Episode 10 Money for Nothing

That's not going in the tip, is it?

Yes.

How do you make money for nothing?

What are you dropping off? Anything exciting?

The answer could be hiding in over 20 million tonnes of household waste

thrown out by us every year.

That is a fishing rod habit.

That's why entrepreneur Sarah Moore wants to get her hands on things

before they hit the skip.

I'm a passionate buyer, maker and user of old stuff

and I've turned that passion into a moneymaking business.

I make new stuff out of old stuff

and I sell it for a profit.

And with some of the country's elite designers and makers...

-What do you think?

-I think it's beautiful.

I've brought you my washing machine.

Oh, wow.

..she can transform her finds into desirable...

What have you done?

..valuable...

Oh, amazing.

..and hopefully saleable items.

That is one clever sandwich.

If Sarah is successful,

then she can hand the profits back to the very people who had no idea

there was cash to be made from their trash.

You're joking!

At the Earlswood recycling centre in Surrey,

people are geared up for a day of dumping.

But junk genius Sarah Moore wants to catch things

before they're crushed.

Well, between the garden sheds and the bush trimmings,

I know great stuff is going to turn up here today.

I've just got to stop it going in the skips and get my hands on it.

Sarah acquired special permission to rifle through the rubbish...

That's a big clear out.

..in order to find three items that have the potential

to bring in the bucks.

Are you moving or are you just...?

I'm moving in and this is what's going out.

-Is it his?

-Yes!

I hope he knows they're going!

He'll find out soon enough!

Here we go, why don't you have a look and see if there's anything

you fancy in Ed's boot?

-Hello, there.

-Oh, hello.

-Hi.

I've just spotted something in your boot.

-Right.

-What is it, a voltmeter or...?

-An avometer.

-What's that for?

Or what was it for?

It was what is now, you know by the modern equivalent,

called a multimeter.

Ed Shaw knows his meters.

This old avometer combines several functions in one unit,

measuring current, voltage and resistance.

So how old do you reckon that is?

Probably about 1950.

Modern multimeters now fit snugly in the palm of your hand,

unlike that big thing, which would struggle to fit snugly anywhere.

I did use it when I first inherited it from my father.

-Right.

-Then it sat in the garage for a while

but I'm having a clear out of the garage, a few things going out,

so I'm going to cut my losses and get rid of it in the clear out.

I think it has got something very interesting about it.

-Probably, yes.

-It has retro appeal.

-Doesn't it?

-OK, if it appeals to you.

It definitely appeals to me.

Well, I think that this is a lovely thing.

I think it's decorative, if not useful any more.

-Not decorative!

-Not decorative? I love the look of it.

I'm going to take it away, so thank you so much

-and I'll come and find you if it has a new life.

-OK, good luck.

-Goodbye.

-Right.

Oh, Ed, are you sure you don't think they are decorative?

Sarah can work wonders, you know.

Go on, what do you think she will do?

No, I... I wouldn't see it as a flower vase, really,

but she might be able to do something with it.

Well, I don't think it's going to have a current going through it

any more but look at it. You know who's going to love it, don't you?

I certainly do.

Mark Haig.

Mark uses his decades of engineering experience

to create one-of-a-kind sculptures from second-hand materials,

although his true passion...

robots.

The thing that makes me smile when I come into work is,

is thinking that I'm going to be building something somebody likes.

There's always a challenge. Every sculpture that I build has got

a different challenge to it.

And I love thinking through those challenges.

I suppose it used to be a hobby.

Now it's an obsession.

Well, Mark, we'll see how passionate you are

when Sarah drops this thing off at your door.

That's one item ready for a makeover.

Sarah's back skulking around people's boots to find another two.

Well, if it's any good, definitely.

What must people think when she starts poking around their rubbish?

They just think I'm weird.

I wonder why?

Perhaps Deborah and David will keep you occupied

with what they're chucking out.

Wow, you've got that packed in there, haven't you?

-Hi, there, hello.

-Hello.

What are you...? Oh, what's that you're throwing away?

I can see the bed.

That's the table. Three-legged table.

