Upcycling

[Rhyolith]

"Upcycling" seems to be one of those hip new phrases around and about. More often than not, it means taking some old object that most people don't know anything about and turning it into something like a lamp, table, chair, etc...

Personally I hate it for a number of reasons: firstly and foremost more often than not the said object (e.g. a brass foot pump) is wrecked by the process, the job of conversion is nearly always done badly and to top it all off they seem to be able to sell these messes for absolutely ridiculous money. So the whole thing just annoys me every time I see it :evil:

I do see the other side of the of it somewhat: why sell and foot pump for £20 when you can stick and light bulb on it and sell it for £120... and you have to take into account that very few people actually want old tools, pumps, etc.... so maybe this is still better than the scrap heap.... all the same it would be nice if they at least made a good job of it #-o

Anyway thats my little rant

I wondered what the other crafts people thought of this, so whats your opinion? (If you don't know what I am talking about put 'Upcycled lamps" into google images.)

 

[Leon1984]

I am not a fan of "upcycling" which as you say is just turn an old piece of junk into some other "hip" object and place it in your home.

I am a big fan of furniture refurbishment, and am 90% through doing an old mahogany reproduction desk that was destined for the scrap heap. Have turned it into a little gem with very little money and far more unique than I could go an buy etc.

 

[dynax]

The thing that started it all off were these tv programmes like diy sos, and changing rooms the worst of them all where the " designers :lol: " tried to make something look 8) :roll: ,

 

[Keith 66]

Nothing worse than seeing a nice piece of furniture covered in crappy chalk paint, upcycled shabby chic. Yuk!

 

[thetyreman]

it's hypsters and hippies pretending they are woodworkers, they all buy mac pros, ray ban shades and go to art college, chabby chic is literally the worst of the worst woodworking, and it's part of this upcycling trend. Personally I see the people buying it as the problem, they are idiots. Occasionally though, I do see the odd thing that is quite nice and well done, but it's rare.

 

[Mangokid]

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

 

[Ttrees]

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

That light bulb moment when you experience how a properly set cap iron in a hand plane works,
must have been involved in a bad case of Chinese whispers

Ill get my coat.....

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

:shock: :shock: :shock:

HTF can this be "manufacturer refurbished"? Implies it was originally made as a lamp :roll: :roll: :roll:

Obi Wan

 

[woodbrains]

Hello,

It was a piece workers plane, so they could carry on planing during the long winter nights. A stand has been added and it has been modernised to electric light, it was originally a gas lamp. :shock:

Mike.

 

[Geordie Joe]

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

I don't know, but if it sells I'm making a set of three.

I bet the cable is just clipped to the side!

 

[Mangokid]

That light bulb moment when you experience how a properly set cap iron in a hand plane works,
must have been involved in a bad case of Chinese whispers

Ill get my coat.....

Haha! Yet to experience that myself, maybe I should buy the "lamp"

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

I don't know, but if it sells I'm making a set of three.

I bet the cable is just clipped to the side!

Sadly, someone will probably buy it. I can't bring myself to search eBay for Hand Planes since I found this - that was enough ebaying for that day...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Doesn't show whether the guitar headstock has a lamp stuck on it ... I wonder how much they'd ask for that?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

That light bulb moment when you experience how a properly set cap iron in a hand plane works,
must have been involved in a bad case of Chinese whispers

Ill get my coat.....

Haha! Yet to experience that myself, maybe I should buy the "lamp"

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

I don't know, but if it sells I'm making a set of three.

I bet the cable is just clipped to the side!

Sadly, someone will probably buy it. I can't bring myself to search eBay for Hand Planes since I found this - that was enough ebaying for that day...

A triplane, presumably?

 

[rafezetter]

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

I'm going out on a limb and saying some upcycling projects can be very good, but... I wish you hadn't posted that; "oh you SOB" were my exact words, not you Mangokid, the pinapple that made it...., I'm almost tempted to buy it to save it from it's fate, but that would reward the maker / seller and he'll do more.

 

[Orraloon]

Looked to be a perfectly good plane too. Such a waste. Almost as bad as seeing a nice old saw with a cruddy landscape panted on it.
I blame pinterest.
Regards
John

 

[Mangokid]

I wish you hadn't posted that; "oh you SOB" were my exact words, not you Mangokid, the pinapple that made it...., I'm almost tempted to buy it to save it from it's fate, but that would reward the maker / seller and he'll do more.

Ha, I actually considered starting a thread on this when I first saw it, but decided no, I would save you lot from what I had to see. The upcycling thread pushed me over the edge, sorry...

Was thinking the same thing, one of you rich woodworker needs to buy it, restore it to it's original glory, and put it on a shelf to live out it's days at least looking like it should look.

 

[Rhyolith]

... I'm almost tempted to buy it to save it from it's fate, but that would reward the maker / seller and he'll do more.

Thats the exact dilemma that was going through my head when I saw one of these at a carboot with the handle sawn off and replaced with a lamp (badly) http://www.petroliana.net/_LowRes/Large ... or_011.jpg To make it even worse he had drilled through the cylinder to stop it moving #-o :evil: However £120 meant it was out of my hands anyway :shock:

 

[John Brown]

Personally, I don't think "up-cycling" is any worse than "collecting". It irks me that the price of old planes, spokeshaves etc. seems to be going up because people want to put them on shelves and look at them. But if you look on eBay, most of the woodworking tools are listed under collectable items.

 

[g7g7g7g7]

Looked to be a perfectly good plane too. Such a waste. Almost as bad as seeing a nice old saw with a cruddy landscape panted on it.
I blame pinterest.
Regards
John

Just think of the paint as a protective layer to stop rust destroying the steel, it's preservation until the value of the saw outweighs how much value people place in the bad painting, just a waiting game.

 

[hawkeyefxr]

Which one of you did this??

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Large-Hand-Plan ... 2565368633

:shock: :shock: :shock:

HTF can this be "manufacturer refurbished"? Implies it was originally made as a lamp :roll: :roll: :roll:

Obi Wan

OMFG what an abortion ! be better off just having the plane on a shelf backlit with a small LED to show the beautiful plane off.