General opinions?

[bodrighywood]

Just curious how others feel. Most if not all of us are happy to use reclaimed wood but what about other materials.  Personally I am happy to incorporate things that I find in charity shops, boot sales, flea markets etc as well. Old jewellery stripped down for example can provide cabuchons, beads etc that can be used in a variety of ways. I use reclaimed pewter for example from tankards, ornaments etc as well as other items such as old oil lamp funnels for candle pillars and  test tubes and other glass ware for ikebana vases that need to hold water. No doubt there are the purists who feel that the craft / art should not include ready made items or recycled things, fair enough, but I am curious as to how the majority feel.

Pete

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

No wonder I can't find any of this stuff locally you have beaten me to it Pete
I do use reclaimed stuff and one of the strangest ( which I have not as yet started) is typewriter keys. When you look at the shapes of the complete key they are quite interesting, not sure how to use them so I have put them away safely until I need them, along with all the other stuff.

[Bryan Milham]

Pete,

I'm with you, I'm always looking at things in a way so that I can incorporate them into something. Car Boot sales, Charity Shops, Hobby Fairs (Beads/cards/material type shows). Anywhere and anytime I try to see what i might be able to do with strange things.

One thing I am waiting for, I have a friend who does metal detecting, I'm hopeful one day he'll find something I can use in some way.

[seventhdevil]

i buy alot of old timber that either has to be treated carefully for nails or just face the facts that there will be flaws. i had an old board of elm from a jetty or something and got 9 large blanks from it and it only cost me £20 so i'm well up for recycling old timber. i don't use the other items that you mentioned though but they are not needed within my areas of turning.

[Les Symonds]

Picasso took an old bicycle saddle and handlebars, stuck 'em on the wall and called it "Tête de Taureau" (Bull's Head), they call it art and it sells for a lot of money.

Nuff said


Les

[Roger Groom]

In response to BHT, there was recently a program on BBC, Money for Nothing, in which Sarah made a load of cuff links from the typewriter keys and they sold for megabucks. The fittings are readily available on t'internet.
Roger G

[Derek]

I attend various rallies boot fairs and the like and always on the lookout for different things. I found some glass beads the ones you fill a container with for decoration I managed to sort out quite a few that no one wanted as they had flat backs. I always have a small draw unit that I keep for such things as a just in case I need them.

[Duncan A]

There was a post recently about a bowl made with sections of aluminium profile set into resin on the rim. It was a fabulous bowl and the concept could easily be applied to all sorts of "finds".
I'm currently wondering whether some old DVD's can be incorporated into a piece of wood to give sparkly highlights - either in some sort of laminated structure or ground down to grains set into epoxy. We'll see!
Duncan

[Bryan Milham]

Picasso took an old bicycle saddle and handlebars, stuck 'em on the wall and called it "Tête de Taureau" (Bull's Head), they call it art and it sells for a lot of money.

Nuff said

Les, they knew they were buying junk, it was the Picasso name that was worth the money!

I'm currently wondering whether some old DVD's can be incorporated into a piece of wood to give sparkly highlights - either in some sort of laminated structure or ground down to grains set into epoxy. We'll see!

Duncan,

You've been beaten to it. We had a demo by Mark Hancock a year or so ago, and he did just that.

[happy amateur]

Templeboy turner made a goblet using dvds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVOwZH_8np8

Fred Taylor
Orchard-woodturners.org.uk

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

You also have to be a bit careful about what DVD's to use. Some have a coating on that shatters very easily. Others seem to be made from Ali and work really well.

[Duncan A]

Dr4gonfly - if it's good enough for Mark Hancock, it has got to be good enough me! Did Mark glue them together, or laminate with wood, or use them as a ground-down filler - or something else entirely? Sounds like a good way to use up old glue as well as old disks.

Fred T - Templeboy turner used the cases rather than the DVD's themselves, but it certainly looked like he was having fun and he seems to be into upcycling so I reckon it'll be worth seeing what else he has posted, thanks for the link

BHT - Thanks for the warning.

Duncan

[Bryan Milham]

He made a lid to a 5" box from it. Not sure I can remember the whole sequence now though, sorry.

[Duncan A]

Thanks, looks like there's a bit of experimenting to add to the list of things to do!
Duncan

[Mark Hancock]

He made a lid to a 5" box from it. Not sure I can remember the whole sequence now though, sorry.

Glad I'm not the only one with a poor memory :-). I used it as a top to a hollow form. The demo was about ways to use flat thin sections of timber up to 1 inch thick.