# Dumpster find .



## mmcmdl (May 12, 2020)

Found a big old drill press in the dumpster while throwing a motor away today at work . It yanks my chain as to who dumped it . It's old iron made in the USA . My plan is to pull this out either Fri or Sat and of course I have no need for it . I also need no more paperwork . Hope to pull it tomorrow and take a pic . My feelings torwards what is going on latelty is pretty much private , as I own a job .


----------



## benmychree (May 12, 2020)

Or, does the job own you?


----------



## Superburban (May 12, 2020)

Its hard to believe it has been over 30 years since I worked at a Lowes store. Was sickening, someone would buy a grill, and not be able to assemble it, so they would return it saying a lot of parts are missing. The store would get credit from the company, and the grill would get dumped in the compactor. That was the fate of at least 1/2 of the returned items. The outside garden center was remolded, the Head office sent us a bunch of the heavy duty shelving units. We only used about 1/2 of what they sent, the rest went into a dumpster, many still strapped to the pallets. there is no doubt that we have become a throw away society.


----------



## cathead (May 13, 2020)

This throw away society mentality can't survive much longer or we all will be living in a dump or even a dumpster.

Ben Franklin was right when he said: 

*The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.*



I like the words:  refurbish  repair  remodel  rebuild  fabricate  salvage  modify  rescue & pusillanimous.  
OK, I put the last one in there just for grins. It's a cool word to know but I don't use it much....


----------



## projectnut (May 13, 2020)

mmcmdl said:


> Found a big old drill press in the dumpster while throwing a motor away today at work . It yanks my chain as to who dumped it . It's old iron made in the USA . My plan is to pull this out either Fri or Sat and of course I have no need for it . I also need no more paperwork . Hope to pull it tomorrow and take a pic . My feelings torwards what is going on latelty is pretty much private , as I own a job .



It's disappointing to see these things happen, but sometimes those types of decisions have to be made.  It could have been tossed for some very good "business" reasons. Many years ago the company I worked for rented huge warehouses to store machinery that was still in good shape, but either obsolete, decommissioned due to product changes, or excess on the production floor.  We had several million dollars in inventory.  Some eventually went back into production, others were used for parts, and some finally went to the dumpster.  We did sell some machinery to interested buyers, but only commercial buyers, not individuals.

That all went away in the late 1990's.  The tax laws changed so now assets in storage no longer depreciated.  They held the same value as they did when last in production.  As I mentioned earlier many of the machines were obsolete, just kept for their usable parts.  It was no longer feasible to pay storage fees and taxes on a 30+ year old machine that would never go back into production.  The general rule of thumb was that the cost of storage and taxes would exceed the value of the machine in less than 5 years.

All of the machines were offered to the production and support facilities at their current assessed values.  Very few were spoken for.  We had nearly $100,000,000.00 of machinery sitting there gathering dust and costing money in the form of taxes and storage fees.  Needless to say the company made the hard decision to call in the scrappers.  It took them nearly 3 months to clean out several warehouses.  No one was in favor of the decision, but it was painfully obvious the company wasn't going to loose $5,000,000.00 a year on equipment it would never put back into production.


----------



## Bi11Hudson (May 13, 2020)

I needed a tear dropping icon to add to the above post(s) but couldn't find one. Retired but fully in agreement.

.


----------



## speedybtx (May 13, 2020)

cathead said:


> This throw away society mentality can't survive much longer or we all will be living in a dump or even a dumpster.



OK,  well I am going to live in or near a lowes dumpster.  Or perhaps Academy.


----------



## graham-xrf (May 13, 2020)

So what is going to happen to this lot?
--> 




British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthasa, Quantas, and more have already laid off pilots and are "dynamically reconfiguring". When what remains of the survivors fly again, I expect the aircraft mothball spots will overflow.

It does not take much search to discover pictures of millions of unsold cars parked to rot in various places on the planet. Only around 4000 cars were sold in UK in April. Like about 95% down! The two best selling cars were the Tesla Model 3 , and the Jaguar I-Pace. Clearly there are some with pockets so deep, they can do that, no matter what goes on around them. What is going to happen to all those unsold new cars?

This is more than a "throw-away" society. Not too many weeks back, there were 20,000 aircraft in the sky at any one time. A long-haul flight can take off with 70 tons of fuel. The only place a $100Million+ aircraft can be that makes economic sense, is up in the air, for as large a fraction of time that can be contrived.

After we get a handle on this pestilence, hopefully in a way that allows me to have some retirement, I think what we get back to will be different - far into the future. There was a time when the nameplates on the lathes were made of some kind of fibre, so that the aluminium saved could be used for warbirds. Those were also desperate times, but I think the attitudes to waste were better, even before the conflict. My lathe(s) are from then, still with a purpose now, never even close to being junked.


----------



## cathead (May 13, 2020)

The problem with aircraft is that they require as much maintenance to just sit on the tarmac as to be flying.  
I think the aviation industry is in more trouble than we know as they still have to maintain the planes but have
little money coming in.  Quite likely our days of world travel are somewhat curtailed as some airlines may
become bankrupt due to lack of cash flow.  

Along the same lines, if one lets an automobile sit outside for 10 years, the tires will be shot and probably
the engine may be locked up.  On the other hand if it is driven periodically and has some care, it will
still be roadworthy in 10 years.


----------



## vocatexas (May 13, 2020)

My entire shop is made up of cast-offs narrowly saved from the scrapper. 1912 Patent Head lathe, 1917 Conehead, 1942 Model A, Walker-Turner drill press, and a mig welder bought at auction that nobody wanted to bid on. It just needed a new liner in the lead. A lot of people don't believe in 'sweat equity' anymore.


