Upcycled/repurposed projects (MANY)

[Mickey328]

One very much like that was featured recently on "You Live In A What?" I don't recall which cable channel it was on but it was quite interesting. They'd used 6 containers, so the place was pretty danged big.

 

[Joel_BC]

This shows and discusses a chicken-watering system developed by Rebecca Nickols.
http://communitychickens.blogspot.ca/2012/07/product-review-chicken-fountain.html#.UHBsVhiQw7B

This set-up is intended to use water efficiently (important especially in drought-stricken regions) while providing poultry with clean, cool water. The DIY'er can make a water container/distributor device by repurposing available plumbing components.

Most of these components are readily available PVC parts (white pipes, etc.). Looks to me like they are the kind of parts used for under-floor toilet plumbing - lengths of pipe, Y-connector, end caps, etc. In addition, "drip heads" (also called "poultry drippers") - available from farm-supply outlets - are employed to keep the water easily available to the birds. Almost all of the plumbing parts serve, together, as a fairly sizable water reservoir.

 

[~gd]

I dont know about Canada but the nipple system has been used by commercial chicken farmers for years, both egg farms and meaties. There isnt room for a water dish in cages and even those that free range finds this works better. Supplements and water soluble meds can be added to the supply water.

 

[Joel_BC]

A really interesting 28-minute Youtube video about a guy in Oregon who has adapted existing equipment to be driven by stationary-bike type energy sources. "Pedal-power" stuff. A blender driven by pedal power. A water pump similarly driven. Also, a grain mill. And an electric generator driven by pedal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzqJS_EJV94&feature=g-all-u

He's repurposed an electric motor to be an electric generator. He's also repurposed a variety of parts from other machinery to work as a variety of needed components.

Great examples and a very cool introduction to the realm of home designed/fabricated pedal power.

By the way, they point out that it's not at all hard to power a laptop computer with the generator set-up. That's simple, really, because the generator is shown actually driving an angle grinder... I was impressed by that!

 

[Joel_BC]

Here's a video introducing the idea of building walls and floors for buildings, using sand-packed plastic bottles as the shells that give the bricks form. Building with these bricks then involves mortar. Then the inside and outside walls (not yet shown in the litttle illustration I'm posting) get a smooth coat of plaster... in the case of the floor, looks like they've been finished over with concrete.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPxXH7rCSHQ

The project is a schoolhouse. Watch the short vid to the end - you might be amazed at how good-looking the finished building is.

 

[Joel_BC]

Here's another guy who is really doing it. Builds shelter out of recycled stuff. Lots of imagination and practical creativity, upcycling materials like wine corks (for comfortable flooring) and picture-frame portions (for an amazing ceiling), pickle plates for optical windows!! He helps people to build their own low-cost homes, and has won some international recognition.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Std5taGTP6I&feature=related

Up-cycling, to be sure. No end to his imagination and adventurousness.

 

[Joel_BC]

This is a very interesting DIY/repurposing idea.

Here's the step-by-step explanation, with pictures:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Quick-made-hand-cranked-compost-shredder/?ALLSTEPS

Probably it'd be pretty slow, but I bet it would work (with stuff up to a certain diameter... seems like it would work with corn stalks, for instance). I can't figure at the moment where I'd get a large-diameter drill bit like the one used in this design. Maybe a Kijiji ad would bring more of a response than I tend to imagine.

 

[Joel_BC]

Yet another creative repurposing of common components. This one is a "trommel screen" sifter made from parts like a metal barrel, old bicycle wheels, a 1/4 hp electric motor, pulleys, casters, etc.

Intended for sifting soil, gravel, compost.

There's a video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KYzkoOZUgh8

and a page of text explaining the parts used and how the tinkerer put it together...
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/homemade-rotary-trommel-screen.php

 

[Joel_BC]

A friend on another forum posted today about this very interesting DIY project. The guy featured has built his own garden tractor inspired by an old article from Mechanics Illustrated - the original MI issue was published in 1960, and the parts called for seemed to have come from the 1950s and earlier. The home-based fabricator/mechanic updated the plans, and used a 9hp Briggs engine (like an over-sized lawnmower motor) and a lot of parts from the junk yard. This is some deep DIY stuff!

Here's the article that explains the project:
http://www.longwood.edu/staff/riderkb/tractor/index.htm

Here's the video showing the tractor in motion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lDnSH-_Afg

And here's one of the tractor after the builder added a three-point hitch mechanism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giMn_fxLeHs

 

[Joel_BC]

I've not included much in the way of car-project posts here... Tons of creativity have gone into customizing or modifying cars but basically, for me, too many car projects are "look sharp" or "go fast" rather than donw-to-earth and practical. But I was recently reminded of a kind of repurposing that I've seen in Mexico. Down there, the early-style, rear-engine Volkswagen (the "beetle" or "bug", as people call them) continued to be made after the 1970s, when it was discontinued in Europe and North America. Guys have sometimes adapted these compact fuel-efficient cars for purposes other than transporting a driver and one to three passengers. There's some real creativity in some of what's been done.

This picture shows one of the variants (I've seen several done like this). It's a beetle made into a van, via creative body work. As I say, I've seen these in Mexico. They can haul a fair load, and protect it from wind, rain, and theft. These modified cars more compact than a manufactured Volkswagen van or "micro-bus" (which was the Type 2 VW), and more compact than most modern small vans. I'd guess they're better on fuel too, because of light weight and because the beetle front retains the streamlined shape.