Upcycling

[Rorschach]

I'd much rather see something upcycled than scrapped, though I do prefer it to be with things that are not suitable for their original use.

I bought an old singer sewing machine at the car boot a few months ago, I paid a quid for it. I plan to do some kind of upcycling project with it. Some pope are aghast that I would consider cutting up a beautiful old sewing machine, but it has literally no value more than the £1 I paid. To get it into working order (assuming all parts could be found/repaired) would cost many times what a new machine would cost and even then the finish product would still be an inferior machine to many others. I have a collection of old sewing machines, they are all in working order and are used for their intended purpose so I have a good idea of what can and can't be saved. By upcycling this old machine I will save it from the scrap heap and be able to enjoy it's beauty in other ways.

 

[AndyT]

Old sewing machines like these?

I was so disappointed first time I saw a display like this and found it was a clothes shop!

(Image from this blog. and many high streets.)

 

[John Brown]

My local pub has a collection of old Singers. No joke intended.

 

[Rorschach]

Old sewing machines like these?

I was so disappointed first time I saw a display like this and found it was a clothes shop!

(Image from this blog. and many high streets.)

Better in the shop window than melted down or buried in the ground I say.

 

[Leon1984]

This is the old thing I have been "tarting up". Not sure it is an official upcycling as it's being used for it's original purpose and the people of shoreditch likely wouldn't approve!

 

[AJB Temple]

Well, sorry chaps , I am a fan of upcycling. I think All Saints are a brilliant example of it, as they use old industrial gear for shop displays, racking etc. It would otherwise be scrapped. When I was a kid the original telephones where the earpiece was on a hook, were commonly recycled into lamps. As phones they were commonplace and redundant. I see little harm.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

Well, sorry chaps , I am a fan of upcycling............I see little harm.

I agree with you AJB, I can't see anything wrong with it - as long as it's done 'tastefully' of course

Obi Wan

 

[Bm101]

Several (quite several) hours into doing up my old Meddings, I started the first spraying on the cowl and the rest of the component parts. Acid etch onto the areas I'd gone back to bare metal rubbing down ready for priming with high build.

Ahhh, I thought. That looks a bit like the sky and that. I thought of this thread (and several previous similar ones) and I had An Idea. What you might call a lightbulb moment in fact. :idea:

Why bother with all the hard work and complicated bits of getting the machine into tip top condition and working. It's a lot of graft to be honest. Plus I could save some expense on buying top coat and wet n dry.

So. I've knocked it on the head. I'm going to cut a hole in the top for the bulb and spray the rest of the drill the same. Might fork out for a bit of green airfix paint and do some grass on the base.
Also its already got a motor so I can just wire the bulb into that eh? Should be really bright light that way!
I also had the notion that if I painted one half of the bulb black I could rent it out as an Emergency Lighthouse to the Coastguard if they use it on a low gearing ratio. Genius.

(hammer)

(Disclaimer: no comment on any view on upcycling intended. )

Here's me upcycling an old and unused windscreen sunshield to prove it. :wink:

Good Weekend all.
Cheers,
Chris

 

[flying haggis]

there is one that is even worse!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-Plane- ... 0005.m1851

 

[Rhyolith]

Well, sorry chaps , I am a fan of upcycling............I see little harm.

I agree with you AJB, I can't see anything wrong with it - as long as it's done 'tastefully' of course

Obi Wan

In my mind its fine so long as the UPcylcling lives to its name and actually improves on the the original items. Thing is in most cases I see it does not... indeed the foot pumps (the ones I always see because they come up in my eBay search all the time) have usually been wrecked by the process with holes in all sorts on nasty places.

there is one that is even worse!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-Plane- ... 0005.m1851

That price tag?! :shock: It literally makes no sense.....

 

[ColeyS1]

But if people don't up cycle stuff, for instance the footpump, there would only be a really small minority of people who had the skill or even patience to restore it. They would be classed as not being worth restoring and simply thrown out. I'd rather see history....perhaps even poorly attempted efforts, than have to travel to the museum to reminisce. I like seeing it.

