to which the manufacturer's logo sticker was not applied or which has a few tiny air bubbles in the glass are often scrapped or cheaply sold locally after transporrarion from thousands of miles away. Rather than our present consumer standards of "That's okay . . . that's not okay," an efficient economy would classify quality, and price, along a range of quality and perfection as "A-B-C-D or F, quality glass." Much of this irrational pickiness, which prevailed in affluence, will not endure in an era of energy and resource shortages. After "imperfe ct" new rejects come "perfect," operable but used products which are rejected for status or out-of-date style reasons. Too often in America, hot water heaters too small to serve a growing family or a new dishwasher are not "cascaded" down to a smaller family in the neighborhood which can put it back to the use for which it was designed (obviously re-use is the highest level of recycling), but rather turned over to the plumber for removal. The dedicated fircher can find these behind local plumbing srores . . . they're cheap. Those with burnt-out elements are free or even cheaper, since their destination is landfiil burial, awaitihg disinterment in 2O2O A.D., and taking material to a municipal landfill costs money. Increasingly the next firch quality level, "repairable," used, is fading out as products are not only designed to break down on time but to be virtually non-repairable when they do. More and more products are simply replaced rarher rhan fixed for another 10 or 20 years. Often this occurs because repairs, unless you can do them yourself, are so complex and therefore expensive that it is cheaper to throw it "away" (you're right, there isno "away") and buy a new one. When new black-and-white TVs cost less than the shop labor, overhead and markup on a new TV tube installed in an old set, no incentive for restoration exists. Further down the scale, right above raw materials themselves, are partially formed or fabricated items which can, with the appropriate tools and repertoire of fircher skills, be converted into something. Advanced firching consists not only in re-use and repair, but also design and "making-to-serve-as" from sheet metal, glass and auto body steel. Some of the most useful tools for conversion of this firch to useful ilems are, oxygen-acetylene welding-cutting cquipment, blacksmith forge and tools, electric arc welding unit. May 1977 RAIN Page 5 Indeed, with these the raw materials themselves can be turned into simplb or specialized tools. The best resources to consult, if you can't find a local blacksmith class, are two books by Alexander G. Weygers, Tbe Making of Tools a,nd Tbe Modern Blacksmitb, both $4.95 from Van Nosuand Reinhold Co., 45O W. 33rd St., NYC 10001. These are full of examples of how to make all sorts of useful items from such ubiquitous firch as car bumpers, auto coil springs, plow discs, cast-iron plumbing pipe and lawn mower blades. There is much more to iliuminate and legitimize about the art and science of firching. We'll cover acquiring firch next, then then the saivage yard as a process (from thru-put to final product) requiring some of, your personal attention to its organization and maintenance and, finally, the relationship of firch to appropriate technology. If you've any revelations that ought to be included, send 'em along to share with the rest of us crazy firchers. Anyone want to organize a conference . . . scroungers, recyclers, toolmakers, a.t.ers? -by Lee Johnson, with help from David Katz, Ken Smith and Dexter Bacon -a s !e E sS'5 Fcl{ -Ys sF & stock clee,ver Sa.lva4rd worn sEul di sc frcrn tractor plow i s ctrL as shown to rrrake sbck For tools freat a.Flatten on arnril Fsre .-{-\- -) ---:--=-+=:i--- sirnple &corelivz fordtnds t r o i t "".dy scr&p s?eli?ut".s di seardc,4 wortr arl8omotilc larde ro:cttc, F"r{"-hol orlly L-Z a -/ l,.i'''Rt.J
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz