Salvaging Components---Where Do YOU Get Them?

[Too_Many_Tools]

When building somethng like a CNC machine, robot or automatic beer
dispenser, many of us reuse components from many different sources that
we find surplus....in dumpsters, junkyards, scraping older machines,
thift stores, etc.

So where have YOU found your reuseable mechanical and electronic
components and what were they from?

And most importantly of all, what have you built?

TMT

 

[[email protected]]

When building somethng like a CNC machine, robot or automatic beer
dispenser, many of us reuse components from many different sources that
we find surplus....in dumpsters, junkyards, scraping older machines,
thift stores, etc.

So where have YOU found your reuseable mechanical and electronic
components and what were they from?

And most importantly of all, what have you built?

TMT

I always enjoyed poking about at P&D surplus in Kingston, NY.
Wonder if they're still there?

Dave

 

[Ignoramus5429]

My source is mostly unsold military surplus equipment. These pages use
such equipment in the most prominent role.

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Garage-Heater/

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/17.5-Phase-Converter/

http://igor.chudov.com/projects/Pullup-Bar/

I use very little stuff from dumpsters, and that mostly from nice
dumpsters like big government sponsored laboratories. Not from
dumpsters behind apartment complexes.

I try to avoid consumer goods of any kinds as source of parts.

i

 

[Allodoxaphobia]

I always enjoyed poking about at P&D surplus in Kingston, NY.
Wonder if they're still there?

I recommend OEM Parts in Colorado Springs. Just _browsing_ the isles
will take you 2-3 hours. To pick up, look over, and place back
interesting junque you see will add another 2 hours to your visit.

Jeff Jeff Duntemann describes it quite well on his website:

http://www.duntemann.com/december2005.htm#12-30-2005

They also have an eBay store that I did not know about. (But, then,
now-a-days *everybody* has an eBay store....)

http://stores.ebay.com/OEM-Parts-Inc

A brief look over their eBay store merchandise doesn't EVEN BEGIN to
convey how much Really Good Crap they have there.

In the last 10 years they've moved twice within Colorado Springs -- each
time from a defunct grocery store to a yet-larger defunct grocery store.
I never got to see them do a move. THAT would be something a feller
could tell to his grandchildren!

My wife knows she won't see me for the whole day when I head out on
the 50 mile drive up there.

HTH
Jonesy

 

[Wayne Lundberg]

When building somethng like a CNC machine, robot or automatic beer
dispenser, many of us reuse components from many different sources that
we find surplus....in dumpsters, junkyards, scraping older machines,
thift stores, etc.

So where have YOU found your reuseable mechanical and electronic
components and what were they from?

And most importantly of all, what have you built?

TMT

It's getting tougher and tougher as manufacturing goes offshore. A few years
ago I worked at Rohr Ind. making aircraft nacells and the like. All surplus
stuff went to the one acre salvage yard open to all on Saturdays. I still
have stuff hanging from the rafter of stuff that one day will be used.
Bearings, shafts, wheel, brackets, metal parts of all kinds. And even then
there were two major salvage operators in the San Diego area where I could
pick up anything from slides to motors to bekers, to resistors and anything
in betwen.

About all we have left no days are the auto junk yards where windishield
wiper motors, window motors, solenoids, starter motors and the like can be
had for good prices. But the good old days of scrounging the industrial
salvage yards are gone. I now use McMaster Carr and say to hek with saving a
nickel or dime when all I need to do is place an order by email and have the
part next day. Speed has replaced cheap.

Wayne

 

[[email protected]]

Myself, as a humanoid robotic/animatronic builder only use components
that can be had
in quantity-All of my projects rely on the same steppers with different
gearing for each
joint/movement. In most cases, only the external features change all
that much, so It is
simply not feasible to re-invent the wheel for every new scrap that
comes along. I do often locate a useable item in online surplus, and
hoard as many as possible, which helps with costs.

Mark

 

[Franc Zabkar]

When building somethng like a CNC machine, robot or automatic beer
dispenser, many of us reuse components from many different sources that
we find surplus....in dumpsters, junkyards, scraping older machines,
thift stores, etc.

So where have YOU found your reuseable mechanical and electronic
components and what were they from?

And most importantly of all, what have you built?

TMT

Silicon Chip magazine has a dedicated salvage column:
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/search/index.html?scope=&keywords=salvage+it&Search=Search

Otherwise here in Australia we have surplus outlets such as ...
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/

Here's a CNC machine:
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/images/k142_1049.jpg
http://www.oatleyelectronics.com/kits/cnc_machine.htm

"Most of the bits and pieces, motors, power supplies, mains socket and
switch, opto switches were recycled from the German printers that
Oatley Electronics once sold".

"The basic structure of the machine was made with off-cuts of various
aluminium extrusions and some recycled linear bearings from some old
photo processing equipment".

- Franc Zabkar

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

I've noticed that also...the more manufacturing goes off shore, the
less quality surplus there is.

