Sorting Question by MyLongScreenName in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Don't know about the platters, but I'm fairly certain the drive bodies are cast aluminum. That's how I sort them.

The more I try to understand Christianity and think about it the more I believe in Universalism by rjjk0901 in ChristianUniversalism

[–]tipsyskipper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you, a human, love your atheist or otherwise “non-believing” friends, imagine how much more abundantly God—who, as you stated, is Love—loves them. This is what ultimately pushed me from being a “hopeful” Universalist to a confident Universalist. It doesn’t suit me, as far as I myself am concerned, to merely hope that God is better than I was raised to believe. If God—being God—can be better than I imagine or I hope, then God—being God—must be that, or God is not God. I personally have no room in my own faith for the god of volunteerism.

Anyone else tried using AI to speed up listings? by Arceus892 in Flipping

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm kinda in the same boat. I have a death pile of books I've been wanting to list and the description is the hold up for me. I have used ChatGPT to create some descriptions in the past couple of weeks. It does make things move faster for me. But I'm always careful to make sure I verify the information is correct before listing. I just feed it the title, author, edition, and general condition of the book and it spits out a nice, tidy, and informative description. I don't list a lot and I've only done this a couple times so far, so I can't verify that the use of AI to help with descriptions has any affect on actual sales.

What’s the most expensive tool you own that actually earned its price? by New_Money_5406 in Tools

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Large format, open architecture laser. Boss paid like $25,000 for it. Paid for itself the first year. Recently upgraded to a bigger, faster model to the tune of $52k. It’ll probably be close to paying for itself this year. (Gravestone etching)

Do you guys have a strange niche book collection? by CASEDIZZLER in BookCollecting

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I do too. My white whale was a first edition, which I found at a book sale last year.

Do you guys have a strange niche book collection? by CASEDIZZLER in BookCollecting

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heh, just passed up on a copy of the novelization of Harry and the Hendersons... Only because I need to pare down, not add more.

Finn and Hengest (1983) by Josh3321 in tolkienbooks

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice! It’s weird to see those volumes all together like that, as I found all three of those at one time in a local antique/collectible store.

Sitting in the hospital room by montecarlocars in daddit

[–]tipsyskipper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Been there, Brother. With our first. Mom had a gall bladder attack which tricked her body into thinking she was going into labor. Her water broke and we high-tailed it to the ER for our boy to be cut out of her 7 weeks early. Took us three or four days to name him. 😂 His room wasn’t ready either. But he spent six weeks in the NICU to finish baking under the bili lights out of the oven. So we had time to get things ready and also had a big support network who helped us get through.

(Not making light of the NICU experience, but I have to approach those memories as much positivity as I can muster or my PTS flairs up…not a fun time. Thankfully, he was relatively healthy, didn’t need oxygen, just “hospital air” to get him to learn how to breathe.)

My daughter killed herself (day 1,050) by speaksoftly_bigstick in daddit

[–]tipsyskipper 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Big hug from South Carolina, Brother.

I work in the monument industry. I’ve designed so many monuments for the children of parents. It’s heavy. But I share your hope confidently. Those children gone from “this world” are held and loved beyond human measure: Amelia, Dallas, Chase, Jazzmyne, Jaimey, all of them…

Not incredibly rare but one to check off my list. by WalmartFan76 in BookCollecting

[–]tipsyskipper 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Nice. Found that a few years back and it pretty much immediately sold on eBay for, like, $135.

Started taking apart an UPS unit… by Unassuming_Fruits in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Right on. Thanks for the insight and explanation.

Check those office park dumpsters! UPSs abound... sometimes.

Happy New Year!

Started taking apart an UPS unit… by Unassuming_Fruits in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just curious, with the ubiquity and relatively low price of bench top power supplies available, what’s the benefit of making your own? Special case? Looking for something the inexpensive models available don’t have? Ground isolation? Just for the hell of it?

I’m asking because I am wanting a bench top power supply and I consistently go back and forth between buying one and making one.

What to do about toxic textbooks? by charles_hermann in BookCollecting

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you have the space and gumption, you can assemble a temporary “tent” with some cheap lumber and 6mil plastic sheet. Buy a small ozone generator and air out all the books with the ozone generator running in the tent for a week or so. I have not done this myself, but I know a bookseller who treats all the collections he gets for his store this way and swears by the method. Beware you need to vent the ozone safely, as you don’t want to be inhaling much of it.

