Disposing Of Old Scientific Instruments?

I'm trying to get some of my FIL's junk out of my garage. One shelf has a bunch of old equipment he used while getting his Ecology degree. It all seems to be related to measuring humidity and soil moisture.

I have one of these:

Something that looks like this called a hygrothermograph:

And two small "travel size" versions of the hygrothermograph.

It looks like all this equipment has been replaced by modern versions that are WAY cheaper and more accurate, so they have little value for science. I hate to toss it in the scrap metal pile, but there market for this stuff seems non-existent. I may toss it in the trunk and swing by the local antiques store to see if they are interested.

Put it on CraigsList under "Steampunk." Seriously.

Appleseed wrote: Put it on CraigsList under "Steampunk." Seriously.

DAMN that's brilliant!

That stuff is WAY too modern to be steampunk (or even dieselpunk)...but it's also quite obsolete. Maybe look at selling them to a company that rents out movie props?

You think half of the things steampunkers use is actually old? Give me a weekend with those, and I'll prove you wrong.

It'll take a lot of work to make that stuff look old, is what I'm saying.

Backup idea: swing by the local community college or college college and see if they would like you to donate it.

Might also reach out to local highschool science teachers.

Appleseed wrote: Put it on CraigsList under "Steampunk." Seriously.

That's just what I was thinking

A geotechnical consulting company might take the soil moisture meter.

The other thing looks like one we had in high school science lab 50 years ago.

Donate it to a community college?

Well so much for that idea. FIL wants it to be used somewhere and not just parted out for costumes. I told him that was his choice and I'll be delivering the stuff to him today so he can arrange that on his own time. I've stored it for 10 years, time for it to go!

Toss in local creek.

That's my standard joke I tell tire/battery guys when they charge me a recycle price. I tell them not to charge me I'll toss them in a creek by my house.

I've seen guys eyes get really big. Try it.

Um, my father in law might be interested. Can't promise he would use them (but he would absolutely display them and explain to everyone how they work), but if you're still looking for a home let me know.

Try your local high school. Someone teaching earth science or something may be interested. My buddy who teaches high school bio/chem. will take about anything related to science that still works and find a way to use it.

+1 for donating it to a local college.

slefain wrote: It looks like all this equipment has been replaced by modern versions that are WAY cheaper and more accurate, so they have little value for science.

Are you 100% sure of that? We sell/service equipment to measure coating and plating thickness. We deal with plenty of fairly modern Xray Fluorescence and Beta Backscatter items, but some customers are still using crap that looks WAY older than that.

eBay that E36 M3!