DIY Uses of Scrap Hardware Cloth

[Tiffany Wikk]

I am an old guy now, but most of what I learned on building stuff was from following my Great Depression era grandfather around way back in the 1960's and early 1970's. My grandparents could teach a master class in not throwing anything away! I remember grandma washing off plastic bags and reusing them until they feel apart. I don't ever remember buying new nails if we had old bent nails that could be straightened out and reused. I guess if you survived the Great Depression, you developed lots of skills to save money.

How wonderful you learned so much from them! Those skills come in handy to repurpose and save lots of money. We have an entire bucket full of old nails from our pallets and I bend them back straight and use them still!

I guess a lot of those lessons stuck with me. The other day I had a 6-inch-wide strip of hardware cloth cut off from a project, and I thought to myself, that might make a very nice scoop/sieve. So, I saved it - just in case...

Oh, yes! I keep saving so many small pieces. Now that I know all the uses it's so hard to throw away any of the hardware cloth!

I am curious to discover the best way to store them. They can be unwieldy at times and difficult to roll back up
—especially when they are small pieces.

 

[gtaus]

I am curious to discover the best way to store them. They can be unwieldy at times and difficult to roll back up
—especially when they are small pieces.

This past year I started replacing all my old storage totes with 27-gallon industrial totes from our local Menards...

They are much stronger than my older totes.

Also, my older totes came in all different sizes, colors, and shapes and so they did not stack very well. Even when empty, they would not nest together, so they took up a lot of room just to store the empty totes.

The industrial totes are all the same size and shape. When empty, they nest into each other and take hardly any room. When I use them, I put a strip of masking tape on it for a label of the contents, and then I stack the totes one on top of another.

If you had small pieces of hardware cloth, those industrial storage bins could hold a lot.

For larger stuff, like partial rolls of wire, I roll them up and put them in some plastic garbage bins I have for storage. Like these...

I actually have 3 large garbage cans filled with pallet wood 2X4's and planks that are ready to be used. Of course, those cans get pretty heavy filled with all that wood, so I use some dollies that I get from Harbor Freight for less than $10.00 each when they go on sale...

Anyways, with the dolly underneath the garbage can full of heavy wood, I can still easily move the wood around my garage with just one finger. Those dollies are great for an old guy. No more lifting and straining my back to move the stored wood around the shop.

I think it is important to have some kind of storage system that works for you if you plan on keeping those scrap pieces of hardware cloth or other items. It does you no good to keep those scraps if you cannot find them when you need them. Which is why I got myself into the habit of labeling all my storage totes.

 

[fuzzi]

Nice thread.

Here's my brooder, assembled from a dog crate and 1/2" HWC:

I brooded two separate sets of day-old chicks outside during cold weather, with just a Momma heating pad for warmth. Recently I used this brooder for two incubator chicks I placed under a broody hen.

Created using only a crate, HWC, and zip-ties.

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

This past year I started replacing all my old storage totes with 27-gallon industrial totes from our local Menards...

View attachment 3886472

They are much stronger than my older totes.

Also, my older totes came in all different sizes, colors, and shapes and so they did not stack very well. Even when empty, they would not nest together, so they took up a lot of room just to store the empty totes.

The industrial totes are all the same size and shape. When empty, they nest into each other and take hardly any room. When I use them, I put a strip of masking tape on it for a label of the contents, and then I stack the totes one on top of another.

If you had small pieces of hardware cloth, those industrial storage bins could hold a lot.

I don't have a Menards around here, but we have some storage totes out in the garage that are very similar to yours! Ours are from Costco.

I've been looking through some of your pallet projects, and I'm very interested in making some pallet shelves for our garage. When I have the time in the future, I would love to get a bunch more of these storage containers, build some new shelves, and really give the garage a new organization. They would be perfect to store the small pieces of hardware cloth! The containers we do have are being used for other things, but my mom said she'll buy me some more bins!

I'm kinda a nerd for labeling things. I have so much fun making labels.

For larger stuff, like partial rolls of wire, I roll them up and put them in some plastic garbage bins I have for storage. Like these...

View attachment 3886479

Wonderful idea! I've got a couple old trash bins out in the garage that I could totally use for the larger rolls.

I actually have 3 large garbage cans filled with pallet wood 2X4's and planks that are ready to be used. Of course, those cans get pretty heavy filled with all that wood, so I use some dollies that I get from Harbor Freight for less than $10.00 each when they go on sale...

View attachment 3886483

Anyways, with the dolly underneath the garbage can full of heavy wood, I can still easily move the wood around my garage with just one finger. Those dollies are great for an old guy. No more lifting and straining my back to move the stored wood around the shop.

Oh, that seems amazing! I'll have to look into those! I could use them for so many things.

