I did a lot of purchasing of furniture and tools when I had a school from Missouri State Surplus in Jefferson City. They also had lots of Federal surplus. I’d get some good computers to repurpose as linux terminals from them. They still sell to the public under certain conditions. Habitat for Humanity is a good place.
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I am a sucker for surplus…
WA state sells lots of stuff here: http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,wa/browse/search
Not sure why I am telling you all this. 
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Now that was a “Score!” Very Nice!
Govdeals doesn’t seem to have too much in MD right this second, but “surplus office auction MD” brings up several other potential options. Lots of counties have their own surplus auctions or sale days.
Also try “second-hand” and “like-new”, and don’t forget about the Habitat For Humanity Re-Stores (there are several in MD!)
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Thanks! I’ll be checking out some of these sites
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I don’t know of any places in particular, but you might have luck looking for any large organizations that move through equipment with some regularity like universities, big corporations, etc. Out here there’s the University of Minnesota, and 3M has a monthly auction of various equipment as well. I haven’t checked to see if any other companies are doing something similar yet, but you might have luck checking for that as well.
You could also keep an eye on Craigslist. I use IFTTT to monitor search terms that I care about and get emails whenever something new is posted. I’ve snagged some great deals that way by being the first person to inquire about a great deal.
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If anyone in New England is looking for flat files or other used office furniture, David J. Houston’s in Jaffrey, NH, has some. My wife and I have both bought cabinets and chairs for our offices there. I looked at some flat files a year ago thinking about using them as a base for a layout table but decided they didn’t provide enough of the types of storage I needed.
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My daughter and son in law both had pickups…but they have moved away so as I really miss both of them…not having a truck available is hard too…lol
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Well… I might just build my own Flat File Storage System. I drew up a set of plans in SketchUp this past weekend and it certainly does look doable.
Usually Flat File storage cart drawers are only about 2" tall, but in my file each drawer is 3.5" tall. I don’t need this for art or blueprints, so I figured I could save a bit of work by reducing the number of drawers needed. You’ll also see that I got rid of the necessity of the drawer rails by having a friction sliding rails that each drawer sits on. Each drawer also has a physical stop, the back edge hangs down 1/4" and that should stop the drawer from just simply pulling out, but you can easily tip it and take it out if necessary.
Does anyone know how to post SketchUp Files? Discourse says that it doesn’t accept this format for a downloadable file. Once I can post it, I’d be interested in some feedback since I’m also learning SketchUp. I would love to know how to put each of these elements in it’s own tab that I can click between each view.
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Zip it first. It accepts zip files. 
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Isn’t that what you meant to say? 
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Bwahaha…yeah…I miss the kids the most…and their trucks
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Ok, let’s see if this works!
FlatFileStoragePlans.zip (97.3 KB)
Looks like it did. I made these based upon several constraints. First was the opening that I had under the desktop that I built (height constraint of no more than 28.5" tall). Second was an assumption that I will accumulate many 20 x 24 pieces of material. Finally, Using as much of material on hand that I had.
I happened to have a full 4’x8’ piece of 1/2 in plywood that is the bulk of this project. I also have a sizable piece of 3/4 in plywood, so I’m hoping to only have to buy a 1/4 in plywood piece and maybe a half sheet of 3/4 in plywood. I got around the drawer slides (~$70 of hardware) by having the drawers sit on wood. I’m going to get around the cost of the handles (~$40) by making my own handles.
I would greatly appreciate any insights and pointers that others may want to send my way. I’m learning this tool and having fun with it.
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I can see an .SKP file in there…i assume that’s Sketchup. So the upload worked fine.
(Can’t open it though…don’t have Sketchup installed.)
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Yay! Glad it worked, and learned something new
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I know we are F360 people but you need to install the free version of Sketchup because not everyone is… And it is free.
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I’ve got so many programs running around loose that i’m starting to get confused already…one more and my head probably pops! Chuckle! 
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I’ve gotten the F360 on my computer, I just have been spending my time learning Sketchup since I had gotten that program first. I really should learn F360.
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It’s a great program!
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Your time learning Sketchup won’t be totally wasted when you come over to F360 as the concepts of 3d modeling are the same. A quick one off is easier and quicker in Sketchup but once you start doing more complex things or need to tweak a material thickness, F360 stands head and shoulders above Sketchup.
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