-My mother's three-legged table.

-Oh!

Oh, steady on, Sarah!

How long have you had that?

My mother-in-law's had it about 40 years.

Excellent. It's definitely got that vintage look to it, hasn't it?

-It has.

-Yes.

-And so what was it? Just her coffee table, or...?

Yeah, just, yeah.

It looks almost like an artist's palette, doesn't it?

Yes, it does.

Yes, it does,

although it's more commonly referred to as kidney-shaped.

It's definitely got a little bit of appeal.

Kidney-shaped furniture was popular in France

before arriving on these shores in the late 18th century.

It's not so popular now, though.

So she's just not using it any more?

No, she's downsizing.

There won't be space in the new place.

Right, gosh, we hear that story such a lot.

Well, instead of putting it in the recycling,

please may I take it away instead?

-Absolutely.

-Do.

If I do something with it, can I come and show you?

-Yes.

-No problem at all.

Fantastic. Thanks so much.

Thank you.

So Sarah's got herself a kidney-shaped table

to update, but what will she do with it? Deborah?

I think Sarah will paint it multi-colours of varying,

clashing colours, I'm sure.

And is that kind of thing up your street?

Possibly, possibly not.

Well, look at it. It's kidney-shaped,

it's small and it's got retro written all over it.

A classic 1950s three-legged table.

I think it's a little beauty.

Tricky to make a massive profit out of it,

so I've got to make sure it goes to just the right person.

Person or persons?

Meet Josh and his best pal Ollie.

These dedicated designers have a passion

for turning unwanted waste into must-have items.

This definitely isn't just a job, erm,

because I think we invest way more of ourselves in it.

So I think it's, it's a passion, it's a job.

Yeah, a bit of everything, really.

I didn't get into this for the money side of it.

I think what makes us different is the fact that we,

we really just love doing what we do so much.

You've never let Sarah down in the past, boys.

Let's just hope you have some good ideas to bring to this table.

That's two items set aside.

Sarah's back on the hunt for a certain something

she can work on herself,

but so far, the pickings are slim.

Well, it hasn't been the quickest of starts but you know what they say,

the slow one always wins the race.

Come on.

That isn't what they say!

Oh, hold your horses,

Peter might have something a little faster in the back of his car.

Hello, there.

-Oh, hello.

-Hi, I'm going to introduce myself.

-Hi, I'm Sarah.

-Hello, Sarah.

Hi, there. Because I like the look of your horse.

-Yes, yeah.

-Is he going tip bound or is he...?

Yes, I'm afraid so, yes.

Used to be my son's.

Oh, really? Would it be all right to bring him out to have a closer look?

-Yeah, sure, yeah.

-Thank you.

So, erm, did you have him from new?

Erm, no, he was bought by my parents for my son.

OK, so he would have been second-hand at that point, would he?

Oh, he was, yeah. Yes, I think he's from the '60s.

Yeah, I think it's a company called Mobo who makes these.

-Oh, is it, really?

-Yeah, and I think they,

they produced them up until the kind of mid-'70s,

so he's got a really good look and the fact he's made of metal

-is so lovely, because...

-Yeah, it is.

He'd be plastic if he was made today, wouldn't he?

Did he have a name?

Erm, only Rocky.

Rocky!

However did you come up with that?

Well, I think he's just beautiful and I can't stand the thought of him

ending up in the metal skip so could I try and rescue him?

Of course you can, yeah.

I'm so pleased that turned out.

Lovely to chat. Thank you so much.

I shall take him away and be back in touch.

-OK.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Oh, Sarah's saved little Rocky from being put out to pasture

but does Peter think there's still life left in the old boy yet?

I've got no idea what Sarah's going to do

with old Rocky the rocking horse, but, erm, let's hope she can

do something rather than him just going in the skip.

Well, Rocky is a rare thing.

He's so retro and beautiful.

He's made of metal and that makes him really useful as well.

I've got some great ideas for him.

He's going to be absolutely amazing.

Come on, Rocky. We've got work to do.

As a Rocky rides off into the sunset,

Sarah's day at the dump is done.

