Saving screws, nuts and bolts..................

[enjoy the ride]

I don't have a computer desk so I got a sliding shelfie thingie that screws on the underside of my desk to hold the keyboard and mouse. A few months ago, the plastic holder upper thingie (I hope you keeping up with this technical description,) broke and I ended up propping the thing up on a little side table.
I have finally bought a replacement and took the old one off. Where upon I took all the bolts, washers, screws and nuts off to throw into my bolt box.
I used to have quite a few of these odds and ends but since I haven't been buy so much stuff, my supply of recyclible hardware is getting low. It's amazing how often I need that odd piece and find it there.
What things do you take apart to save?

 

[patandchickens]

I save all spare parts, and anything that comes easily apart from something I'm throwing out or disassembling for other parts. If it requires more than a screwdriver or pliers or two minutes, I don't generally bother unless it's something special.

Consequently I have a whole pantry cupboard down in the basement that you don't want to open without being ready to spring back out of the way of the avalanche

I have a whole bunch of those little whatchamacallits with all the million tiny drawers, bought at auction for like three bucks apiece with all of their original owners' salvaged bits and pieces of hardware intact, that I =swear= I am going to get to organizing sometime.

Also about half a dozen coffee cans full of bent but straightenable nails. Which in my defense I sometimes DO actually straighten and use.

Is there a 'hardware hoarders anonymous' group somewhere?

I also keeps all lumber cutoffs larger than about 2" square.

Pat, raised by a woodworking father who was the oldest child of a poorly-off family during the Great Depression, and has absorbed enough of the attitude that I am pretty well prepared for any Hardware Armageddon that should befall us

 

[FarmerChick]

I do save nuts and bolts from most things if they are destined for the landfill.

I do not remove nuts/bolts etc. from my scrap iron things. I get money for hauling my scrap iron to the scrapyard.....I like that!

I don't save as much as I used too....because at the barns we have over 50 zillion nuts and bolts and screws and nails etc. etc...LOL---something we always have tons of and at this point I don't bother.

Now I am in de-clutter phase. All that stuff I saved to "do something with" over the last 5 years....well if I haven't touched it then it is getting reused/recycled/given away to Goodwill or whatever before the final landfill trip.

 

[sylvie]

Lamps because much of the lamp can be made into another one.

Anything with a cord and plug gets that removed and used for projects. I have a sled that has a long electrical cord for the rope. It's strong and doesn't rot. It came off a popcorn popper.

 

[SKR8PN]

I save everything off of everything I am scrapping. Nuts, bolts, washers, screws, studs, cords, ANY piece of angle iron, no matter HOW small, comes in handy for making brackets and such. I LOVE it when I find old bed frames in the neighbors trash pile! LOL!
I also save any scrap of lumber that is of any size. My daddy was a poor carpenter and he built some of the most beautiful stuff out of scrap lumbar he dug out of dumpsters, or even old pallets!! I am not anywhere near as good as he was,but I learned enough from him to be able to build anything we need.

 

[ams3651]

my grandfather had all kinds of screws, bolts, washers, etc sorted into baby food jars with the lids nailed into the rafters in the cellar so you could see them, out of the way, sorted and easily retrieved. My dad has got buckets of assorted stuff at auctions, ive seen many at yard sales. Its always good to have a supply handy.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I think I started accumulating things like this when I moved up the hill. It was such a pain to have to drive to town for a fifteen cent screw that I did not have. A trip into town and back could waste a half of a day and lots of gas money. So I try to have little bits of lots of stuff here.

 

[StarWish624]

It is amazing how many screws/nuts/bolts/washers/nails, etc. I find while walking through shopping center parking lots. I have a collection. I sort them by size (small, medium, large, extra-large, speciality), and keep them in empty medicine perscription containers which are labeled by size of items. I also strip any of those items from anything I am throwing out. My collection is so handy. Usually you only need one of something. The Hardware stores are not only expensive, it takes time to make a trip just for one item, and often you are required to buy a bulk pack.
I think that I am doing myself AND others a favor by picking up the items. After all, they could damage a car tire, make someone fall by slipping on them, or be swallowed by a child walking by.

 

[baymule]

Oh, how I identify with this thread! My Daddy would pick up pallets off the side of the road and bring them home for me to dismantle, stack the "lumber" and straighten the nails and sort into coffee cans. While I am not that bad..........I do have a double car garage that is full of really good lumber, used tin and lots of other good stuff I've dragged out of dumpsters........yeah, I guess I AM that bad. Oh and be sure to put oil in your glass jars and coffee cans of nails and bolts to prevent rust.....

 

[Cindlady2]

I'm the one that does the building and repairs around here and I'm always fighting the family about saving hardware, scraps of wood and the like! They want to pitch it and I want to save it for future projects. It got easier when we bought this house and I did allot with my "junk"! I also made my chicken coop with almost all scrap and "junk"...... I WIN! LOL

BTW.... I've used old telephone cords and wire in lue of rope for a few things. Yes, I have a stack of pallets too... when it gets a little cooler they will be a new fence!


Good idea about the oil... or a squirt now and then of WD40.