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[Mark A]

It seems anything can be upcycled into lamps

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[AndyT]

That try plane has the handle well off-centre, over to the right. It may well be eighteenth century. :-(

 

[Rhyolith]

But if people don't up cycle stuff, for instance the footpump, there would only be a really small minority of people who had the skill or even patience to restore it. They would be classed as not being worth restoring and simply thrown out. I'd rather see history....perhaps even poorly attempted efforts, than have to travel to the museum to reminisce. I like seeing it.

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I think this is a good point and if someone came to me with a kismet foot pump and said either this becomes a lamp or it goes to the dump, then I'd say make it into a lamp. Of course you could say that the fault is with modern consumers just not caring enough about heritage and quality, the latter of which I think is particularly true.

I do just wish these "upcyclers" would pay a bit more care to what they are doing... Its very rarely necessary to ruin old objects to use them for a lamp or whatever and the only reason they are ruined is because the "upcycler" is not thinking about what they are doing or how they are doing it. Indeed I am rarely convinced the ones I come across care about anything but profit... (apologies to any here who actaully do care about making a quality product).

Thats it really, to me its a trade of money obessed dealers with no real practical skills taking advantage of the latest gimmick and ruining a load of industrail heritage in the process. Again, I am sure there are some exceptions who treat the objects with repect and produce quality products, I just think they are in the minority.

That try plane has the handle well off-centre, over to the right. It may well be eighteenth century. :-(

Please no, I am grumpy enough about this already. :evil:

 

[rafezetter]

there is one that is even worse!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-Plane- ... 0005.m1851

Actually, that's not that bad - it'll make light work of any jointing you need to do and you'll be able to see clearly while doing it....

 

[AndyT]

there is one that is even worse!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-Plane- ... 0005.m1851

Actually, that's not that bad - it'll make light work of any jointing you need to do and you'll be able to see clearly while doing it....

Joking aside, is it a useful or practical light in any way at all? It's just a bare bulb on an oversized, unwieldy base. Without a shade, it will either be too bright to look at or too dim to illuminate anything else. It can only go low down or on a shelf. You can't direct the light. It would be no good to read by. The price is outrageous, given that the "maker" will have spent under £10 on the materials and has needed minimal skill to assemble it. I'd have no confidence that the wiring was done properly. I wonder if it is CE marked?

 

[Bm101]

Given the fact I've knocked out 38 of these since seeing the money this shi*e goes for since this thread started I don't think we need to involve the elektrakal authorities too much Andy tbh. 150 quid odd a pop? Makes me wonder if I'm fool for working for a living tbh when people will pay that for what, 10 minutes work? Who exactly is the silly person. The mugs buying it or me getting up at 4 in the morning to knock my pipe out hanging off a rope cleaning windows. Makes you wonder. *grumpy face

 

[Rhyolith]

there is one that is even worse!!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wooden-Plane- ... 0005.m1851

Actually, that's not that bad - it'll make light work of any jointing you need to do and you'll be able to see clearly while doing it....

Joking aside, is it a useful or practical light in any way at all? It's just a bare bulb on an oversized, unwieldy base. Without a shade, it will either be too bright to look at or too dim to illuminate anything else. It can only go low down or on a shelf. You can't direct the light. It would be no good to read by. The price is outrageous, given that the "maker" will have spent under £10 on the materials and has needed minimal skill to assemble it. I'd have no confidence that the wiring was done properly. I wonder if it is CE marked?

Had one of these gifted to me a while back, it shorted itself out within a few months... Don't know how as the wiring is far from complicated (not even an on/off switch.

 

[heimlaga]

I am very much against this "upcykling" trend. Essentially it is all about downcykling.

Way too often the downcyklers destroy a perfectly rebuildable and perfectly practical tool or machine or piece of furniture with generations of use left in it only to downcykle it into a trendy lamp or lawn decoration which ultimately will be binned within a couple of years when the hipster owner gets tired of it and jumps onto the next decoration trend.

 

[ColeyS1]

Just saw this bad boy !

Just awesome

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