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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Gippsland Victoria
    Posts
    25

    Default $2 shop : What do you buy & what is it good for ?

    Hello,

    Bought some nice clamps quick grip type for $2:00 from the $2 shop today - they will do the job just as well as a $10 clamp from Bunnings.

    Does anybody else buy stuff from $2:00 shop ?

    Any unusual or innovative uses for stuff from the $2:00 shop ?

    Was wondering about buying a grinding wheel from Aldis the other day - just for the sake of the motor - the whole thing was cheaper than I can buy motors on ebay.

    Bill

  2. #2
    I_wanna_Shed's Avatar
    I_wanna_Shed is offline Now I've got a 10x14m shed! I need a new name...
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Wollondilly, NSW
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    Default

    Some of the non-clip rubber matting stuff. Its excellent to put under a piece of timber while I sand it with the orbital sander, or while I do almost anything else with it. Put it in tool drawers, on shelves, anywhere that you want to stop things from slipping.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    723

    Default

    Things I buy:

    Cheap screwdrivers - I can't make a piece of steel with a handle on it for $1.00. Useful for making single use tools.
    Super Glue tubes - the little metal tubes keep for years while still sealed, and keep well in the fridge when opened.
    Steel rulers and cutting mats - you can never have too many rulers, and cutting mats are just handy for protecting decent surfaces.
    Plastic storage tubs - 'nuff said.
    Silica gel kitty litter - it's not just for kitty poop.
    USB/ethernet/other leads - Dick Smith Electronics, you can keep your $44.98 10 meter ethernet cable, I''ll get it for $6, thanks.


    Things I avoid:

    Drill bits (I've had twist drills untwist!)
    Wire brushes for drill use (I don't like feeling like a porcupine)
    Side cutters (apparently, copper wire is too hard for some of them)
    Nails (I've had spaghetti that bends less)
    Anything made of plastic for outside use (plasticiser to stop UV breakdown costs an extra $40 per tonne...lets just omit that to bring costs down)

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Woodstock (Cowra)
    Age
    75
    Posts
    832

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Master Splinter View Post
    Things I buy:


    Steel rulers and cutting mats - you can never have too many rulers, and cutting mats are just handy for protecting decent surfaces.
    Rulers are people, a rule is used for measuring..........
    The person who never made a mistake never made anything

    Cheers
    Ray

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    723

    Default

    Meh. The Oxford Dictionary says:

    Definition of ruler
    noun

    1a person exercising government or dominion.
    Astrology
    another term for ruling planet.
    2a straight strip or cylinder of plastic, wood, metal, or other rigid material, typically marked at regular intervals and used to draw straight lines or measure distances.


    I hate to say it, but it's not the 1940's any more....


    ...but more importantly, any shop calling it a rule will probably be charging ten times more than a $2 store....

  6. #6
    I_wanna_Shed's Avatar
    I_wanna_Shed is offline Now I've got a 10x14m shed! I need a new name...
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Wollondilly, NSW
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    Default

    Be careful with the steel rulers..... I bought one from a cheap shop and could not figure out for the life of me why a project just wouldn't line up. I measured twice cut once. Measured again and again and again.

    After a little while I found the mm markings on one side were at different spacings (ever so slightly) to the other side.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Gippsland Victoria
    Posts
    25

    Red face 10ths and eighths

    Quote Originally Posted by I_wanna_Shed View Post
    Be careful with the steel rulers..... I bought one from a cheap shop and could not figure out for the life of me why a project just wouldn't line up. I measured twice cut once. Measured again and again and again.

    After a little while I found the mm markings on one side were at different spacings (ever so slightly) to the other side.
    I got caught out recently

    One steel rule was marked in eighths of and inch and the other was marked in tenths. I became terribly confused before I found out what I'd done wrong.



    Bill

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Dandenong, Vic
    Posts
    0

    Default

    Containers of glitter for casting in pens.
    Small spray bottles I can fill.
    Takeaway food containers to fill with prawns when I catch them.
    Craft foam to apply CA to pen finish.
    Hinges and box clips as they are less than half the price of BGS.
    CA.
    dust masks.
    electrical connectors.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
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    ...
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    1,460

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by steamingbill View Post
    I got caught out recently

    One steel rule was marked in eighths of and inch and the other was marked in tenths. I became terribly confused before I found out what I'd done wrong.



    Bill
    That's why I only use the metric system.


    Peter.

  10. #10
    Boringgeoff is offline Try not to be late, but never be early.
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    Apr 2011
    Location
    Bakers Hill WA
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    76
    Posts
    138

    Default $2.00 shop

    x2 and x3 magnification reading glasses.







    Geoff

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    North Of The Boarder
    Age
    68
    Posts
    0

    Default

    Sharpening stones ideal for so many uses especially if you have a Tormek or similar wet grinder.
    Clamps
    scrapers
    magnets some are earth
    magnetic trays
    rolls of hand wipe
    electricy tape
    gaffer tape
    rules
    tape measure
    wood drill bits which I grind and turn into turning tools
    Chopping boards wood or plastic wood ones used to be made into drop spindles they were pre laminated and variety of wood types. Plastic/nylon ones a variety of uses.


    Their CA tubes not matter how I store I seem to end up with empty tubes

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Springfield NSW
    Age
    71
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    0

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    Those littlebags of fibre washers, O rings, rubber washers etc. all in assorted sizes. Very handy.
    ____________________________________________________________
    there are only 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary arithmetic and those that don't.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    McBride BC Canada
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    Windsor Plywood. That's what the store is called. Maybe 200 species of wood.
    You need an $8K live edge walnut boardroom table blank? You need to buy bird'seye maple for $1.10/kg? I buy bundles of rosewood cutoffs from guitar makers. Mahogany, 3mm x 100 x 600 is like $0.25 a stick. I can afford to stir paint with it.
    You want a 60 x 60x 200cm piece of Yellow Cedar for carving? Which one?

    Metal recyclers: I got 6mm copper rod, some 6mm x 75mm x 100mm copper plate for $10.10/kg ($5/lb). They had #6 copper wire but I don't need any yet, freakin' bin full of it.

    Princess Auto: a chain store with an unbelievable selection of recycled motors, fans, etc. Lots of good new stuff.

    Computer recyclers: exquisite +/- 12, +/-5 VDC power supplies and fans for next to nothing. My house is 2 x 1,200 sqft (metric unknown). I run a compressed wood pellet stove, (Harman P38+) to heat the whole place through winters that can sag down to -20C. That takes 5 tons. 10,000lbs.
    The whole place operates on a stupid little 5W computer fan for circulation. The bottom line is that the system saved me enough money in 2 winters to pay the $3K for the stove.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Bendigo Victoria
    Age
    80
    Posts
    4,565

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Avery View Post
    Those littlebags of fibre washers, O rings, rubber washers etc. all in assorted sizes. Very handy.
    Aldi has plastic assortment boxes of those for $4.99 at the moment, handy to have in the shed, as you say.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Sydney
    Age
    54
    Posts
    891

    Default

    Things to avoid - any thing more than $2.
    Visit my website at www.myFineWoodWork.com

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