Mark will add some robo razzmatazz to the multimeter,

Josh and Ollie will work their magic on the table,

and Sarah has Rocky to play with.

I mean, work on, obviously.

Well, there've been times today when it's felt like quite hard work

finding things amongst the trash,

but I think we've gathered some great things.

Huge potential, lots of hard work to come,

I'm well up for the challenge.

Before Sarah gets started on her own project,

she's stopped off in Manchester.

The old multimeter had robot written all over it.

But will bionic builder Mark agree?

Sarah often turns up with her own ideas about things

and also her own idea of budgets as well.

So I need to rein her in a little bit sometimes to see

if we can come to some sort of an agreement.

And hopefully it'll be all right, but we'll see.

Hello. Hiya.

-How are you doing?

-Hello, Sarah.

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Have I got a little present for you.

-Look at that.

-Ah, happy little smiley face.

-Isn't he gorgeous?

-It is, yes.

Lovely. Lovely. Use these all the time.

The moment I saw it, I...

Yeah, don't look too closely at it.

Smiley face with wear.

It just shouted, "Make me into a robot."

-Yeah.

-So, what do you reckon?

So, have you seen those guitar amps that you get?

Oh, yeah, my kids have got them.

-Yeah?

-So, little...

Not that little.

-About that little.

-And they are kind of retro-styled, lots of them,

aren't they? Well, you've probably got the originals, haven't you?

Mm-hm. So, use that as the body.

-OK.

-And arms off the side, so he stands...

that kind of size.

-Two and a half foot, three foot tall, sort of thing.

-Brilliant.

And do you just use that as a guitar amp, then?

No, because if you get a different kind of cable,

you can use it as an MP3.

So, you can plug in your smartphone and you can play

-your guitar through it.

-Mm-hm.

-And it sits there and it looks...

-Awesome.

-Awesome! Fantastic.

So, it'll be a functional guitar amp robot.

Music to Sarah's ears.

But will she still be smiling when she hears about the money?

How much is that going to cost?

I think I could do that for sort of the £200 mark.

£200 mark sounds fab, Mark.

Yeah, I think that's really good.

-Good luck.

-Job done.

-Yeah, excellent.

-Give me a shout.

-I will do.

-Bye.

-Bye-bye.

A guitar amp is all well and good,

but making a saleable cyborg from all that clutter, well,

that's going to be a challenge.

I like the robots that I build to look symmetrical,

so finding two of a brass vase for instance is often quite difficult.

So, if I can't find something, then I'll have to hunt it down.

Sarah and Mark agreed a budget of £200 for the musical robot.

Will Mark really be able to transform it from junk to funk?

Because at the moment, the only thing coming out of it is grunge.

From Manchester to Sussex.

Sarah's brought along the kidney-shaped coffee table,

hoping that woodworking wonder chaps Josh and Ollie

can make it look like the bee's knees.

Excited to see what she's got for us this time.

Yeah, we are always up for a challenge

and she always seems to bring us one, so...

Hello. Hi.

-How are you?

-Yeah, good.

A little kidney-shaped table for you.

-Yeah, cool.

-OK, so, at the moment,

it is just a little kidney-shaped table,

but I was hoping you might be able to give it some punch,

add something to it or do something impressive with it.

-I'm sure we can.

-It looks like a little jellybean, doesn't it?

Yeah.

Yeah, Josh, whatever you say.

Jellybean, kidney shape...

kidney bean jelly shape...

Wait, what?

For me, the shape of this needs a little bit of updating.

-Great.

-And then either make it into a stack of three nesting tables...

-Right.

-..or maybe make two other tables that kind of interlock

-in some way to form a bigger table.

-OK, great,

so would you look at re-finishing this one at all?

I think we would probably sand this back

and then give it a bit of our own finish.

So, this has a bit of an update as well.

OK. I like that.

So, we are going for something bigger, better,

more tables, more money...

Tell me, how much would it be to recreate this times three?

Probably looking at, like, around the 300, 350 mark?

OK. I'm thinking I'm not going to get a huge amount more than 350

for a nest of tables. So, as close we can get to the 300 is good.