My mom also said she'll go to Harbor Freight and get me some of these too!

I think it is important to have some kind of storage system that works for you if you plan on keeping those scrap pieces of hardware cloth or other items. It does you no good to keep those scraps if you cannot find them when you need them. Which is why I got myself into the habit of labeling all my storage totes.

Organization and storage are so important! I find projects are so much harder when things aren't in their right place and easy to find.

Thanks for letting me know your organization! I find it fascinating, interesting, and very helpful!

 

[fuzzi]

I'm kinda a nerd for labeling things. I have so much fun making labels. ...

Me too. There's so much satisfaction in organizing, and that includes labeling!

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

Nice thread.

Thank you!

Here's my brooder, assembled from a dog crate and 1/2" HWC:
View attachment 3888300
View attachment 3888293
View attachment 3888294

I brooded two separate sets of day-old chicks outside during cold weather, with just a Momma heating pad for warmth. Recently I used this brooder for two incubator chicks I placed under a broody hen.
View attachment 3888304

Created using only a crate, HWC, and zip-ties.

Very nice build! Adorable chicks too! Thanks for sharing!

This is giving me an idea to use a piece of hardware cloth at the bottom of my broody jail. It's a similar dog crate, but the holes are too large for their feet to stand on mine with it being raised above the ground (with pallet wood). I wrapped some tar string between the holes to make it easier for them to stand on. It definitely helped. Although, they still prefer to stand on the perching bar. I think, though, adding the hardware cloth would make it even better for me.

 

[Tiffany Wikk]

Me too. There's so much satisfaction in organizing, and that includes labeling!

Absolutely!

Here's my box of seeds that I went all out on labeling with our label maker. It's a really nice container and serves it's purpose so well. It keeps them all so organized and neat. I even labeled underneath each of small containers so I remember where each box goes.I love labels!

 

[fuzzi]

Thank you!

Very nice build! Adorable chicks too! Thanks for sharing!

This is giving me an idea to use a piece of hardware cloth at the bottom of my broody jail. It's a similar dog crate, but the holes are too large for their feet to stand on mine with it being raised above the ground (with pallet wood). I wrapped some tar string between the holes to make it easier for them to stand on. It definitely helped. Although, they still prefer to stand on the perching bar. I think, though, adding the hardware cloth would make it even better for me.

View attachment 3888561

My only concern is that it's going to be harder to clean out the manure with a HWC bottom. I think adding some 2x4 cross bars would be easier for maintenance.

 

[fuzzi]

Absolutely!

Here's my box of seeds that I went all out on labeling with our label maker. It's a really nice container and serves it's purpose so well. It keeps them all so organized and neat. I even labeled underneath each of small containers so I remember where each box goes.I love labels!
View attachment 3888875

Love it.

 

[gtaus]

I've been looking through some of your pallet projects, and I'm very interested in making some pallet shelves for our garage. When I have the time in the future, I would love to get a bunch more of these storage containers, build some new shelves, and really give the garage a new organization.

That sounds like a great idea. If/when you build your storage shelves for the bins, please post some pictures on the Show Me Your Pallet Projects! thread. We would all love to see your projects made with pallet or salvaged wood.

Well, actually any wood projects are welcome. Often times we take a wood project and modify it to work with pallet wood.

As to using plastic garbage cans with dollies under them, it's really a good solution for me. A few years ago, I built a nice big pallet wood storage bin, with wheels, using pallet wood. It can store lots of pallet wood. However, it takes up a lot of room and can be pretty heavy when filled with wood. The plastic garbage cans are lighter, easier to move with a dolly under each garbage can, and since they are smaller in size, I can move them around my garage and store them out of the way much easier.

Me too. There's so much satisfaction in organizing, and that includes labeling!

That's great. I need to get better. But I have made some progress in organizing and labeling stuff. Especially if you save bits and pieces of things that 6 months from now you would not remember.

Here's my box of seeds that I went all out on labeling with our label maker. It's a really nice container and serves it's purpose so well. It keeps them all so organized and neat.

Very nice. You put me to shame. Anyways, I just use some masking tape and a black sharpie on the labels for the storage totes. It's fast and cheap.

I do use my label maker to put labels on all my power tools and batteries. I put the warranty expiration date on the labels just in case something might need a warranty return/repair. I cannot remember the last time one of my tools failed within the warranty period, but I always register my tools and label them just the same.

BTW, I may have mentioned that I am in Ryobi 18v One+ of home tools. I really like the new Lithium Ion batteries, some of which I have are 10+ years old and still in service! I know because I labeled them with the warranty date when I bought them. I grew up with Ni-Cad batteries that only lasted 2-3 years. So, life is much better now with the newer Li-Ion batteries.