Salvaged Rods From Some Printers

Glad I'm not the only one that did that. Drove the parents nuts. :)

I have my old laser printer waiting for me to get time to tear it down for the rods and any other parts that look useful.
 
I currently have 1 pc tower, 2 printers, a dvr unit(assuming there may be some usefull parts in it) 1 microwave and 1 compressor driven dehumidifier that im hoping to scavenge the compressor to convert into a small vacuum pump. The various small parts i scavenged from the garbage day pickups have saved the day more then a few.times.over the years as i was able to dig thru my scrap bin to find a part to repair something th as has quit working.... the last example was replacing the switch in the pool filter pump that burned out on the morning of my sons Bday pool party which in on memorial day which meant stores were closed! So a $1 part would have most certainly ruined my boys party had i not taken the time to recycle the broken equipment by stripping it of any known GOOD parts that I would very likely have a need for at some point.
 
I've made a couple master tools using printer rods. They are generally hard, straight, and often chromed. The centers are typically soft and drill easily. They make handy drill extensions. ;)
 
I salvaged a 4' by 3/4" shaft from a big plotter we were junking, only to find out a year later that it wasn't solid, but a composite built up on a 5/16" steel shaft. Still sat in my stock pile, though looking considerably less useful :(

1547727396685.png
 
I take transformers and the little micro limit switches from microwaves every chance I get. If I see one sitting by the side of the road I stop and get it. It drives my wife nuts. She says "oh my God, not again" and hides her face while I do it, even if we're 50mi from home, as if someone she knows will recognize her and she'll forever be know as the woman who is married to a dumpster diver. I find it entertaining.

Last month we were coming home from somewhere and my next door neighbor had a big stovetop range microwave sitting out by the road. She turns to me and says "NO. Absolutely not!" I let her have her way. I let it stay where it was. Until just before midnight when I went out for a smoke and brought the hand truck with me. In the morning she took the kids to school, (noticed the microwave missing) I and went to my shop to take it apart. I opened it up to find that it's one of the newer inverter types with no useful transformer. I salvaged the limit switches, power cord, and stove exhaust fan, and after she got home and went in the house I wheeled it back over to the neighbor's lawn and put it right back where I got it. She left the house around lunch time and saw the missing microwave, right back where it used to be. She calls me and... well I think you can see where this is going. It took a while for her to accept that nobody had seen me do that.

FYI microwave transformers are very handy to have, for any electrical/ electronic project you might have. They are very easy to re-wind for any voltage you need.
 
What kind of steel are those printer rods? Stainless?
mark
 
Not sure, but I don't think they're stainless. I turned and parted one off yesterday as a test, and it machined like butter. Nothing
like stainless. I seem to remember someone else asking that question and nobody knew the answer, though hopefully someone
will.
 
I thought someone determined they were stainless?? A few weeks ago.
Ha, I remember taking apart one of the lawn tractor sprinklers when I was about 4 years old. "How does this thing work?"
The problem, it was our neighbors house.
The guy came home from work, I'm in the front yard with his tools and the sprinkler, while my brother was in the guys backyard checking out his crosscut saw on a newly planted tree.
Most of you guys and gals took things apart right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top