Salvage

Just a reminder that the best deals are at the salvage yard, and the best yards are those who are selling metals by the pound, that's where you get some decent deals. If you give them a dollar for something they would have sold for 3 cents in weight, you both come out ahead of the game. Pick up a coffee for the guy, don't get in their way, and make it worth their while to have you around, you'll be amazed at what people throw away.

I have an EZGo golf cart I picked up at the Salvage yard, the guy brought it down because it had a dent in the sheet metal in a corner. He backed his trailer up, pushed it out and left...I bought it from the Salvage owner for $100, easy money for him, and a great deal for me since it is a very solid and reliable cart. I use it to pull my mower deck at Easton, it has a beer holder, a nice top to keep the sun out of your eyes, and far more comfort than a garden tractor.

Few things in life are more rewarding than finding that expensive part you were about to buy in salvage for pennies on the dollar. I found two 6309 ZZ bearings new in the box for $2 a pound at Boeing surplus.. Thank goodness I remembered that these fit the slip ring end of the 10 and 12 KW STs.

Dropping by Binford scrap metals, I found a nice box beam for the Lister gen frame, $4 beats the heck out of $100 plus I'd pay for new metal.

Monitoring temperature

Here's a trick that has paid dividends for years, See the display piece my wife leaves on top of the wood stove.

Moving  this old toaster aside reveals some little metal disks I've pulled out of electric furnace heater relays, common electric water heater contactors etc. You find these in lots of junked out stuff.

Basically what they are is a bi-metal disk, two metals fused together have different expansion rates and change from concave to convex (in this case) with a 'snapping' sound when they do it.

When I light the stove, I know things are going well when I hear these little disks start snapping when they reach (their) critical temp, the toaster helps contain them since they will eventually jump off the stove.  I also know when the stove is running low on wood, and when to add more... If I forget, the disks snap and alert me.

These little disks can be used for lots of other things... I'll leave that up to your imagination.

George B