on 05/12/2020 11:04:33:

Posted by V8Eng on 04/12/2020 21:09:52:

Posted by Henry Brown on 04/12/2020 19:58:42:

She cooks my tea

I suspect not for much longer if she sees this😢

No problem, she's not referred to as "The Enemy" for nothing! We get on very well, I do as I'm told and everything is fine…

Yes I am also well aware of my place in the pecking order (and I like a quiet life)🤐

Edited By V8Eng on 05/12/2020 11:35:03

[Gary WoodingParticipant @garywooding25363]

I once heard about a person who had a cardboard box labelled "Pieces of string too short to be of any use"

[Author]

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