But if you hit the right look, these kind of things sell well,

so just go for it.

Yeah. OK, cool.

-Thanks very much.

-No worries.

-Nice to see you.

-See you soon.

Making a profit from this might be a challenge,

but with the boys on board, at least there's a chance.

So I think just one challenge is going to be

trying to keep it on budget.

We are just going to have to find a way that we can keep it simple

but still do something that looks really nice.

With a hefty budget involved in this one,

Josh and Ollie's design is going to have to be on the money.

With Mark, Josh and Ollie all ready to rock,

in Sussex, Sarah has been rocking all afternoon.

Seriously though, she's far too big for that thing.

Sadly, Rocky the rocking horse has been gathering dust

for many years, but Sarah's going to put an end to that.

I loved this little pony from the moment I saw him.

And I've got some really big plans for him.

I thought a fantastic big shade, a whole new look,

he's going to be a beautiful standard lamp.

Come on, let's get started.

A lovely light.

Giddy-up.

First job, take him off this stand.

This little pony needs to run free.

Before Sarah makes a start on the lighting,

she's removing the rusty metal horse from the rusty metal frame.

These types of metal toy horses were first manufactured in the 1940s.

Sweating already!

Their popularity was short lived,

as moulded plastic toys became cheaper to produce and safer.

This could hurt.

Ouch. Poor Rocky.

Sometimes you've got to be cruel to be kind.

This is definitely for his own good.

I'm not sure he would agree with that.

Doesn't he look magnificent?

I think I'd better start on the lighting side of things

before I have the real fun decorating him.

So, how is this going to work?

Hmm...

Sarah puts Rocky to one side, as she has a big idea.

There you are. That's nice and stable.

Oh, Sarah.

This is the remains of a really beautiful old standard lamp,

the base is all rotted, but what I'm left with is a really quite usable

pole, which I'm thinking looks just like a carousel pony support.

So this plus Rocky...

..could make a really beautiful light.

Ah, Rocky is going to the circus.

Carousels with rideable decorative horses were also known as

flying horses, or horse abouts.

Honestly, horse abouts, who came up with that?!

So, that goes on there like that.

And you've turned into a carousel pony.

I told you I'd make you beautiful.

Sorry about the sawing.

I don't think he's forgiven you for that.

With a rough plan of how it will all go together,

Sarah now wants to give Rocky a shiny new coat.

Of paint, that is.

My favourite bit.

Time to get some colour on that pony.

In the unlikely event you're planning to spray paint

a horse at home, please, like Sarah, wear a protective mask

and apply in a well ventilated area.

I'm just putting some big blocks of colour on him and then I'm going

to add detail with a paintbrush.

Sarah doesn't want the light to go back into the nursery.

She's trying to achieve a high-end finish

she can charge a high-end price for.

How's it looking?

It's not quite working. I'm going to respray that top bit.

He's heading back towards the nursery.

Just hate red, can't do it.

Oh, dear.

The really good thing about this is every time I get it wrong,

I can just spray over it.

Yeah, but you'll end up spending a fortune on paint.

So far, Sarah has spent £15 on Rocky's renovation.

But with the lighting still to fit, and lampshade still to buy,

and Rocky's potentially endless makeovers,

the budget on this is in danger of skyrocketing.

From Sussex to Manchester,

a city that has given birth to some of the most influential music on the planet,

and soon to be the next musical superstar...

No, that's just Mark.

It's this happy chappie.

The discussion with Sarah was that we were going to make

a music playing robot out of this.

So I need to find a speaker that's the right kind of size

for the sculpture

so it becomes like an MP3 playing robot.

So, yeah, that's definitely going to be the head.

A big smile.

A bit like that.

Beautiful.

Mark starts the impossible task of sorting through

his junk jungle to find just the right speaker

that has correct size, shape and...

Oh, there's one there.

So, this is a guitar practice amp.

This is what I'm going to use for the body.

Next, Mark picks out some metal to use for the robot's legs.

Nice sort of vintage curtain pole.

Then cuts to size.

Mark has spent years adding to his clutter cave.

