Strange Ways To Reuse Ordinary Items

Take a trip back with this fun PopSci archive gallery of ways to reuse household items and see if you can't find a way to spruce up your boring old house, or an idea for a fun christmas gift made from your leftover stuff. The kid in the drawing sure looks happy with his abacus made from thread spools, so this article may bring happiness into your life!

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2011-09/archive-gallery-11-offbeat-uses-common-household-objects

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Block of wood, small lathe, minor skill set...

Knock yourself out.

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@jim, most factories where like that because they used to run from a single power source, for example a steam engine or water wheel. that stopped when electric motors became cheap and powerfull enough.

@also: wooden spools rule :)

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That's back when you could make your own fun out of stuff around the house.

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Do they even make wooden spools in the USA anymore? In college I took a course in Forest Products and we took a field trip to a spool factory in Millinocket Maine. They were made out of white birch. The factory was really neat as it operated of a motor that drove the lathes by an ingenious system of pulleys.