Nothing Lasts Forever

[ChazzC]

Hi Guys,

Recycling electronics scrap, computer main boards, and plug in cards, mobile phones are big business today. Gold, platinum, silver and other metals that can be recovered are worth immeasurable amounts of money. I know that the value of broken scrapped carbide tooling is enormous. But the scrap merchants will take it all away for free.

But better than having to pay to get rid of it.

 

[Steamchick]

Hmmm. I haven't got any "broken scrapped carbide tooling"... (My wife never has "left-over wine for cooking"!!).
Somehow bits of disposable tips always seem to get brazed onto another bit of bar and ground into something useful - like a special boring bar - or whatever I need next that isn't in the boxes of tools I already have... (Inherited from 2 Grandfathers and my Dad). I once even had to deliberately break a carbide insert for the piece I wanted! ! Half stayed in a single piece, the broken bits of the other half gave me the little bit I wanted for a small boring bar cutting point! - Maybe I spend more making tools than the cost of buying, but it is a hobby,,,,
Scrap steel here is almost worthless, = not worth the petrol going to the scrap-yard - but all other metals get weighed-in - when I have re-cycled them to death!
The other day, a rusty lump of broken bolt and nut was recycled into the boss for a steel knob to replace a 5-year-old plastic knob on a gas tap.. (Finished piece 10mm dia x 8 mm long... - remaining stub 15mm long - It will get used - one day!).

 

[Richard Hed]

Hi Guys,

Recycling electronics scrap, computer main boards, and plug in cards, mobile phones are big business today. Gold, platinum, silver and other metals that can be recovered are worth immeasurable amounts of money. I know that the value of broken scrapped carbide tooling is enormous. But the scrap merchants will take it all away for free.

I bid on a 55gal barrel of broken/used carbide tooling. It went WAY beyond reality. sNOt only that, but the shipping cost would have been enormoius because of the weight.

 

[BaronJ]

Hi Richard, ken,

I wish that I could discover how much gets paid for scrap carbide. The local scrappy seems to get a one ton skip filled and then it quickly disappears. On several occasions I've been told to take bits that I've wanted. I've also collected new unopened boxes of HSS tool bits for little or no money.

 

[L98fiero]

Hi Richard, ken,

I wish that I could discover how much gets paid for scrap carbide. The local scrappy seems to get a one ton skip filled and then it quickly disappears. On several occasions I've been told to take bits that I've wanted. I've also collected new unopened boxes of HSS tool bits for little or no money.

Totally different here, I just checked local(Canadian) prices, yellow brass is $3.30/pound, Tungsten Carbide is $10.00/pound, I dropped in at the local scrap yard and asked to BUY some yellow brass and they said they don't even sell it let alone give some away.

 

[Steamchick]

The local scrap yards here have all become "high tech" in their approach - because of legal reasons... or something. You need to sign forms when weighing-in, payment for scrap is by bankers draft to your account, you can't wander around, find a bit of metal then buy it - They don't sell except after sorting to proper metal merchants for re-cycling. I used to buy all my brass - as much as I wanted "for a Fiver" - even some bronze extrusions etc. - off-cuts from local machinists, etc. But all those small scrap yards have gone because of legislation, or whatever.
And when selling scrap to them, iron and steel is 75p/kg. copper and alloys £5 per kg (or whatever, daily rate changes). But each metal weighed-in must have at least £20 value before they'll give you a penny.
C'est la guerre?
K2

 

[Richard Hed]

The local scrap yards here have all become "high tech" in their approach - because of legal reasons... or something. You need to sign forms when weighing-in, payment for scrap is by bankers draft to your account, you can't wander around, find a bit of metal then buy it - They don't sell except after sorting to proper metal merchants for re-cycling. I used to buy all my brass - as much as I wanted "for a Fiver" - even some bronze extrusions etc. - off-cuts from local machinists, etc. But all those small scrap yards have gone because of legislation, or whatever.
And when selling scrap to them, iron and steel is 75p/kg. copper and alloys £5 per kg (or whatever, daily rate changes). But each metal weighed-in must have at least £20 value before they'll give you a penny.
C'est la guerre?
K2

Yes, that happened in MOses Lake, that is, the Soviet of Washington, but it was becqause of so much theiving that the Soviet passed an ID law, so stolen metals might be possible to track. One of my local scrap yards really didn't like it, and neither did I when it first started. But now, I don't feel that way. It helps stop theiving.

 

[somniosus]

Thankfully here in Nova Scotia the scrap yard I deal with is super friendly and glad to sell metal . Brass runs around 3 dollars a pound, aluminum is about a buck, and carbide is 15, often for unused bits . They also save interesting brass artifacts for me and over the years I have collected many WW 1 vintage artillery shells and even a brass survey theodolite, for the metal price in pounds. Often find round bar and hex stock in big lengths ( up to 3 od by 10 feet) . Bronze is also available usually as sheet up to .25 thick. Living in a city that has been here 250 years means a lot of old house tear downs, and old businesses frequently yield unusual stuff. Periodically a real find like a babbit metal ingot shows up. Its a real gold mine, and some of my favorite times are seeing whats new in scrap this week. Most of the staff on the floor in this big indoor/outdoor setup are ladies and they are very helpful and friendly. I dont go to the metal retail businesses where metal costs are astronomical and selection limited much, having amassed enough scrap non ferrous to last the rest of my existence.
Having said that metal theft in this region, especially power lines etc is a major problem. It seems if you are desperate for your next fix you just tie your pickup to a power line and drag it away. There have been a number of electrocution deaths here related to trying to steal live high voltage wire.
One thing I do is regularly bring my scrap yard friends treats, coffee , gatorade in the summer, cookies, and sometimes cases of adult beverages in the season. Last year I dropped off a pallet of assorted food just before Christmas as they work for minimum wage. They are always happy to see me wether I have brought them a treat or not and are some of the nicest people I know.