To him, every piece of junk in here is beautiful in its own way.

Well, maybe not them.

Really nice sound out of these.

I also like building with them

because it's a nice wooden construction,

so they are quite easy to work with.

Mark has drilled holes in the wooden casing.

He's driving a steel rod through to make a kind of metal skeleton for the legs.

I have cut myself some threaded steel bar.

Most guitar amplifiers are made from wood

as the sound resonates better.

Always a bit of origami of my hands required.

These open-backed amps are particularly good

for Mark to work with

because he can get his hand in to do the fiddly bits.

Although that is looking very fiddly.

Need to get these nice and tight because I don't want the legs to fall off.

There we go.

With his skeleton secure, Mark adds the bits of metal he cut earlier.

Then it's on with the feet.

Or loaf tins.

Now, there could be a problem here because this is tin,

there's a chance that it'll wobble, basically.

So I'm going to use some sort of strapping underneath there

to increase the stability.

Mark adds a couple of bits from an old projector bracket

and secures.

OK. Let's put him on his feet and see if he stands up.

Oh, he's a bit wobbly.

See it with the face on.

See if I am in the right ballpark.

Yeah, he's looking good.

Just need to find some arms now.

Mark's musical robot is coming together,

although that amp has taken some battering.

I only hope it can still make a sound when it's finished.

As Mark soldiers on,

back in Sussex,

Josh and Ollie have the dated kidney-shaped table

they plan on transforming into an interlocking nest of tables.

How are you going to do that?

What we are going to do is make like a hexagon shape

out of this wider bit of the table and just forget the rest it.

Once we've kind of figured out this table,

then we are going to make two more matching tables

out of different woods.

But exactly the same shape and height,

so when they are all together,

they will interlock because the hexagons fit really nicely together.

So...that's our plan.

It's out with the dated kidney shape and in with edgy hexagon shapes.

What could...? Josh, have you got chewing gum in your mouth?

I do.

Come on, mate. You're on telly here.

What's wrong with all these TV types?

There you are. You can save it for later.

Josh starts by looking out wood for the two new table tops.

The idea is to have different woods that will create contrasting colours

when they all fit together.

Managed to find a nice bit of English oak and then found

a good bit of American walnut as well.

With the wood chosen, Ollie is testing his powers of mathematics.

The finished tables have to nest snugly together

to form a solid shape,

so the calculations have to be right.

All right. So, yeah, that's the plan.

We'll get the angles perfect on the table saw.

Before Josh starts cutting out the hexagon,

he has to make the other two woods the same thickness.

And he's got a really cool machine for that.

Yeah, so, I'm just putting my bit of oak through the thicknesser.

It will just bring it down to a parallel piece of wood

and we can sort of gauge our thickness.

So the top that Sarah gave us, that's 17 mill...

A thicknesser, or thickness planer, works by setting the desired height.

Then rollers inside grip the wood and draw it into rotating knives

to give the desired thickness with pinpoint accuracy.

OK, so while Josh is working on the table tops,

I'm going to turn some of these into some of these.

So we've got some legs for our other tables.

While Josh prefers his fancy gadgets, Ollie is old school.

He's recreating the same tapered shape of the existing legs

on a wood turning lathe.

Mass production factories use copying lathes

to create exact replicas.

But master craftsman Ollie can do it all by himself.

But absolute concentration is needed,

as every minute cut has to be exactly right

or...

HE COUGHS

Look at that, he didn't even flinch.

As Ollie cracks on,

Josh is about to start cutting out the hexagon.

This will be the template he will use to cut

the other two table tops the same shape.

If this one is out by even a millimetre, it could spell disaster.

OK.

That's roughly my hexagon done.

Yeah, it's looking hexagon-ish.

Hexagon-ish?

That doesn't have a good ring to it.

Back in Sussex...

..Sarah has been working hard to make Rocky the rocking horse

a carousel-inspired standing lamp.

She was struggling with his new look,

so has she managed to capture all the fun of the fair?

I told you I'd get you to the circus.

I've got my popcorn ready.

Roll up, roll up!

