I've called Boston home for a few years now, and have yet to discover
a treasure trove of surplus parts, scrap metal, and "industrial
junkyards". I've always been able to find at least one or two places
to go searching for cheap materials regardless of where I've lived,
but have yet to stumble across one here in MA.
Anyone in the Boston area (lets say within an hour or so) willing to
share their favorite places to search for parts, materials, scrap,
salvage on the cheap?
If you rather not share this with all of usenet, personal email at
snipped-for-privacy@rcn.com is fine.
Thanks,
Vin
An excellent place for non ferrous metal is Metal Source in Woburn.
1 (781) 932-0482 They are part of Admiral Metals a very large
material supplier. This is new stock but at reasonable prices.
If you are not a member of the New England Model Engineering Society
please check out our web site (link below). You would be most welcome
to visit us on the first Thursday of February.
Errol Groff
Instructor, Machine Tool Department
H.H. Ellis Tech
613 Upper Maple Street
Danielson, CT 06239
860 774 8511 x1811
Whoa, that's weird--I was just following Sherline's model engineering
links. The one they have for you is from 1997 and doesn't point to the
same place as this one.
Errol Groff wrote:
Hmm ... it has been many years since I was last there, but there
used to be a place in Cambridge -- called "Eli's" (Eli Heffron and
Sons), which had surplus electronics at the time. There was a certain
amount of tools included in the collection of things. I have no idea
whether he is still in business, and what he might be selling now if he
is.
Later (still in the last century), I saw a (possibly related) ad
for an "Eli's" which sold surplus computers. I don't know whether it
was one of his sons which ran that, or whether he branched out or
changed focus.
Please post what you find out about him -- I am curious.
Enjoy,
DoN.
It's the same place, they went all-computers when the supply of traditional
electronic and electromechanical computer junk disappeared. I.e. no more
mechanical line printers, 300 lb disk drives, tape drives.
I shopped there weekly 25 years ago, as a student down the road, fond
memories of that era.
Bob
Not a yard, but you will occasionally find items of
interest (even the occasional machine tool) at the
MIT Flea, corner of Main & Albany St., Cambridge,
every 3rd Sunday Apr-Oct. Go to their website and
print a flier to save a buck at the door:
formatting link
They also have a list of other (mostly ham/electronic)
fleas in the area:
formatting link
Polaroid Surplus occasionally has aluminum, if they
haven't recently emptied their bin. At the "Space
Buildings", Rte 44 in E. Taunton, now operated by
MacDonald Moving and Storage, but the same guy works
there. Bring a checkbook, they don't take cash for
some items. Weird hours, I want to say Tu-W-Th 9-4?
And I would be remiss if I didn't put in a word for
my favorite used tool guy, Al, over at the Tool Shed:
The Tool Shed
578 W. Boylston St. (Rt. 12)
Worcester, MA 01606
Store Number: (508)853-0590
formatting link
W-Sat 1-5pm
"Please Note: We do not mail or ship tools. We sell
at the store only." (sorry, guys)
Also a branch started by the same guy in Waltham:
The Tool Shed
471 Main Street
Waltham, MA 02452
(781) 647-7970
Hours: 1 to 5 PM, W-Sat.
Both regularly have carpentry and mechanics tools as
well as "bargain tables", the Worcester store has some
machinist stuff, don't know if the Waltham one does or
not (never been in it).
Not quite what you asked for (I keep wanting to know of
more junkyards myself), but I hope it helps.
--Glenn Lyford
[ ... ]
[ ... ]
[ ... ]
The line printers and disk drives came after my time there. But
I remember a series of racks of relays where he chopped the contacts out
of every relay, to dissolve away everything but the gold. Personally, I
would have paid more for the relays *with* the contacts than the value
of the gold out of the individual relays. (I was doing a lot with relay
logic at the time.)
I still have some of the other things which I picked up there --
some never used. :-)
A bit after me, then. I was around 1960 and a bit later. You
sound like about 1978 or so -- by which time I was back in the
Washington DC area, and already married. :-)
Thanks for the update and the URL.
Don.
They have been gone for some time now.
Another source for metal is machine shop auctions. Shops always
have a pile of stock left over. Generally it goes for quite cheap.
Pete.
The folks that owned RPM tool in Cambridge are now operating a much smaller
operation in Dracut, Ma (30 or so miles NW of Boston, next to Lowell). I go
by there regularly, and occasionally buy something. Not much in the way of
"surplus stuff" mostly used tools like drills, skil saws, hand tools, etc.
Some machinist stuff, micrometers etc, but not a lot.
Really nice folks, though the wife (real character) has been quite ill
lately.
If you are ever in the area, do go by and check them out.
-AL
Hi Vin,
I stumbled across a pretty good place on Rt 16 on the way to the airport one
day. Its on the south side a few lights east of what used to be the rotary
at wellington circle. Its just before a sunoco station, kind of a funky
driveway on the left side of the building maybe with a forklift or two.
There's a sign. If you pass gold's gym, you've gone a little too far. I'm
not remembering the name but I believe its in everett around spring or vine
street. He has a 2 floor warehouse full of stuff; metalworking,
woodworking, some stock, old light fixtures etc. He generally knows what
things are worth but has a pile of stuff.
I read some of the other replies to your post and Eli's in Cambridge has
closed its retail shop, what remained of it anyway. I had been going there
since the early 70's in jr high school...
Good luck,
Hugh
I started going to Eli Heffron's in Cambridge circa '54 to scrounge for
components for building audio systems. (That's monaural vacuum toob
audio audio, guys, stereo hadn't entered the consumer market yet.)
We did play around a with some "binaural" audio on reel to reel tape,
and my rich roomate even got one of those Cook binaural LP systems. The
"recordings" were on 33-1/3 LPs with two tracks, one started at the
outside and the other half way in. The tone arm had two independantly
pivoted cartriges spaced apart the right distance. Worked pretty well as
long as nothing jarred the player and made just one of the stylii jump
to an adjacent groove.
Serendipitously, the place you described appears to be in Everett and
Eli's was on Everett Avenue in Cambridge back then. I haven't visited
Eli's much in the last twenty years; the era when his sons were running
the place. Seems like every time I went there they had mostly computer
related stuff which didn't reach out and grab me like the good old WWII
"army surplus" electronics I remember Eli selling in those early daze.
I'll try finding the place you mentioned. Even if I don't locate it the
trip will be worth it given that there's a great reasonably priced steak
place (The Texas Roadhouse) and Beantown's first Krispy Kreme donut shop
(opened late last year) within spittin' distance of the area you described.
Thanks for the memories,
Jeff
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