Thought I would start a scrounging thread... It is something I have been doing more and more of lately (scrounging, not starting threads). Seeing how money is not stretching as far. I have a stack of bins which is getting more and more complete. Meaning... anything that I read about on this forum, or elsewhere, I can find most things in my stash.
Not really sure where to post this, I decided here would be safest. I think it would be cool if there were a place either on the forums or on the playground that is a listing of various gizmos and the stuff that is inside them. I know that several sites have a how to scrounge, or introduce the concept, but no real collective for folks to find that mystery piece that they really feel no need pay full price when they could pull it from something sitting within reach.
I bring this up a little proud or this weekends events. I needed some steppers, So, I went to a garage sale. i was on the hunt for scanners and printers. Dust and a couple of cobwebs are your friends. You know the item is not their beloved printer. I asked about a couple old HP inkjets marked 5 & 7 dollars. He did not know much about them. I noticed that one did not have cables or plugs, so I asked and got both for 5$.
Then elsewhere, I also picked up 2 elbow lights (the kind that you can move into place like the magnification glass) and a crepe maker which I hope i will be able to use for a reflow plate (smaller than a full blown electric skillet)
So, I got home and pulled the printers apart. In the older printer there were 2 very nice steppers, plus a whole mess of killer hardware. Springs, rubber grippy rollers (robot wheels), gears, gears and more gears. Electronics... several slot detectors and photo sensing shtuff.
In the other printer had 4 very nice motors, one with an optical wheel on one side and a gear on the other. So the point... for 5 bucks, I went home with my steppers. Scrounging is not hard, it is actually fun. In a time when we are trying to keep stuff out of land fills, this is a great way to reclaim that which would ultimately get tossed.
I think that enough of you have pulled something apart and were surprised what you found. Post it. If we can get enough stuff listed together, then perhaps it would prove a good item for the wiki. We will all increase the size of our kits, and world peace will prevail. Well perhaps not, but, I mean how else are we supposed to pull off a MacGyver and find the flux capacitor in a blender, all the while, amazing all your friends and loved ones.