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Used Mylar, is it worth saving to sell somewhere?

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(@foggyidea)
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I am sure that I am not the only one that has a few sheets of mylar laying around. I have sheets that were plotted by mistake, originals that have been edited so that the first plot is junk now, plans that were never brought to fruition, and then a few that just aren't needed any longer.

OK lets guess, 25 lbs worth of used mylar.

I know this is expensive stuff, but is it recyclable? Or, is there a market to sell it, like metal yards? Maybe a "Drafting Supply Yard?" LOL

What do y'all do with used mylar, and please don't say, "wipe it off and use it again." The finish doesn't survive that process and still be a media suitable for the plotter.

Dtp

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 9:16 am
(@lmbrls)
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The one project in the last few years requiring mylar originals cost over $800 @ $15 a sheet. It was a 25,000 acre boundary. I definitely would think there is a market somewhere.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 11:01 am
(@jim-frame)
Posts: 7277
 

I think about this every time I trim a 24x36 sheet down to 18x26. It seems like a waste, but I've never found a use for those trimmings.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 11:54 am
(@andy-nold)
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(@kris-morgan)
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Jim Frame, post: 447595, member: 10 wrote: I think about this every time I trim a 24x36 sheet down to 18x26. It seems like a waste, but I've never found a use for those trimmings.

If you went to an 18x24 you'd have two. 🙂

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 1:03 pm
(@bob-freeman)
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Hi Don
Can't you glue them together to make some sails?

How about a market for linen?

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 1:46 pm
 John
(@john)
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A friend of mine uses old mylar (shredded I think) for insulation in his house. Surprisingly helpful from what he has told me.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 2:36 pm
(@daniel-ralph)
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A surveyor friend of mine (long passed) had his business cards printed on mylar with the fade out grid. It was useful for several things but he mostly used it to win bar bets that you couldn't tear his business card in half.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 2:43 pm
(@dgm-pls)
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Maybe use it as flashing on an old house so when someone rehabs it in another hundred years they find something cool on it. Time capsule of sorts..

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 4:27 pm
(@mark-mayer)
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Kris Morgan, post: 447613, member: 29 wrote: If you went to an 18x24 you'd have two. 🙂

That sheet size is a California State requirement for Records of Survey.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 4:36 pm
(@rj-schneider)
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Halloween is just around the corner.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 4:53 pm
(@summerprophet)
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Jim,
Those trimmings are a good size for printing up navigational protractors, which are a nice little tool if you need a quick idea of a meets and bounds description without having autocad at your fingertips. Make a bunch, as they obviously don't do well with water.

If you use loose paper in field books, they make a nice divider page to separate jobs.

Before my time, they would trace irregular boundaries onto Mylar, trim it, and weigh it to determine land areas.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 7:18 pm
(@jim-frame)
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Daniel Ralph, post: 447637, member: 8817 wrote: A surveyor friend of mine (long passed) had his business cards printed on mylar with the fade out grid.

I made some of those once using some of my mylar scraps. They're interesting, but not particularly appealing.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 7:51 pm
(@jim-frame)
Posts: 7277
 

Another thing I made once is a bunch of level-rod-style strips a couple of feet long. I planned to use them for one-man leveling in urban areas -- tape them to light poles such that they were visible from both directions along the level route. But I only used them once for that, and decided that it wasn't a very useful idea; I still needed a real rod at the start and end of the run.

 
Posted : 20/09/2017 7:56 pm
(@nate-the-surveyor)
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There are some interesting things you can do with mylar. Cut into spiral shapes. Donate to arts and craft folks. Good for line art.

 
Posted : 21/09/2017 4:09 am
(@flga-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2)
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Don,
It will work as a vapor barrier and a Dog house insulator too. 🙂

 
Posted : 21/09/2017 6:02 am
(@rj-schneider)
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Nate The Surveyor, post: 447685, member: 291 wrote: There are some interesting things you can do with mylar. Cut into spiral shapes. Donate to arts and craft folks. Good for line art.

That's it. If it worked with a black light you could make some crazy halloween stuff .. for those who do the whole halloween thing.

 
Posted : 21/09/2017 9:12 am
(@andy-nold)
Posts: 2016
 

FL/GA PLS., post: 447699, member: 379 wrote: Don,
It will work as a vapor barrier and a Dog house insulator too. 🙂

And it burns too. Not sure I would use it as a construction material.

Hmm... I wonder if it has enough BTUs to fire a steam locomotive?

 
Posted : 21/09/2017 12:04 pm
(@jim-in-az)
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You can use it to sharpen knives - like a barber uses a leather strop to sharpen a straight razor - its surprisingly abrasive.

 
Posted : 21/09/2017 12:20 pm
(@a-harris)
Posts: 8761
 

Make cell phone fold over slipper.

 
Posted : 21/09/2017 12:53 pm