Come one, come all, to see the amazing Rocky.

Once a rusty rocking horse...

..now he's a pony-powered standing lamp.

Sarah has really brought the circus to town

with Rocky's kitsch and colourful fairground paint job.

Sarah made the eye-catching lampshade from scratch,

using an old scarf from a charity shop.

A steel pole runs down the length of the stand,

securing Rocky in place and housing the electrics

which have all been Pat tested and comply with UK safety standards.

It's fun for all ages and built to amaze.

Well, it's certainly got a look, hasn't it?

I set out to get this rocking horse from the nursery to the circus

and I think that's been achieved.

So, altogether, I'm really pleased with it.

As you should be, but it's time to find a buyer.

-Hello there.

-Oh, hello.

When Sarah met Peter at the tip,

she couldn't wait to get her hands on his horse.

Did he have a name?

-Only Rocky.

-Rocky.

Rocky had been in the family a while.

He was bought by my parents for my son.

But Peter was keen to see him go to a good home.

Let's hope she can do something rather than him just go in the skip.

Peter, she did more than something.

Sarah shared pictures online to try and find a buyer

and it wasn't long before Rocky was riding off into the sunset.

The Rosebery Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne couldn't wait to saddle him up

and owner Janet wanted first ride.

Wow! I didn't anticipate it being this big

but it's absolutely fabulous.

Sarah is in Reigate in Surrey to meet up with Peter

and hand over the profit.

BELL CHIMES

That's a big one.

Hello, there. I just couldn't help myself.

How do you do? Nice to see you again.

So, that little rocking horse had been in your family

and obviously been well loved and well used.

-Yes.

-But when somebody takes it off you at the recycling centre,

do you wonder what might happen to it?

I thought you might make some sort of lamp out of it.

Yes, clever minds think alike

because I thought it would really lend itself to lighting.

So here's some pictures of how it turned out.

-Are you ready?

-Yes, I'm ready.

I painted it all up,

popped a shade on it that I made out of a vintage silk scarf.

Oh, you made it yourself, did you?

Yeah, all the wiring and hard work.

Yes, it's beautiful. It's lovely.

-Do you like it?

-I do.

I shared some pictures of it and it was snapped up,

so I'm pleased to say there's some profit.

-Oh, good.

-To give to you.

I have got

£208.50 here for you.

Gracious me. That's amazing.

So, what might happen to that money?

Oh, I shall give it to my son.

-Because it was his rocking horse.

-His rocking horse, yes.

Oh, OK. I'm sure he'll find something to do with that.

-Thank you for letting me have it.

-Thank you. Thank you very much.

Very nice to see you again and I hope he puts that to good use.

-Thank you very much.

-OK. Bye.

Sarah's total costs came to £56.50.

She sold the light for an incredible £265,

giving Peter £208.50 to give to his son.

That was one profitable pony.

Sarah is back in Manchester to find out

if fortune is smiling on the multimeter.

Well, he's certainly still smiling,

but has Mark managed to make him a Mancunian music-making machine?

There's some slight difficulties when I'm working with the amps

that I work with, but nothing too serious.

I think it all came together pretty well.

I've come back to Manchester to see Mark.

Now, when I dropped off that meter,

even I could tell it had robot potential.

But now I've come to find out if there's a smile on everybody's face.

When Sarah picked up the multimeter, it was out of date,

out of order and a thing of the past.

But not any more.

Mark has created a cool and quirky musical mechanical man.

Mark's clever design means our robot pal can connect to devices

to play music,

or you can just plug your guitar straight in and rock out.

The addition of old manual drills for arms

and amp cable clamps for hands

has really brought this little guy to life.

All the electrics have been PAT tested

and comply with all UK safety standards, but how does it sound?

It's time to face the music.

And face Sarah.

-Hello, hello.

-Hello, Sarah.

He looks amazing.

-How are you?

-Really good.

-Good.

-He is joyful, isn't he?

He's got a big smiley face, hasn't he?

So I can see amp, drills, loaf tins...

He is cracking.

So, if he's got the amp, does that mean he's tuneful as well?

