strantor
Platinum Member
It's been my observation that when the fruits of a human endeavor are ascribed the status of "art," they are viewed through different eyes; evaluated with a different set of criteria, and a different set of rules. There is no requirement for the work to be reasonable or adhere to any man's definition of "sense." Pretty much anything goes, and if you don't agree, then you must be one of the unwashed who doesn't understand "art." So in light of that, and the otherwise absolutely questionable details to follow, I'm calling this latest project a work of "art." To be art, I guess it needs a name, so I'm calling it "Reduce, Re-use, Recycle" and here's the end result:
Background:
1. A couple of years ago I brought home from work several shipping crates which had housed large tools that the company had ordered from Norway and Holland. The boxes were very large; a couple of them were about 13ft x 8ft x 4ft, and several more which were half that size and smaller. All of them were made of tongue and groove plank, about 5/8" thick (metric). They were just going to throw them away, and I'm a packrat, so they let me take them home on my trailer. It took multiple trips with a 20ft car hauler.
I didn't know what I would use this stuff for, but I knew that I would use it, eventually, for something. I disassembled all of the crates, and stored the tongue and groove planks in the outboard of my shop walls, on top of the purlins. The planks have sat there ever since.
2. My best friend had his house flooded during Harvey, and the whole interior was mildewed. We started gutting the house and ran out of room in the front yard for all the refuse. It was spilling over into the street and there was no reasonable estimate as to when it would hauled off. City waste services were so backed up that in some areas people's earthly possessions sat outside for months, growing mold and stinking up whole neighborhoods.
When there was no more room we started hauling anything that would burn to my house in the country because I have a burn pile. The last thing we brought were his kitchen cabinets.
I wish I knew where these cabinets came from because I would give them a shining review. They are absolutely indestructible. They are made of particle board, which in my experience, if you so much as sneeze on, it puffs up like popcorn double its original size. Well these sat half submerged for maybe 48hrs or more, no puffy. Then they sat for a couple weeks inside a dank sauna, still no puffy. Then they were mercilessly ripped off the wall and tossed into a the bed of a pickup with zero regard for their wellbeing. Then carelessly tossed from the same pickup onto the ground, doused in gasoline, and lit on fire. Once the gas burned up, the fire was out. So we doused with diesel, again once the fuel was consumed, the fire was out. I set up a propane torch to blow on a 1" area of one of the cabinets and left it there for 15 minutes; all that happened was the finish blistered.
I had no idea what I was going to do with these flood-proof, fire-proof cabinets. I don't have large waste disposal out here. I left them out in the weather for a couple weeks until the wife began complaining about their negative aesthetic value in the back yard. So I put them on a pallet and stored them in my shop, out of sight out if mind. But they have been in my way lately and since I still don't know what to do with them, I considered hanging them on a wall and using them.
I wasn't sure what to expect with the cabinets. I remember how badly we treated them, so I figured they might be beyond repair. Turns out they didn't require ANY repair. Aside from being chipped, charred, and moldy, they are in perfect shape. I can't believe it. I lifted one of these over the top of my head while standing in the bed of the truck and threw at the ground, probably 8-9 fall, and I can't tell which one it was. All of them are solid. Not even any rust on the hinges.
Since before having my shop built, I have been planning to add a 2nd insulated interior wall. Double insulation, I hope, will let me economically air condition the whole space with a couple of window shakers. I didn't want to affix these cabinets to the shop walls, only to remove them a few months (more likely years) down the road when I go to build out the interior. So I decided to go ahead and erect my first wall. I couldn't justify spending a whole lot of money just to hang some jacked up cabinets that I don't really need, just to get them out of the way. So I spent like $40 for some studs and resolved to do the rest with materials already on hand.
My friend (same friend who donated the cabinets) donated me some insulation he had left over from rebuilding his house.
I had two pieces of plywood and the tongue & groove planks. This is what I came up with.
I will extend the wall to the ceiling at some point, but for now it's just there to hold up the cabinets.
Background:
1. A couple of years ago I brought home from work several shipping crates which had housed large tools that the company had ordered from Norway and Holland. The boxes were very large; a couple of them were about 13ft x 8ft x 4ft, and several more which were half that size and smaller. All of them were made of tongue and groove plank, about 5/8" thick (metric). They were just going to throw them away, and I'm a packrat, so they let me take them home on my trailer. It took multiple trips with a 20ft car hauler.
I didn't know what I would use this stuff for, but I knew that I would use it, eventually, for something. I disassembled all of the crates, and stored the tongue and groove planks in the outboard of my shop walls, on top of the purlins. The planks have sat there ever since.
2. My best friend had his house flooded during Harvey, and the whole interior was mildewed. We started gutting the house and ran out of room in the front yard for all the refuse. It was spilling over into the street and there was no reasonable estimate as to when it would hauled off. City waste services were so backed up that in some areas people's earthly possessions sat outside for months, growing mold and stinking up whole neighborhoods.
When there was no more room we started hauling anything that would burn to my house in the country because I have a burn pile. The last thing we brought were his kitchen cabinets.
I wish I knew where these cabinets came from because I would give them a shining review. They are absolutely indestructible. They are made of particle board, which in my experience, if you so much as sneeze on, it puffs up like popcorn double its original size. Well these sat half submerged for maybe 48hrs or more, no puffy. Then they sat for a couple weeks inside a dank sauna, still no puffy. Then they were mercilessly ripped off the wall and tossed into a the bed of a pickup with zero regard for their wellbeing. Then carelessly tossed from the same pickup onto the ground, doused in gasoline, and lit on fire. Once the gas burned up, the fire was out. So we doused with diesel, again once the fuel was consumed, the fire was out. I set up a propane torch to blow on a 1" area of one of the cabinets and left it there for 15 minutes; all that happened was the finish blistered.
I had no idea what I was going to do with these flood-proof, fire-proof cabinets. I don't have large waste disposal out here. I left them out in the weather for a couple weeks until the wife began complaining about their negative aesthetic value in the back yard. So I put them on a pallet and stored them in my shop, out of sight out if mind. But they have been in my way lately and since I still don't know what to do with them, I considered hanging them on a wall and using them.
I wasn't sure what to expect with the cabinets. I remember how badly we treated them, so I figured they might be beyond repair. Turns out they didn't require ANY repair. Aside from being chipped, charred, and moldy, they are in perfect shape. I can't believe it. I lifted one of these over the top of my head while standing in the bed of the truck and threw at the ground, probably 8-9 fall, and I can't tell which one it was. All of them are solid. Not even any rust on the hinges.
Since before having my shop built, I have been planning to add a 2nd insulated interior wall. Double insulation, I hope, will let me economically air condition the whole space with a couple of window shakers. I didn't want to affix these cabinets to the shop walls, only to remove them a few months (more likely years) down the road when I go to build out the interior. So I decided to go ahead and erect my first wall. I couldn't justify spending a whole lot of money just to hang some jacked up cabinets that I don't really need, just to get them out of the way. So I spent like $40 for some studs and resolved to do the rest with materials already on hand.
My friend (same friend who donated the cabinets) donated me some insulation he had left over from rebuilding his house.
I had two pieces of plywood and the tongue & groove planks. This is what I came up with.
I will extend the wall to the ceiling at some point, but for now it's just there to hold up the cabinets.