----------



## mmcmdl (May 14, 2020)

vocatexas said:


> 1942 Model A, Walker-Turner drill press,




Checked it out yesterday . This is an old Walker Turner also out of New Jersey . It even has a chuck in the spindle . It HAS to be saved .


----------



## graham-xrf (May 14, 2020)

cathead said:


> Along the same lines, if one lets an automobile sit outside for 10 years, the tires will be shot and probably
> the engine may be locked up.  On the other hand if it is driven periodically and has some care, it will
> still be roadworthy in 10 years.


Yes - One of my lathe(s) is like that. Not tackled yet, but I intend to. I expect the oil in the wicks is like some kind of crumbly goo. The remains of old gasoline in carburetters and tanks ends up as some kind of evil-smelling fine mud.

If you consider a good vehicle from (say) 1947, or even a Jeep Cherokee from 1975, if kept maintained and running, ends up owing less to the environment than any modern consumer box of plastic and metal with wheels that will be junked at less than 110,000 miles.


----------



## mmcmdl (May 14, 2020)

It found its' way home today , along with other trinkets to keep it company . Everything seems to be good on the press other than the lower locking ring is cracked . Quill and spindle are fine .


----------



## Karlito26 (May 14, 2020)

They working for the government. We had a Delta 600 drill press that was broken. I too it apart and found a gear that had prevented it from raising with the intention of machining a new part. Higher ups threw it in a dumpster. Government doesnt allow anyone to take things home. They auction thing off.


----------



## mmcmdl (May 14, 2020)

TBC .


----------



## Karlito26 (May 15, 2020)

What does TBC mean?


----------



## Old Mud (May 15, 2020)

graham-xrf said:


> Yes - One of my lathe(s) is like that. Not tackled yet, but I intend to. I expect the oil in the wicks is like some kind of crumbly goo. The remains of old gasoline in carburetters and tanks ends up as some kind of evil-smelling fine *mud*.



  Mud indeed. Taking my name in vein.


----------



## NCjeeper (May 15, 2020)

Karlito26 said:


> What does TBC mean?


To be continued I imagine.


----------



## markba633csi (May 15, 2020)

I have one just like it- a model 900. And the ring is cracked on mine too- weak point in the design


----------



## mmcmdl (May 15, 2020)

To be continued . Before and after pics !


----------



## Karlito26 (May 15, 2020)

Ok thanks! I thought I posted something against the rules!


----------



## graham-xrf (May 15, 2020)

Old Mud said:


> Mud indeed. Taking my name in vein.


Duh! Oh Man - I needed the noun!
Hereinafter the capital "M" in association with Mud means you. I will gloss over the "Old" part.


----------



## Old Mud (May 15, 2020)

graham-xrf said:


> Duh! Oh Man - I needed the noun!
> Hereinafter the capital "M" in association with Mud means you. I will gloss over the "Old" part.



  .
	

		
			
		

		
	



	

		
			
		

		
	
 .
	

		
			
		

		
	



  .


----------



## Janderso (May 15, 2020)

Score dood!


----------



## Buffalo21 (May 15, 2020)

About 8-10 yrs ago, was working in a auto parts plant, that was closing down. I bought a 1940 Round Ram Bridgeport (now the Infamous Franken-Mill), I paid in cash and had a receipt/bill of sale, the guys who paid by check for the other mill and lathe, were waiting for their receipts. I was in the process of loading, when the company president and one of their lawyers, came running down and nixed the sales. The main office said all equipment was to be destroyed, then scrapped, not sold.

After about 3 phone calls and some wrangling, I was allowed to leave with the mill, as the transaction was cash and I had a legal bill of sale, but later I got a sternly worded letter from the facility, saying if I later resold the mill, I was forbidden to use their name, either verbally or written, in regards to the mill‘s origin, before I got it.

The other buyers went home empty handed. Two days later, as I finished up the contracted boiler work, all of the other machinery was taken outside and repeatedly lifted and dropped off a forklift, until it was basically small iron chunks, that were shoveled into the scrapper’s dumpster. About a month later, I was back to go over boiler issues with the real estate agents (building for sale), when I was told, that 3 guys had been arrested for dumpster diving, the week before and later found out, the company prosecuted them to the maximum extent of the law.

The company cited liability issues and some legal mumbo jumbo in regards to long term income tax issues. They could not or would not even transfer the equipment to sister plants, out of state. About 3 yrs later the company filed for bankruptcy protection, for their plants down south, I’m not sure if they are still in business.

I been in quite a few facilities lately that were closing and it was the same spiel, nothing to be sold or given away, everything was to be scrapped, all equipment made completely unusable.


----------



## savarin (May 15, 2020)

When I was working in further education all computer upgraded equipment was placed in the dumpster and repeatedly smashed with a hammer. 
They had made it illegal to sell off cheaply.
Other equipment went to auction.


----------



## graham-xrf (May 16, 2020)

There is often huge pressure to prevent older equipment from hurting the new production. Planned obsolescence has been a feature of the car industry, and the computer industry. Why not other machinery? I can see why directors of a company they want to get liquidated might want not to have "assets" beyond a certain point in the proceedings.

Now that we have software components, we have gear that has one part number for a particular model, and another part number for one with more features, differing only in the electrons in the memory.  Unsurprisingly, one can expect it to start acting up, running slow, whatever, at about the time a new model is being urged on us. Last year's unsold cars are parked in what amounts to acreage dumps. They can hardly be seen sending new cars to the crusher!

So who now gets trouble from even "quality" white goods after about 3 years?


----------