Yeah, so this cable here goes down here to your phone,

so obviously you can play music through there.

You could change this cable and put in a guitar practice cable.

So you could use him as a standard guitar practice amp.

-Do you want to have a listen?

-Oh, yeah!

So...play on there.

CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYS

Amazing.

Mark, I wouldn't have put you down as a fan of classical music.

Really good sound, isn't it?

So, it sounds the business.

Now, down to business.

So, good sound quality, massive appeal.

How about the budget?

Yeah, came in...

We said 200, didn't we?

-Yeah.

-And I...

Yeah, came in at 200.

I think he's an absolute winner.

-Has he got a name?

-Yeah, I think he's called Avo.

Oh, yeah, it's written all over him, isn't it?

Avo is very happy. He's made my day.

If you get him packed up, I'll be in touch.

-Lovely.

-Great job, thank you.

-See you again.

-Bye!

Great job is right, Sarah.

It was a nice project to work on.

And that big smiley face made it all worthwhile.

Do you mean the robot or Sarah?

I mean Sarah's smiley face.

Not the robot's.

Well, Avo is one of my favourite robots ever.

He looks good, he sounds great and Mark has done all the hard work.

All I've got to do is find him a new home.

Hello, there.

When Sarah met Ed at the tip,

he taught her a thing or two about meters.

You can now buy the modern equivalent called a multimeter.

The meter had been in his family for decades.

I did use it when I first inherited it from my father.

So, Sarah saved it but Ed was sceptical.

I wouldn't see it as a flower vase, really,

but she might be able to do something with it.

Ed, you're not going to believe how it looks now.

Sarah sent out images online

and, unsurprisingly,

it was snapped up straightaway by a private buyer.

Sarah's in Redhill in Surrey to introduce Ed to Avo

and hand over the profit.

I can't wait to see his face.

Hello, there.

-Hello, Sarah.

-How are you doing?

-Well, thank you.

-So nice to see you again.

So, I love old things

and when I saw that old avometer in your boot at the tip

I was instantly attracted to it.

But did you wonder where it might end up?

Yes, knowing your propensity for interior design,

I couldn't really see it as a mantelpiece item

or something like that.

OK, well, I've got some pictures here.

I'd like to introduce you to Avo the robot.

Oh, lovely. Nice to meet him, yes.

He is an all-singing, all-dancing amp.

For you to play music through,

or for somebody to play their guitar through.

Can you think of anything polite to say about that?

-That is different!

-It's different!

I don't think I would actually put it in my living room.

But the good news is, because he is different and he has

excellent sound quality when he's played, he is saleable.

So I have managed to sell him.

I've got £75 here, so maybe that's another surprise, as well.

Ah, thank you very much.

What might you do with those funds?

Well, there are a couple of active charities within the village.

One is the restoration of the old community building

which is known as Church House.

And the other is the village bell ringers.

So it will be useful.

-So, thank you very much.

-Excellent.

Thank you so much. It's lovely to see you again.

See you at the recycling centre.

You can look in my garage, if you like, to see what else there is!

Cheers, bye!

I'm sure he loved him, really.

Mark came in on budget at £200.

With a cracking sale of £275,

Ed has £75 to give to charities in his local area.

That's two of our items now making a mint.

And in Sussex,

Sarah's back to see if one kidney-shaped table

has become three new nesting tables.

Josh and Ollie had their protractors working overtime

to make sure all the angles were correct.

Hang on, where's Ollie?

Ollie's away on holiday this week,

so he's left me to reveal these to Sarah.

Which I hope she's going to like.

I'm sure she will, because we're really pleased with them.

Ah, Ollie must've been too scared to face Sarah.

Good luck, Josh.

Well, I've left Josh and Ollie with one retro table.

I'm hoping that there are now three

and they have a fine finish and a contemporary look.

When Sarah saved the table, it was kidney-shaped

and had lost its heart and soul.

But now...

..it's the centrepiece for a trio of stylish side tables.

By simply giving the dated shape a modern makeover,

it has given it a fresh appeal.

Its two new friends have turned out equally as nice

with Ollie's tapered legs matching in both colour and style.

