Dump Finds: Rayo Lamp, Typewriter
Jake von Slatt — Mon, 05/26/2008 - 09:19
As of late last year we were banned from pulling items for our town dump's metal and wood recycling bins. The stated reason was 'public safety' but it was fairly clear from the expressions on the faces of a few of our town's selectmen during the discussion that the whole idea of 'taking things from the garbage' was abhorrent to them.
One of them related the story of seeing some folks remove a 'soiled mattress' from one of the dumpsters. He feared that the town could be held liable for 'disease' if this form of reuse were allowed to continue.
While we generally love and respect the Victorians and their technology here at the Steampunk Workshop, we do think that our public officials need to have a more modern understanding of epidemiology.
Truth is, that those folks were very likely local farmers taking that mattress to pad the stall of a sick or birthing animal - and now that resource is no longer available to them.
Fortunately, we still have a shipping container called the 'Swap Shop' where people can leave interesting and useful items. That's where I found this lovely Rayo mantle lamp. Its complete save for replaceable items like the wick, chimney and mantle. It looks as though it can be put into operation with only a few minor repairs. Also found last week was this Woodstock typewriter and these pieces of upholstery fabric.
Thank you to those thoughtful folk who placed these items in the Swap Shop rather then throwing them into the recycling bin where they would have been lost forever.
Friends of SPWS:
Projects
LCD Monitor
Light Switch Plates
Wimshurst Machine
MAC Mini Mod
Altoids Tin Etching
Lightbox
Guitar Amp
Lyra's Lamp
Shop Respirator
Etching Brass
Flash Diffuser
Bus Conversion
All-in-One PC
Motorbike
Etch Machining
iPod Etch
Headphone Mod
Steampunk Strat
Telegraph Build
Steampunk Car
Trilobite Etch
Kerosene Lamps
Trailer
Contact
- Twitter: Jake | Meredith
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- Meredith's Blog
- Meredith's Etsy Store
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- Email Jake: jake@vonslatt.com
- Email Meredith: satiredun@gmail.com
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Dump Treasures
Bassflyer — Mon, 05/07/2012 - 11:59I miss the days when I could load-up a few 'treasures" after unloading a truck load of crap at the local landfill.
Beach chairs, picture frames, firewood ..... yes, I miss those days!
The Joys of living with the 'rents...
Hyratel Wyvern — Thu, 07/09/2009 - 15:08I found myself pointed to this site (or maybe it was a random find - I forget) some time ago, before you'd started work on STMPNK car. I live in a light suburban area, and I live on a corner lot so my back yard is not suitable for parts storage. (This makes me sad.) However, I have made contact with a friend who has a barrel and enough cash to make a 3-battery, 3kW UPS unit. If you would like to see my CAD mockup, I am more than happy to share pictures
Freecycle can be useful...
Technogeek — Fri, 02/06/2009 - 00:14... as a place to look for "someone rescue this before I toss it in the trash" items. (Hey, I used it to unload a fully functional and fairly recent fridge...)
Some neighborhoods have developed the unofficial custom of putting out "interesting" items a day or two before trash pickup, to encourage neighbors to grab 'em. There's a risk of them being ruined by weather, of course, but I've seen folks put out (and pick up) everything from building supplies to furniture to working electronics.
Which reminds me, I still need to refinish that dresser.
Steampunk Recycles
morgansher — Wed, 06/04/2008 - 13:30As I'm a fan of yours and have already added Steampunk Workshop to my blog's Good Links, I've written a new blog linking to this so that people will know that there are other uses for their old machines, tools, toys & etc rather than consigning them to the recycler's mills or dumps.
http://morgansher.blogspot.com/
Glad I Found You!
ceek — Tue, 05/27/2008 - 14:50So I'm totally behind the curve here, having just found out about the term "Steampunk" this week. But I feel as though I'm finally vindicated...always pointing in movies and trying to describe to my friends why I like some piece of gear. They respond with blank stares. BUT NOW I HAVE A TERM! And better yet a community!
THANK YOU!
ceek
Treasures
monda — Mon, 05/26/2008 - 17:32I'm glad you rescued the typewriter. A Woodstock, no less! These are not the type of dump-goodies I'd find around here.
I just rescued an Underwood Noiseless behemoth and couldn't be more pleased. After I pick her up form the shop tomorrow, I'm posting the "after" pictures at http://freshribbon.blogspot.com.
Keep diggging in the trash!