Do you like to "Repurpose" things?

R. Zimm

R. Zimm

Member
Location
SE Florida
I suppose I got this from my Dad in that he never threw anything away and could always cobble together a useful item from apparent junk.

This time I found on ebay the case for a battery powered guitar amp ("Legendary" Pignose) for $16.59 shipped from Oregon to Florida. Now I used to own one of these and they are still made but cost about $100 so what I wanted the case fo is to make a portable battery powered guitar amp (which I don't really need) because this case is really built like a small trunk so you can store your guitar chord and maybe a guitar tuner inside. It also has a handle on top and two pins or buttons for attaching a guitar strap and wearing it while you play walking around. How cool is that!

Anyway, even though the case is just that, no electronics or anything inside, I already have another battery powered guitar amp that is in a speaker box that really is not meant for guitar so it sounds "blah". I have already disassembled that so when the Pignose case arrives I can start working on mounting the circuit board, adding some battery holders and finding a speaker. Even if I have to buy a new speaker (I may have one that fits since of course I do not throw anything away) that would be about $30 shipped so I'll end up with a more versatile portable amp than the original Pignose for way less money plus have some fun in the process.

Here is a demo video so you know what I'll talking about. I used to own one but it only get one sound and that bores me. The amp circuit I'll put in this case will have more options.

 

Ahhh, the ol' Pignose Amp. Of course, they ain't what they used to be. Glad you have found a repurpose for your "cardboard" amp and will make a great new improvement.

I bought myself a big flat screen tv for Christmas and wanted an old console set to use as a stand. Keeerap, they are EXPENSIVE! But, with a little searching found a '50's Zenith console with radio and phonograph at a decent price nearby. Weighs a ton and took three of us to muscle it into the house. Now, I've got the lastest modern television sittin' on top of a great old one. Cool.
 
Sweet! I remember the Pignose from back in the day - I used to shuffle through Sam Ash music in NYC making up my wish list and they had a bunch of them there. I almost got one for my keyboards but decided on something a wee bit bigger, since I really didn't need the portability.

I'm a demon on re-using and re-purposing, given my minimalist viewpoint. I use old socks as dust-rags, cut-down plastic coffee cans for planters, heck, right now I'm using an old hard-drive to hold up the corner of a warped entertainment center! :eek:
 

I have a shed I keep things in :because I'll find a use for it someday". When the tree fell on our pontoon boat, I salvaged the aluminum railing and built a trailer to pull behind the mower or ATV.

I'm always finding new uses for things.
 
I repurpose a lot but nothing as elaborate as has been mentioned:)

Anything I repurpose ends up as being a useful item in the barn -- either in its original form or "slightly modified".

Hay twine is a great item to repurpose. I once macramed a plant hangar with hay twine. I've made spare reins to carry on trail rides. The repurpose list for hay twine is endless:D
 
Oh, taking about hard drives brought to mind something. When I was a computer technician I would regularly go to this distributor to pick up systems and parts. In the restroom they had a 4 inch silver hard drive plater with the hole in the middle on a nail above the sink. That was the "mirror" and I really showed how clever and goofy the staff there was.

One time I was waiting for my turn and another customer picked up a pile of parts, turned to leave and a brand new hard drive slid of the top of his pile - hit the floor flat - and slid about ten feet then slammed into the baseboard. Everyone in the store roared with laughter but the guy just walked over, picked up the drive, walked back to the counter and said "Warranty Return!" which kept the laughter going.

The guys behind the counter was laughing right with us and one just swapped out the "defective" drive for a new one.
 
I absolutely hate to throw anything away ! My mother and father went through the Great Depression, and after that, they kept and reused everything, so that is how I was brought up . If it can be fixed, I try to fix it, and if it not a fixable thing, then I try to figure out what else it might be useful for.

Hay twine, is definitely good for a multitude of things. I always saved all my old twine. And baling wire also. ( that is why we have the term "haywire", because back in the day, almost everything could be held together with baling wire or twine.) I have mended many a fence with it, and as mentioned, braided it into lead ropes and reins as well.
I save all my plastic bags from the stores, cut them up into loops, and crochet them into little rugs and dog mats. They last forever, the dogs love then, and they wash and line dry great. And I enjoy using them,every time I step out of the shower onto my little rug, knowing I have repurposed something useless into something worth having.
 
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Boo's Mom said:
Some interesting and weird things here.

http://twistedsifter.com/2012/06/creative-ways-to-repurpose-reuse-and-upcycle-old-things/


I already do the hanging shoe bag rack for Christmas tags, ribbons, etc.
Like the bike bathroom sink holder.
Click to expand...

That bike WAS weird - I suppose it only works if you don't have one of those cramped little bathrooms so common in many older urban houses.

Me, I'd be hard-pressed to fit a unicycle in the space I have for the bathroom sink.

Just a thought - using books as shelves is blasphemy. :(
 
In my era, baling wire was the necessity in the homestead. Tailpipe falling off, get the baling wire. Door hinge busted, get the baling wire. Need to hold something up, get the baling wire. Latch broken on the rabbit pen, yep, baling wire.

Have a hole in your manifold pipe? Cut a tomato soup can lengthwise and wrap around hole and hook it with, you guessed it, baling wire.

I don't think they use wire anymore. Most use twine for baling hay.
 
Back when I was driving I was never without a couple of wire coat-hangers in the trunk. They had several uses, chief among them being holding up the muffler when the cheap original-equipment hangers broke from too many pot-holes.
 
I like the idea of repurposing and feel that we should do more of it, instead of just throwing things out. I just hate having to store these items before they are repurposed.

I always hear a variation on the saying,"most middle class families are one paycheck away from bankruptcy", only I hear "anyone is just one week away from becoming a hoarder". The more things we see with repurposiing potential, the more space we'll need to store them, and I do not want piles of this garbage in or around our home.

Since I cannot stand having things waiting and gathering dust, I end up tossing many "repurposable" items. I manage to keep any good, sturdy boxes because I cover them with cloth or contact paper and use them for crafts storage.
 
I too often wonder where is the line between being practical and saving things to reuse and just plain hoarding. I do not like piles of anything sitting around either. .. dust collectors, fire hazard.
My inner Virgo organizer mind at work ..I need to know what I have, where it's at, and why in the heck I have it! So in that respect, things do get thrown out and later I regret the move.

Looking forward to a big yard sale in the fall with neighbors. Will give me time to assign a yea or nay to what should go or stay.
 
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