The table tops have been sanded and waxed

and look so smooth you just want to reach out and touch them.

They don't exactly nest.

But do they fit together?

-Hello?

-Hey.

Ooh! Wow. They're good.

-How are you doing?

-I'm very well, thanks.

Where's the one I dropped off?

-This is the one.

-That one, isn't it?

Mr Middle.

Fantastic. So a total remake?

From the start, we always wanted to reshape it, so...

And then we made a matching couple of friends for him.

So, what, a walnut one?

Walnut and...

Oh, what is it? I would say oak.

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-Good knowledge.

They look great together.

-Are you pleased with them?

-Yeah, I think so, yeah.

They make a really nice set.

OK, enough beating around the bush.

It's the moment of truth.

How snugly do they fit together?

Uh-oh!

Like a glove.

Oh, they're so good, aren't they?

Yes, they are.

And now for the money.

There was a rough budget of between £300-£350 originally discussed.

So, Josh, top end, low end?

Somewhere in between?

These are great. What's the money?

Yeah, I think we'd be happy with 300.

300 quid.

Fantastic, too. Well done.

Thank you.

On trend and on the money.

Magic.

Really chuffed. Yeah, Sarah was obviously really pleased,

so, yeah, it went very well.

Well, aren't they fantastic?

One tired table has made three fantastic items,

beautifully designed, beautifully created

and I'm really hoping they go off to new homes.

Well, let's find out.

Wow, you've got that packed in there, haven't you?

At the recycling centre, Deborah and David had something Sarah liked.

My mother's three-legged table.

The table, sadly, had to go.

She's downsizing. There won't be space in the new place.

So Sarah saved it and Deborah had an idea of what she might do.

I think Sarah will paint it multi-colours

of varying clashing colours, I'm sure.

On any other day you might have been right,

but Josh and Ollie had other ideas.

In fact, they did such a good job that all three sold

to an interiors shop in Wokingham in Berkshire.

And owner Georgina couldn't be happier.

Absolutely love them.

They are perfectly modern rustic.

They are old meets new,

they fit in with the style of our brand

and I think they're going to sell really, really quickly.

Sarah's in Tadworth in Surrey to show Deborah and David

their new look tables and hand over some cash.

-Hello, hi, Deborah. How are you doing?

-Nice to see you.

-And you. David, are you well?

-We are both well, yes.

OK, I'm here because your table, that sweet little table,

-I think it was your mother's, yes?

-My mother's, yes, that's right.

Had to have something done to it.

I couldn't see that go into the recycling centre.

So did you have any thoughts about what could be done to update it?

-No idea.

-I rather thought you might put lots of coloured paint on it

-or something like that.

-I actually went to guys

who are local to me called Josh and Ollie,

who specialise in making really fine furniture,

so here's some pictures.

Your table has inspired...

..the creation of these tables.

-Wow.

-How nice is that?

-I like that.

-That's beautiful.

-Very nice.

-Do you like them?

-Yes, I do!

-it's amazing.

-It's really good.

So, do you think your mum would approve of what's happened to it?

She certainly would, yes.

She didn't want to put anything in the dump.

So, they have actually sold to a shop in Wokingham

so I've got some profit here. There's £45, there, for your table.

I'm amazed that you got that much for it!

Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed.

I was anticipating about a fiver!

Well, I'm really pleased we've managed to make

a bit more than that, and is there something that you might do with that £45?

I suspect it might go towards a new bookcase

-that she needs for her new flat.

-Oh, fantastic.

Well, that's a great use for it, isn't it?

Thank you for letting us have the table.

-OK. Brilliant.

-Nice to see you.

-Nice to see you again.

-And you.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Josh and Ollie's total costs for the three tables were £300.

Sarah sold the lot for £345,

leaving 45 quid to share with David's mum.

Lovely.

Sarah saved three items and did them proud.

Once-cherished possessions have been given the chance to be loved again

and there's a little less waste in the world.

Three tip-bound items have been transformed

and given a whole new lease of life.

Who would've thought that was possible from a load of old rubbish?