Motorcycles from Watch Parts

Motorcycles from Watch Parts

If you were going to throw away your old watch and add to the metal pollution, wait a second!
Take a look at what digital curators like Dmitriy Khristenkho of Ukraine and Dan Tanenbaum of
Canada are doing to stop these old watch parts from landing in the garbage can. Turning junk into spectacular mini bike sculptures, it’s a delight to see such intricate and detailed work of art.

BEFORE……

 AFTER….

These miniatures actually take a lot of time to be built as opposed to their size. Each part has to be shaped using grindstone to get perfect shape and size and then each component is painstakingly glued by hand to finish the masterpiece. It roughly takes about 50 hours to complete one model. Phew! So tiny but it sure is a hell lot of work! Since the work involved is a lot so are the returns, as each piece costs up to 700 pounds.

The makers of these motorcycles say that the most important part is to put together the two wheels, handle bars and petrol tank and the rest is pretty much an expression of one’s imagination. Of course sometimes the clients also ask for custom makes.

While most parts are those rescued from scrapheaps, some of the components on these motorcycles are parts from Vintage watches. Many people request to convert their ancestral watches into model bikes to immortalise their worth in an artistic way.

Super cool and incredible aren’t they??? Well next time don’t give away or throw your old watch. Just break it, shape it, stick it and make your own custom model bike. It’s not easy to make but for sure is an amazing art.

Read more: http://www.funonthenet.in/articles/motorcycles-watch-parts.html#ixzz272NVAeKy

Fill the Recyclasaurus to be Auctioned at One Man’s Treasure.

Talk about having patience and time on your hands!

Read the story and see 19 more images here:  Upcycling… Wood Chips! – gubs posterous

Home schooling: Firm upcycles classroom trailers into modular homes | MNN – Mother Nature Network

Creative Uses For Old Calendars – Calendar Upcycling | One Day at a Time.

Don’t throw those old 2011 calendars out just yet.

In these financially tough times here are some great ideas for those well used calendars.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079784/The-austerity-house-Couple-completely-make-home-reclaimed-goods.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Couple completely make over their home with reclaimed goods

• They snaffled items worth £35,000 new for a fraction of price
• Bed made from scaffold poles, tiles from fireman’s hoses, seatbelts for curtain ties
  
• ‘We don’t have two knives that are the same and we use old jars for glasses’

By SIMON TOMLINSON

In these belt-tightening times, it always helps to shop around to get the best deal.

But one couple have taken that philosophy to the extreme by completely transforming their home simply with reclaimed goods.

Kresse Wesling and James Henrit bought their two-bedroom flat last year when it was little more than a shell.

Bargain-hunter: Kresse Wesling in her kitchen with her granite and marble work top made from reclaimed off cuts and and a friend’s fireplace. She and James Henrit have saved thousands by decking out their one-bedroom flat with unwanted items

Industrious: The couple have made this bed out of reclaimed scaffolding boards and bars to save on buying a new one

Crafty: The bed’s scaffolding board hides a walk-in wardrobe (left), while this chair (right) has been fashioned from a wine barrel

Trawling charity shops and tips, and searching on websites Gumtree, Freecycle and eBay, the pair managed to create an incredible home from items no-one wanted.

What would have cost about £35,000 using new materials has been done for under £3,000 – albeit with thousands of man-hours.

Their bed is made from scaffold poles, the kitchen is created from reclaimed wood and granite and the tiles in their hallway are made from old firemen’s hoses.

Pallet-able: This bed has been lovingly made using painted wooden crates. The couple call their technique ‘upcycling’ – taking quality, unwanted goods and making them like new

Got it sewed up: James Henrit makes adjustments to a belt in the couple’s workshop, which they used to custom-make their cut-price finds

Buckling up: In a feat of true resourcefulness, the curtain ties (left) have been created from BMW seatbelts, while wooden pallets have also been used to make the kitchen cupboards (right)

Kresse, 34, said: ‘We bought the flat a year ago and it was little more than a shell.

‘There was no heating and no sewage and our aim was to put nothing new in it at all.

‘Of course there had to be some compromise – electrical wire for example had to be new.

‘One of the few things we had to buy new was the toilet – we couldn’t find a second hand one.

‘Mostly when they are thrown out they are cracked so we had to buy a new one – we were very disappointed about that.

‘The floors were covered in lino and it took us five days to get it off and underneath were beautiful wooden floorboards.’

Lounge act: The window shutters have also been fashioned from wooden pallets, while the furniture was picked up for peanuts or even free 

No burden on the wallet: Kresse with the eight cupboard doors she found at a tip. Her cost-cutting wasn’t without man-hours, however, as many items needed work to bring them up to scratch

Saving cash: The kitchen sink was found in woods while the couple were out walking, the white granite work top was made from a friend’s fireplace and the tiles are reclaimed

A disused work bench has been turned into a dining table and other furniture including the sink has been found at dumps and transformed into spectacular pieces.

Much of the furniture was made from pallet wood and a painting hanging in their front room was created by a friend.

The couple call their technique ‘upcycling’ – taking quality goods nobody wants or is selling cheaply and making them like new.

A bathroom mirror was picked up from a firm that makes them and was about to be thrown out because it was not quite perfect.

Cutlery and crockery was found in charity shops and the bathroom tiles were made from reclaimed Welsh slate.

Their TV was a present and their range and fridge were snapped up from websites offering second-hand goods.

The website Freecycle provided them with a Chesterfield sofa and carpets were provided by Kresse’s collection of old Tibetan rugs.

The couple, from Bournemouth, Dorset, have also turned their passion into their living and now run a company – Elvis and Kresse – that sells upcycled goods.

Transformation: The couple’s two-bedroom flat (in this block above) was just a shell when they bought it last year

Water steal! This red welcome mat is made from waterproof, hard-wearing fire-hose

The wooden kitchen units (left) have been made from a modified ‘dresser’ found at the dump, while the bathroom tiles (right) have been created from reclaimed Welsh slate. The bath is lined with scaffolding boards

Kresse added: ‘Our bed and closet were made from scaffolding poles and we found many things at the dump or in charity shops.

‘We don’t have two knives and forks that are the same and we use old jars for glasses.

‘But we have a lovely Chesterfield sofa and Tibetan rugs in the floor and Welsh slate tiles in the bathroom.

‘We have proved it can be done as long as you keep your mind open and are prepared to do the work.

‘We estimated that doing the work with new materials would cost about £30-35,000 and we have spent a fraction of that.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079784/The-austerity-house-Couple-completely-make-home-reclaimed-goods.html#ixzz1hvyefiP2