Boeing Surplus is a good example of this trend.

I have also noticed that the consumer goods available today offer
little to salvage even as the volume of the goods headed towards the
landfill increase.

TMT

 

[Gordon McComb]

I've noticed that also...the more manufacturing goes off shore, the
less quality surplus there is.

Boeing Surplus is a good example of this trend.

I have also noticed that the consumer goods available today offer
little to salvage even as the volume of the goods headed towards the
landfill increase.

There are actually three other reasons there is less industrial/military
surplus these days, and at least for military surplus offshore
production isn't one of them:

1. The gobment is mandating more and more of the "retired" components be
destroyed, rather than liquidated, because of its sensitive security
issues. Even when there are no secret mechanisms to protect, the gobment
feels certain individuals could purchase Uncle Sam's discards to use in
terrorist devices.

2. The core materials in some of this stuff is worth more as salvage
than as surplus, and the money gets paid faster. Prices for copper is
going through the roof.

3. New state and federal laws regarding disposition of anything with
lead has surplus dealers not as willing to purchase palettes of
miscellaneous junk. They used to just throw the extra stuff out; now
they can't do that, because of the lead content in everything including
old IBM PC motherboards. They have to pay to have it recycled.

-- Gordon

 

[Ignoramus5429]

There are actually three other reasons there is less industrial/military
surplus these days, and at least for military surplus offshore
production isn't one of them:

1. The gobment is mandating more and more of the "retired" components be
destroyed, rather than liquidated, because of its sensitive security
issues. Even when there are no secret mechanisms to protect, the gobment
feels certain individuals could purchase Uncle Sam's discards to use in
terrorist devices.

I see about same quantity of military surplus stuff as before, and at
no worse prices.

As for "sensitive security issues", I am begging people to take my
submarine navigation equipment from Ohio and Los Angeles class
subs. For free. I bought this from the military itself, as part of my
buying/selling surplus stuff, and could not sell.

So, if you want submarine pieces for free, stop by and pick them up, I
am west of Chicago. (yes, I already posted to craigslist anf freecycle)

http://yabe.algebra.com/~ichudov/misc/ebay/SubmarineSwitch-2/

(US citizens only plz)

These would make nice outdoor boxes for whatever you might fancy.

i

 

[William Wixon]

(posting from r.c.m.)

LOL. funny to see "P&D surplus" here. (international newsgroup, P&T is
local to me) yeah, they're still there. there's always controversy about
the name though, people always debating if it's "P&D" or "P&T". just looked
in the phone book, i guess he changed the name, "P&T Surplus 198 Abeel St.
Kingston NY (845) 338-6191" he's a good guy, gave me a break/discount
multiple times, i think he has his gearmotors at too high a price though.

 

[Andrew Schwartz]

Any Place like this inthe Northern Virginia / Washington DC area?

 

[Ron Moore]

We have several industrial surplus companies in our area. There are also
several manufacturing resources in the area to furnish fodder for these
companies. Lucent (deceased), Seagate, Hitachi and other smaller companies
produce a wealth of materials. One reason we now live in a warehouse is my
"familiarity" with these companies. The main one (over 100,000 sqft under
roof) has one area just for salvaging industrial equipment. Several years
ago, Hitachi closed a production line and it went to salvage there. After
the assembled equipment was found not marketable as such, I spent many
evenings, weekends and spare time disassembling the devices and bought
parts. Servo motors, lots of bearing rail, ball screws, manufacturing
process camera equip, a pot-load of aluminum unistrut type material, stepper
motors and controllers, plc's and lots of misc, etc and-so-on stuff (even
micrometer air cylinders) were included. Lots of little CNC devices have
come from the old Seagate plant. Got a nice x-z Daedal (6x12) positioner
with Parker/Compumotor drive. Got another nice xyz with rotation unit that
has a Galil controller and all servo drives. Anyone like Galil and C++
programming? Not I. Did some trading for some old Intelidex robot arms and
controllers and if anyone knows ANYTHING about these guys, we need to talk.
I've found nice DC motors and controllers on paper shredders and treadmills.
Hospital surplus is great for this stuff. Got a fairly complete CT table
and controller cabinet with several DC motors, b-rails and ballscrews, etc,
at one place. Now, what have I built? Mostly an accumulation to draw from
when we finally get our house sold and settled here. I have been able to
help some local friends with their projects, though.
Respectfully,
Ron Moore

 

[mc]

We have several industrial surplus companies in our area.
Where?

There are also several manufacturing resources in the area to furnish
fodder for these companies. Lucent (deceased), Seagate, Hitachi and other
smaller companies produce a wealth of materials. One reason we now live
in a warehouse is my "familiarity" with these companies. The main one
(over 100,000 sqft under roof) has one area just for salvaging industrial
equipment. Several years ago, Hitachi closed a production line and it
went to salvage there. After the assembled equipment was found not
marketable as such, I spent many evenings, weekends and spare time
disassembling the devices and bought parts. Servo motors, lots of bearing
rail, ball screws, manufacturing process camera equip, a pot-load of
aluminum unistrut type material, stepper motors and controllers, plc's and
lots of misc, etc and-so-on stuff (even micrometer air cylinders) were
included. Lots of little CNC devices have come from the old Seagate
plant. Got a nice x-z Daedal (6x12) positioner with Parker/Compumotor
drive. Got another nice xyz with rotation unit that has a Galil
controller and all servo drives. Anyone like Galil and C++ programming?
Not I. Did some trading for some old Intelidex robot arms and controllers
and if anyone knows ANYTHING about these guys, we need to talk. I've found
nice DC motors and controllers on paper shredders and treadmills. Hospital
surplus is great for this stuff. Got a fairly complete CT table and
controller cabinet with several DC motors, b-rails and ballscrews, etc, at
one place. Now, what have I built? Mostly an accumulation to draw from
when we finally get our house sold and settled here. I have been able to
help some local friends with their projects, though.
Respectfully,
Ron Moore

 

[pogo]

Where did the Hospital surplus stuff come from ? A dumpster ?
Formal sale ?
Thanks !

 

[Hamad bin Turki Salami]

So where have YOU found your reuseable mechanical and electronic
components and what were they from?

There are some thrift stores where I live that sell used computers
for between $5 and $15. They range from 486's to Pentium III's,
as well as old Mac's. Most of these machines work, but I don't
need old computers, so I buy some for salvage parts. In a couple
of lucky cases, I've been able to use some of the parts to repair
broken music synthesizers. They also get millions of power supplies,
cables, and such junk there. I once picked up a pretty nice bench
power supply for a few dollars, and I got an oscilloscope too once,
some scientific calculators, etc.

And here's a sort of negative answer ... When I was a teenager
I had a string a terrible, frustrating jobs. One of them was doing
inventory in a warehouse for electronic and mechanical parts.
There were thousands of neat little parts in this place and my
job was to keep counting them. I also had to pull the parts that were
discontinued. So one day I'd pulled a whole bunch of these nifty
little things -- motors, LEDs, connectors, etc. -- and I asked the
supervisor where they were going. "We incinerate them when
they're discontinued," he answered. "Incinerate them? Well, can
I take them if you're just going to burn them?" I asked. "No,"
he answered without explanation. I remember thinking what a
big, stupid dufus this guy was, and how I'd never get anywhere
with him, but I went ahead and asked him why I couldn't take
them. "Because they're patented," he said. When I pointed out
to him that this had nothing to do with anything, he turned
around and shouted in a booming voice to the guy who dealt
with the incinerator, "Hey, Joe. We've got some discontinued
stuff here. Come get it and make sure it burns."

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

Living in a warehouse surrounded by "GOOD stuff"....sounds like heaven
on Earth for those of us who love to build "stuff". ;<)

TMT

 

[CJT]

There are some thrift stores where I live that sell used computers
for between $5 and $15. They range from 486's to Pentium III's,
as well as old Mac's. Most of these machines work, but I don't
need old computers, so I buy some for salvage parts. In a couple
of lucky cases, I've been able to use some of the parts to repair
broken music synthesizers. They also get millions of power supplies,
cables, and such junk there. I once picked up a pretty nice bench
power supply for a few dollars, and I got an oscilloscope too once,
some scientific calculators, etc.

And here's a sort of negative answer ... When I was a teenager
I had a string a terrible, frustrating jobs. One of them was doing
inventory in a warehouse for electronic and mechanical parts.
There were thousands of neat little parts in this place and my
job was to keep counting them. I also had to pull the parts that were
discontinued. So one day I'd pulled a whole bunch of these nifty
little things -- motors, LEDs, connectors, etc. -- and I asked the
supervisor where they were going. "We incinerate them when
they're discontinued," he answered. "Incinerate them? Well, can
I take them if you're just going to burn them?" I asked. "No,"
he answered without explanation. I remember thinking what a
big, stupid dufus this guy was, and how I'd never get anywhere
with him, but I went ahead and asked him why I couldn't take
them. "Because they're patented," he said. When I pointed out
to him that this had nothing to do with anything,

Maybe they hadn't yet paid a royalty on the parts that came due
upon use or sale.

he turned

 

[mc]

supervisor where they were going. "We incinerate them when they're

Maybe they hadn't yet paid a royalty on the parts that came due
upon use or sale.

That makes a great deal of sense. What were they manufacturing? Stereos
with Dolby, perchance?

 

[John Nagle]

As for "sensitive security issues", I am begging people to take my
submarine navigation equipment from Ohio and Los Angeles class
subs. For free. I bought this from the military itself, as part of my
buying/selling surplus stuff, and could not sell.

That's not the gyrocompass. It's the switch to select which gyrocompass
drives the repeater. That's not a security-related item.

John Nagle