so I was following a street sweeper...

[Devs]

First off, I have never seen a sweeper bristle that is that shiny. Nice work!

Now to some odd facts I came by a man who got locked out of his sweeper. The bristles start out at a full 12 in from the base of the mount on a Schwartz Sweeper (Most common in the US). They come off when caught in cracks in the road or curb. Getting caught in the curb is the most common way they get snapped off. (So check near that deep crack in the curb).. On another note I did get some bristles from the driver after I asked him if I could "Trim" his brushes. I also found out that "Stray bristles" ( bristles that are out the the side of the brush) are concidered dangerous and destructive and when they stop they snap these bristles off and throw them away. So if you can find where they stop for coffee or lunch and start a frendly convercation, you may be lucky enough to get a hand full of bristles straight from the brush!

Good Scavenging - Dev

[linty]

i managed to get about 8 bristles last time a sweeper went down my street, but i found that they were almost all brittle from rust and wear. wouldn't they have to be brittle already to snap off like that, or am I expecting too much in thinking I should be able to bend one 90 degrees without first heating it?

[raimundo]

metal work hardens when it flexes, you could bend a coathanger back and forth til it breaks at the bend, you can even burn your finger on the bend if you do it fast, because this heats up the molecules, so what happens to thes e is that at the point where they break off, they have hardened enough to become brittle, if they are brittle along the whole lenght, that is a different matter, probably quality control fault at the tempering furnace.

[Devs]

am I expecting too much in thinking I should be able to bend one 90 degrees without first heating it?

No, your not expecting too much. You can do it if you do it Very slowly. Don't expect a sharp corner but you can do it without heating it. However if your thinking of using it for a tenson wrench, I would have to say you should heat it. You are dealing with a type of spring steel. You can make a 90 bend without heating it but I don't think the tool won't last too long. -Dev

[linty]

yeah, i never even managed to get them to bend much at all, a few pieces bent okay but most just snapped. maybe the salt on canadian roads did a number on them or something.

[TheMikeMan]

I have about 200 bristles in my basement that I collected in one day! They don't seem like anything special. I prefer wiper blade inserts.

[Lokka]

mike the man,
where did you get so many at once? okay im in finland, so its maybe
stupid to ask, but maybe it´s some "spot" that anyone can find in every country?
i have been thinking that they have to change the rotating things where they
are attached as the inserts get too short to work well on their purposes,
so theres got to be a place where they throw them used ones...
i can imagine, a hundred or more, about 13 - 15 cm long inserts for one
rotating thing.

i found the bristles cool enough for me though im now using mostly
windshield wiper inserts, as they are easyer to find,as they are thiker and
provide better tensioners and stiffer pics.

[Unholy Ham]

Lucky guys... I live in the suburbs, so I never get them.

[Shrub]

I live in the country, whats a street sweeper?

Whats a street lol

To be honest the ones ive seen here are nylon bristles but i have seen the metal ones on here, i much prefer wiper inserts for wrenches if i need to make one,

[Izekieal]

Lucky guys... I live in the suburbs, so I never get them.

I live in the suburbs as well. The street sweeper comes around about once a month to clean the roads. You could also try going to your local shopping center, where the sweepers most likely clean weekly... Or you could try the looking downtown areas. As mentiond before.. I've found them near drains next to sidewalks, and near cracks in the road next to the curb.

[cL4y]

I don't actually know if we have metal bristles here in Aus.

But one day i saw the "green machine" a one man, tiny street sweeper
but seeing the term "green" on the side made the impression that it wouldn't have metal bristles.

Also,about 1 year ago,a cat was sucked up by a street sweeper and i think it would have died if they were metal.

Yes thats right,it survived

[skold]

I don't actually know if we have metal bristles here in Aus.

But one day i saw the "green machine" a one man, tiny street sweeper
but seeing the term "green" on the side made the impression that it wouldn't have metal bristles.

Also,about 1 year ago,a cat was sucked up by a street sweeper and i think it would have died if they were metal.

Yes thats right, it survived

Yes, all council hired machines use spring steel bristles.

But, whats so environmentally harming about spring steel and a bit of water?

[cL4y]

You tell me,they might say green as in using solar-power or something.
Cool if SS/bristles are here in aus,i might start looking.