what to start building before my picaxe arrives

manie

Senior Member
Tater:
good anology, except i *have* put a chevy engine in a ford car, and had it work quite well.
OH DEAR ! And with GM bust now you've got a good car with a "used to be excellent" engine ? OH DEAR !:rolleyes::)
 

slimplynth

Senior Member
good anology, except i *have* put a chevy engine in a ford car, and had it work quite well.

just depends on you level of skill, your open mindedness, and how well you can percieve your environment.

a really big hammer helps too
I once tried to fix a mountain bike with an hammer, it was that good a fix I ended up with a new cycle.
 

stocky6409

Senior Member
why not get an old PC eg about 1Ghz for free or for next to nothing from your local computer store. I put the word out some years ago I would take old PCs from friends/family
How many do you want doc???????
I throw the damn things ouT nearly every week!
 

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
I throw the damn things ouT nearly every week!

It's a shame there aren't easier and cheaper ways to pass things onto people who want or would use them rather than sending them for destructive recycling or landfill. The fact it usually costs to advertise to give-away is an obstacle and most charity shops won't touch electrical goods.

There are licensing and safety issues with just giving away PC's to be aware of but one option is to leave stuff 'in the street' with a note saying 'please give me a good home', perhaps a spec and contact details should a child pick it up and the parents throw a fit !

Can't use that option though where the item is not be suitable for children; some DVD's, chainsaws ;-)

Other options are offering to local homeless shelters and the like ( where all my VHS tapes went ).

I give most of my PC and hardware to a local car boot seller to sell as he wishes. In return I get a good deal on cables and other bits, but that wasn't the motive; I hate to see perfectly good 'junk' go to waste.
 

moxhamj

New Member
Re How many do you want doc???????

None right now. Shed is full. Just waiting on council approval for a new shed.

I like recycling. I was building some new picaxe boards today and harvesting components off old PC boards. It only adds slightly to the build time. At the very least, the electrolytics and tantalums are useful.
 
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papaof2

Senior Member
I throw the damn things ouT nearly every week!

It's a shame there aren't easier and cheaper ways to pass things onto people who want or would use them rather than sending them for destructive recycling or landfill. The fact it usually costs to advertise to give-away is an obstacle and most charity shops won't touch electrical goods.
Maybe we're a liitle less concerned with the safety of freebies in this former colony.

freecycle.org (groups in most US cities) is a place to "recycle" all types of items to someoe who can use them.

craigslist.org is also available in most cities and has both free and for sale sections.

I received a gas engine powered edger and gave an electric drill via the local freecycle group and I received a bandsaw from the free section of Craig's List - all these items probably have some "safety" issues, but freecycle/craigslist is safer than leaving things by the side of the road.

Another city we lived in had such reliable "gleaners" that very little stayed by the side of the road for more than a day or two.

John
 

hippy

Ex-Staff (retired)
There's http://uk.freecycle.org for the UK but it doesn't seem to have taken off as much in the UK as it has in the US. Part of that ( for me anyway ) is how it works via mailing lists and on a generally local basis.

I'd like to see a 'freeBay' run in the same style as eBay but as an altruistic service ( I guess that's similar to the free Craig's List side of things ). It's an upside-down-business though, 'sellers' shouldn't have to pay to advertise what they are giving away ( goods, services, advice, help, loan of tools ), and I don't see that 'buyers' have to be local, but must be prepared to foot the shipping costs. I cannot see any real reason sellers shouldn't be able to offer stuff in return for 'fair payment'. It's annoying, expensive and wasteful when each of us has to buy something like a forty-foot ladder for a particular job - or to pay someone who has one to do the job - and there must be many people who did buy such a ladder, now languishing in the garden, and would be only too glad to lend out and possibly recoup a bit of the outlay. It seems hard though to marry up 'those who have' with 'those who want'.

I can't think of a better project for someone who wants to set up a free Web service, and it could even make their fortune if they can insert advertising or finance it in some way without destroying its free nature.
 
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Dippy

Moderator
If electrical stuff is OK does anyone give away free amateur-level Garden Shredders?

I'm torn between a cheapish blade type (strangely called "impact" type by those annoying jargoneers), a quiet drum type (that looks like a cog wheel which crushes as much as cuts) or the new Bosch Turbine Cutter (which looks clever but is a bit more expensive and probably cost a fortune when it goes blunt or a stone gets in).
 

Dippy

Moderator
I have a mentally deranged neighbour who reported me to the local authority for a bonfire.

So I decided to mulch and rotovate - spending money to keep the peace - my usual generosity.

Here it is. A mere nothing as you can see. Some old grass cuttings. Right at the end of my garden and blowing 180 degrees away from Mad Mavis. (I have open fields behind me where the smoke is going).
 

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eclectic

Moderator
I've seen more smoke from the fag umbrella outside the local pub!

And for non-Brits:
That's the outdoor tobacco consumption area,
which complies with current regulations. :)

e
 

Dippy

Moderator
Yes, it would have had a totally different meaning (so I am told) if you had left out the word 'umbrella'.
 
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