Treasure in the Garage
Six years ago, I won a used mill drill in a “name-in-the-hat” raffle at my work. They were upgrading to a real machinist’s mill. The mill drill weighs 700 pounds, so it is not a trivial piece of equipment.
Once I got the mill drill home, it turned out the motor had a three-phase winding. Our house electrical wiring can only provide single-phase. I bought a single-phase replacement motor for $278. It worked great. A new mill drill cost over $1000, so $278 was a great deal for a gearhead like me.
I forgot about the three-phase motor until a few days ago. It has been living under a workbench in the garage. I took the motor to a local shop that specializes in repairing large electric motors and asked what they’d give me for it. There’s a lot of copper in the thing. Plus, it still worked fine.
They offered $50. Sold!
Hmmm. There’s a working arc welder out there that I haven’t used for years. Sounds like something for Craigslist.
In a couple of weeks we will be having our annual neighborhood garage sale. I expect to sell many more treasures that are hiding in our garage at that time.
Take a look in your garage and see what treasures you may find.
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Good idea, especially since the price of copper and other metals has gone up so much in the last few years. You cleared some space as well. I need to take a look around my garage, I know there are things I haven’t used or probably even seen in years!
20 April 2008, 5:29 pmRC