Money Saving Tips???

[Jason]

I've intended on starting this thread for some time, Denny just forced my hand a little today.

Here are a couple things we do to save money in the shop.  Some may apply to how you work.  If you have any tips please share!

Shop towels...  The nice heavy blue ones - gone.  Replaced with paper towels from Costco.

Scrub Towels...  The cool wet ones that are really durable, clean your hands really well, and are really expensive - gone.  Replaced with bulk baby wipes, also from Costco.  For what we use them for they actually work better and are way less money.

Diapers - never mind...

I'll keep my eyes open for other things we have found to help cut back on everyday shop cost.

Have you found any way to save money in your shop?

Jason

[knifemaker3]

Diapers.....

I use the cheapest paper towels I can find, usually at Sam's club.  When cleaning things like washing the windows I use 1 cap ful of white vinegar and a small squeeze of cheap dishwashing soap.  works good to clean other things as well.  Simple green diluted works great for cleaing as well.

I only heat up the shop when I'm going out with the ventless propane heater I have on the wall....saves on heating cost.  Same with airconditioning in the summer.  Just turn them on an hour or so before going out and it's comfortable when I get there.  To keep stuff from freezing this time of the year I bring all plastisol and colorants inside and take them with me when I go out to do a pouring seasion so I don't have to keep the shop heated 24/7.

Buy the cheapest trashbags you can find or recycle wally world sacks if your trash can is small enough.

Just a couple of things I do to save money....

[kipbass]

www.pricegrabber.com put in what you're looking for and find it cheap. Once i found a Abu Revo Toro Winch less than $200. I should have bought it!

www.dvdpricesearch.com  ..I love movies!

www.luxuryperfume.com  ..smell good and do it half price...I wear Kenneth Cole Reaction, large bottle $32..vs department store $70

www.monoprice.com   ...get your home theater wire and ect here   3 foot hdmi cable $6.00..i got a bunch, works just as good as the $40+

ok so it's not SHOP stuff technically, but you can have it in your shop.

[BareKnuckleJigs]

This Thread kinda caught me off guard, so I'll just post the little that's on the tip of my head at the moment...

I keep paper towels in the shop, for whatever one would use them for, but for most things BUT Flammables, I keep/scrounge/salvage old clothing for rags...I keep a cardboard box for their storage...all "re-used".  I tear up/wear out a piece of clothing, keep it...they're good rags.  They get a bit a "mess" on them, put them in a separate box and wash them, even HAND Wash them if need-be, and they're good again.  I use some very cheap, Dollar Store Antibacterial Dish Soap to clean alot of things (like the cloth rags, ice chests) with.

To be continued...

[ctom]

Up here in MN everything is cold at this time of year, even in a heated house. Molds are not the exception. Nor are injectors. I have a chunk of, mis-colored plastic I keep in an old bowl that I heat up to working temp. First I'll fill the injector and empty it right back into the bowl a couple times. Seconf I'll fill the molds I plan to use and just leave the plastic in them for about four minutes so the heat warms them up. I do a lot of hand pours in half molds and then inject and by having things pre-heated I can all but eliminate wasted first-shots due to cold equipment.

On this same page, cold aluminum will sweat like a mad man if it is placed in an oven or on a hot plate to warm it up. The sweating will create corrosive acids in fact that will eventually pit the mold or the barrel of an injector. Pre-heating with the plastic gets rid of the sweating factor, thus ensuring long life to those expensive item.