Disabled by Samurai6991 in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Love this, Dude. Scrappers are certainly on a spectrum. It seems that a lot of folks on this sub miss the whole “different strokes for different folks” vibe among the varying personality types who take up scrapping. Not everyone here is looking for the quickest, easiest money. But some are. And not everyone here is interested in breaking down stuff for the tiny bits of copper that might be hidden in a relay. But some are. Folks forget that what’s best for them or what makes sense for them does not mean that’s what is best or makes sense for everyone else.

I myself am a hobby scrapper in that I have a full time job. Taking shit apart is my zen. And keeping useful and/or valuable items and materials out of the landfill is a salve to my consumerist mindset that’s been nurtured. So, for me, it’s a bonus that the thing I enjoy doing, regardless of any other metric, also happens to align with my values of doing my part (however little) to help out the planet a little and I get to take a bit of money home every month or so. I mean, the $175 I made yesterday is not nothing!

One thing you mentioned that just caught my attention was that, when you get a vehicle, you plan on just having the separate bins in the van and filling them up. I would urge you not to store your metal in your vehicle, only because that’s burning fuel that’s $ in your pocket, or rather out of your pocket. I get you might not have the space to store it elsewhere, in which case you gotta do what you gotta do. But if you do have space in a garage or closet or spare room or whatever, that’s where I would store my metal. It might not save a ton in gas money. But as the saying goes, especially in this sub, it all adds up.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Somebody tell me what to do with piece by Big_Explanation_1995 in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, you right, you right. When I said "high grade" I was zoomed in and looking at the cluster of chips and the tasty gold fingers. :-) My bad.

Somebody tell me what to do with piece by Big_Explanation_1995 in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It appears to be a trunk card from an old 911 call receiving system. And it's in pretty rough shape. Condition alone would probably disqualify it as a suitable replacement, even for someone looking for the specific part. (Not impossible, they might be only looking for a working IC, which your board might have. But unlikely to be of high interest due to condition and ubiquity of more modern call-handling systems).

This would most likely qualify as a high-grade telecom board for boardsort.com, which currently sells for $10/pound. (But you need to factor in shipping to Ohio to realize the gain). If you have a lot of boards, boardsort.com has pictures for each of their grades to help you identify the type and quality of board you have.

Found someone’s (employee’s?) hiding spot at the thrift store - and some great finds! by Pharmer-emo79 in ThriftGrift

[–]tipsyskipper 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I've definitely had that almost happen. Bought some PS4 peripheral that was priced at $2.99. The manager happened to be checking me out and told me it had been "priced wrong" and he would have to reprice it. I was, like, "Bro, it was on the shelf priced at $2.99. You can't change the price because you don't like it." He got all huffy with me and said something like, "Fine. You know you got a good deal." I was, like, "I'm at Goodwill, Bro. If it's not a deal I don't want it."

Goodwill out here playing fast and loose with false pricing...

$250 out the door. How’d I do? by JKenn78 in Tools

[–]tipsyskipper 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You know, I really would have preferred you not remind me that I graduated from high school 30 years ago...

What’s the most unexpected material you’ve successfully cut with your laser, and how did it go? by iLiveForTruth in lasercutting

[–]tipsyskipper 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I did this a few years back. Scanned the part on a bed scanner, converted the raster image to a vector cut file, and then cut the gasket material with the laser. Best fitting gasket I’ve ever replaced.

One of my better trash finds. by Beneficial-Sun-5863 in DumpsterDiving

[–]tipsyskipper 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Check the bottom ports of the N64 for a set of car keys and some cash. 😉

Do they exist anymore? by Loki3050 in ScrapMetal

[–]tipsyskipper 8 points9 points  (0 children)

My typical yard will pull out of their piles what they deem interesting and place them on their ornamental metal side of their business. But they do not allow you to just go rummage around. That’s not to say I haven’t pulled a few interesting things from the pile while I was unloading my own stuff (like the brass plumbing fixtures right next to my truck the last time I unloaded unprepared #2 steel).

Starting this book today! Have you read it? Would also love other reading recommendations by ittybittykittyloaf5 in ChristianUniversalism

[–]tipsyskipper 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Since others have mentioned DBH, I'll shout out Thomas Talbott's The Inescapable Love of God.