 

[Richard Hed]

Thankfully here in Nova Scotia the scrap yard I deal with is super friendly and glad to sell metal . Brass runs around 3 dollars a pound, aluminum is about a buck, and carbide is 15, often for unused bits . They also save interesting brass artifacts for me and over the years I have collected many WW 1 vintage artillery shells and even a brass survey theodolite, for the metal price in pounds. Often find round bar and hex stock in big lengths ( up to 3 od by 10 feet) . Bronze is also available usually as sheet up to .25 thick. Living in a city that has been here 250 years means a lot of old house tear downs, and old businesses frequently yield unusual stuff. Periodically a real find like a babbit metal ingot shows up. Its a real gold mine, and some of my favorite times are seeing whats new in scrap this week. Most of the staff on the floor in this big indoor/outdoor setup are ladies and they are very helpful and friendly. I dont go to the metal retail businesses where metal costs are astronomical and selection limited much, having amassed enough scrap non ferrous to last the rest of my existence.
Having said that metal theft in this region, especially power lines etc is a major problem. It seems if you are desperate for your next fix you just tie your pickup to a power line and drag it away. There have been a number of electrocution deaths here related to trying to steal live high voltage wire.
One thing I do is regularly bring my scrap yard friends treats, coffee , gatorade in the summer, cookies, and sometimes cases of adult beverages in the season. Last year I dropped off a pallet of assorted food just before Christmas as they work for minimum wage. They are always happy to see me wether I have brought them a treat or not and are some of the nicest people I know.

What in the world type of industry uses that type of material in your area? I live in an area where major industry has only moved into the area in the last 30 years and they don't have anything like that here. But there is a lot of agricultural related stainless here.

There is one industry here that uses refractory brick that has lots of little square holes thru the sides. it's like a sieve. Don't know what they do with it. But about once a month, they dump truck loads of it in the dump. Would certainly like to get my paws on some of that.

 

[Richard Hed]

Hi Richard, ken,

I wish that I could discover how much gets paid for scrap carbide. The local scrappy seems to get a one ton skip filled and then it quickly disappears. On several occasions I've been told to take bits that I've wanted. I've also collected new unopened boxes of HSS tool bits for little or no money.

Whoa, you're my new best friend, too bad you live so far away.

 

[ChazzC]

Hi Richard, ken,

I wish that I could discover how much gets paid for scrap carbide. The local scrappy seems to get a one ton skip filled and then it quickly disappears. On several occasions I've been told to take bits that I've wanted. I've also collected new unopened boxes of HSS tool bits for little or no money.

Whoa, you're my new best friend, too bad you live so far away.

Hey, I've been to York! Walked a goodly portion of the City Wall, but that was 27 years ago.

 

[somniosus]

In response to Richard, this is Halifax NS which is a shipping center, international port, has a big shipyard, local aerospace industry, 2 airports, military airport and naval yard and dozens of smaller shops that do jobber work so theres a lively industrial machining base feeding the scrap yards. We see a lot of c and c cut metal scraps as well as old stuff being cut up for metal. Once in a while the police dump a load of seized guns that get carefully cut into tiny bits using a massive set of shears, even the cut up bits get spirited away under guard.
Attached is a shot of a working model British WW 1 4.5 inch howitzer I built using brass metal scrap from the yard, it is 1:8 scale, weighs about 30 pounds and fires a custom blank cartridge, all traverse/elevation/brakes etc work, uses a horizontal sliding breech which locks up. I used a piece of scrap rotocast bearing bronze for the barrel and it is entirely built up using silver solder and mostly 4 40 bolts. I would estimate the total metal costs around 90 dollars or so. No plans, built it from photographs and making the odd wood model first to get the proportions and mechanics right.

 

[Richard Hed]

In response to Richard, this is Halifax NS which is a shipping center, international port, has a big shipyard, local aerospace industry, 2 airports, military airport and naval yard and dozens of smaller shops that do jobber work so theres a lively industrial machining base feeding the scrap yards. We see a lot of c and c cut metal scraps as well as old stuff being cut up for metal. Once in a while the police dump a load of seized guns that get carefully cut into tiny bits using a massive set of shears, even the cut up bits get spirited away under guard.
Attached is a shot of a working model British WW 1 4.5 inch howitzer I built using brass metal scrap from the yard, it is 1:8 scale, weighs about 30 pounds and fires a custom blank cartridge, all traverse/elevation/brakes etc work, uses a horizontal sliding breech which locks up. I used a piece of scrap rotocast bearing bronze for the barrel and it is entirely built up using silver solder and mostly 4 40 bolts. I would estimate the total metal costs around 90 dollars or so. No plans, built it from photographs and making the odd wood model first to get the proportions and mechanics right.

That's fabulous, and thanx for that info on Halifax. Never knew it had those capabilities. If I weren't on the Left Coast, I would come for a visit just to see all that.

It's too bad Ulysses didn't have those guns during the Civil. Had he had them, they might have ended the war sooner and there would have been less bitterness from the south. Do you know if trhey had pneumatic tyres?