Creating Golf Club Belt Buckles From The Recycle Bin

Spalding Executive 8 Iron Golf Club Belt Buckle, made by Rusty Knuckles

Coming up with new ideas on a consistent basis can be tough. One thing that we do consistently though to recharge the batteries is to just wander around at vintage stores, antique markets and online. In doing so, we find ourselves checking out items that were created in the not so distant past and were meant to have a shelf life a bit longer, maybe than the intended user. 

We stumbled across a huge stash of old golf clubs recently and being the non golfers that we are, didn't know quite what to make of them. After examining the clubs though, the ol' brain kicked into high gear and thought, hmmmm... what if. Next thing ya know, the grinder is out, the sanding machine is turned on and new life is brought to something old and discarded. 

Custom Guitars Made From Reclaimed Wood In Detroit, From CBS News

The final product of Mark Wallace's guitars, made from reclaimed wood in Detroit

Check out the original post on CBS News

"Detroit has more than 70,000 abandoned buildings. Among them is an old Cadillac plant that houses piles of wood. Where others see trash, Mark Wallace sees buried treasure.

Wallace started making guitars out of Detroit's reclaimed wood a year and a half ago. He not only enjoys making the instruments but also playing them.

"It feels great, as an instrument. It's also great to know that it's something I built and something that came out of the city of Detroit," Wallace told me.

Decades ago the wood for the city's buildings came from old growth forests where trees grew slowly. Wallace says the lumber has tight grain patterns and provides great resonance and sound. 

C3PO Recreated From Old Machinery and Computer Parts

Clever ideas keep us awake at night and constantly thinking "how did they do that." All the ideas and intriguing concepts we see, it fuels the ol' imagination into thinking of new ways to look at the recycle bin and what could be built. Finding C3PO has been the highlight of this perfect Sunday afternoon.

Learn more about Gabriel Dishaw and his zeal for recycled materials

Can't afford an authentic movie prop? Get something even better, a C3PO head made from scrap computer parts

Memory boards and old keyboards turned out to be a great combination

Got any scrap computer parts laying around? Well, then get to work making something as cool as this!

The Rag And Bone Man Creates New From Old

There is something that is just raw, beautiful and primal about old cast metal pieces. Maybe its the fixation we have towards all things mechanical and motorized. In all reality, one of the big elements that forever attracts us to pieces such as the ones being showcased, is the utilitarian aspect. 

Form can follow function or maybe function follows form, really just depends on the mindset and how an item is to be used. From a utilitarian aspect, seeing all of these spare parts re-purposed into a brand new identity, is refreshing and a great way to think on recycling.

As so much of our culture becomes throw away plastic items, viewing old valve covers as lamps and engine cylinder heads as a solid base for a lighting platform, gives hope that craftsmen are still hard at work world wide. They are putting new life into items that will far outlive their owners and fulfilling the notion that new doesn't necessarily mean better.

Check out the Rag and Bone Man

"Paul Firbank is a modern craftsman. Based in the East End he sorts and sifts through London’s scrap yards, railway arch grease shops and thrift markets looking for the remains of outmoded modern metal parts and vintage engineered machinery that represent fragments of British industrial history…

Building upon the past Paul creates something unmistakeably contemporary. Using traditional metalwork techniques and his time-honoured machinery, he restores, welds, turns, strips, brushes, polishes and varnishes, transforming these discarded scraps into bespoke pieces of contemporary lighting and furniture. 

Paul develops each piece meticulously, subtly responding to the materials he has found to create something familiar yet modern and unique. Inspired by things that last Paul’s work have been described as future heirlooms and have begun to create a legacy of it’s own.

The launch of The Rag and Bone Man at Tent London 2011 as part of London Design Festival has led Paul to work with private individuals, interior designers, artists, architects, collectors and on international commissions. His works have also been featured in The Times, The Telegraph, Living Etc, and Elle Decoration"


The Rag & Bone Man from Make Your Bones on Vimeo.

Turn Scrap Cars Into New Bicycles

Scrap heaps, junk yards and rural properties all over the globe are littered with old machines that are ready for a new life. Any time we see an old vehicle on a property while out cruising, there is always the what if question. What would the dude take for the car or where in the hell could we even put it amongst all of our current projects. 

Coming across a site such as BicycledBikes.com is what gets us thinking on cool projects. Each bike they are putting together is unique as it stems from what ever parts they find to build a new bike. Dig into what they are about and if you are looking for a cool new pedal powered ride, maybe this could be your solution.

Does Your Bike Run On Fumes, How About Personal Fumes?

The Japanese always have interesting ways of creating something new and efficient. Their smaller cars helped to revolutionize the American automobile industry and now Toyota is one of the largest manufacturers on the planet. As a gimmick and a nod to the recyclable mindset, a company by the name of Toto, has taken things a step further and found a hilarious way to show that human excrement can indeed be useful. We thank Toto for our daily moment of zen and the coining of our new term "Poogineer" for their dedication and hard work.

Original article was written up on Wired.com

The Neo, a trike that runs on excrement

"TOTO, a name you might’ve seen on toilets and urinals, has built a motorcycle that runs on excrement. The toilet saddle is just for show, as the actual engine runs on manure and waste water, but you can’t fault the company for trying to make a splash when the Toilet Bike Neo debuted in Japan last week.

The Neo, a product of three years of research, development and design, is based on a 250cc trike, with a built-in toilet for a seat. The rider does not contribute to the fuel supply of purified and compressed livestock waste. So for now, this model’s bio-gas comes from the Shika-oi, in Hokkaido. As an engineer explained, “The waste and household water are converted to methane gas by fermenting, and the methane gas is converted to bio-gas by purifying.” Only the bio-gas ends up in the bike, so there’s no manure on-board. (Insert your own joke about crappy bike riders here).

The trike took a month-long slog from TOTO’s HQ in Kokura to Tokyo this past October, traveling around 870 miles in the process. Now, the bike is touring further afield in Japan to promote TOTO’s environmental efforts. But don’t hold your breath for your own poo-powered three-wheeler – TOTO has no plans to make another model."