Author Topic: Scrap yards  (Read 11378 times)

Offline Twinsquirrel

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 123
  • never rub another mans rhubarb
Scrap yards
« on: February 11, 2009, 07:13:25 AM »
Not sure if this is the right place or whether it has been covered before but here goes,

I've been reading Stews thread about his super PB find in the scrappies with envy as whenever I have tried to visit a scrap metal merchants they never seem to want anyone mooching around for stock and turn me away saying that they never/rarely get any good stuff in.

Whats the best way to get the response we all want? Are there places to avoid? Should I change my aftershave?

Cheers

David
So many ideas, so little skill

Offline sbwhart

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3530
  • Country: gb
  • Smile, Be Happy, Have Fun and Rock Until you Drop
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2009, 08:02:37 AM »
Hi

Go as if you know what your doing and fit in overalls or scruffy kit, toe tector boots, keep clear of any machinery their using lorries etc. Seek out yard forman tell him what you want and why and did he mind you having a look round after a couple of visits they won't take  much notice of you. Some yards are better than others just find the one that acceps you.

I've bin visiting scrap yard since I was about 10 years old my dad use to take me it was better than a trip to the zoo.

 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Good Luck

Stew

A little bit of clearance never got in the road
 :wave:

Location:- Crewe Cheshire

Offline Bernd

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3688
  • Country: us
  • 1915 C Cab
    • Kingstone Model Works
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2009, 08:29:17 AM »
Wish we had something like over here. There's only two I believe near me (25 mile radius) and they won't let you look around. Libility is there biggest worry. They're afraid you might sue them if you hurt yourself.

I could on about this but won't.  ::)

Bernd
Route of the Black Diamonds

bogstandard

  • Guest
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2009, 08:45:34 AM »
Stew and myself are very lucky, our local scrappies is in fact a major recycle depot, where other small scrappies, workshops and general public can take their metal for recycling.

Everything is being sorted continually into their respective categories, so it is very easy to find what you are after.

One major problem is that you can go down there and find allsorts. A couple of hours later and it will be almost empty.

There is one young man down there that if you have a word with, will put things you ask for to one side, and as long you are not too long in returning, you will be rewarded with what you want. I asked him to save me a few sash window weights, when I went back a week later there were about 20 to 30 waiting for me.

John

Offline Darren

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3795
  • N/Wales
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2009, 01:47:12 PM »
John you are very lucky, I've tried all the recyclers around here within a 60 mile radius and not one of them wants to know.

They say they are bound to the existing contracts. A couple have nodded at the security cameras and indicated that "nothing" slips out not even for the workers.

David, I live in a small village and my local scrappy is very tame. But there is only real scrap there, mostly cars and little real metal to be had.
Still, you never know what you might find...!!
You will find it a distinct help… if you know and look as if you know what you are doing. (IRS training manual)

Offline Twinsquirrel

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 123
  • never rub another mans rhubarb
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2009, 02:13:34 PM »
Thanks guys,

I  will  give my local ones another try armed with an oily set of overalls and a few notes hanging out of my pockets

Will keep you posted.

David
So many ideas, so little skill

Offline Darren

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3795
  • N/Wales
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #6 on: February 11, 2009, 03:13:00 PM »
But on the other hand, if you see my post in the Lister Engine thread tonight you will see a very nice piece of scrap that was a joy to machine.

An old Ford car hub....

Just give me time to write the post, it'll be up in a bit..... :D
You will find it a distinct help… if you know and look as if you know what you are doing. (IRS training manual)

Offline SPiN Racing

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 506
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2009, 04:23:58 PM »
One of the places I use here in town is a boat salvage yard.

If you like stainless and brass and copper.. they are the place to go.

The problem you run into is if the thing you buy has a use other than for the weight of the metal.
then something that is 3 or 5 dollars a pound turns into a 150 dollar part.
SPiN Racing

Offline cedge

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 327
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #8 on: February 11, 2009, 05:51:16 PM »
I made my regular scrap yard rounds this week and ran into a couple of surprises. My "favorite" source has decided to no longer offer brass to the public. He's apparently not buying very much either. His reason was that he can't make any money with it at current prices. Scratch what was once a darned nice resource.

Another of my resources is a scruffy old guy who deals mostly in aluminum, but sometimes has some really nice brass and bronze. This guy is a real stereotypical hillbilly character who, it is said, has been known to express his displeasures with his trusty shootin' iron. To say he's a wee bit touchy would be akin to saying nitro-glycerin is just a wee bit explosive. I spent a bit of time there yesterday and almost pissed him off. He asked what brass was selling for in the city and I mentioned that I had been buying at prices from 80 cents to $1.25 per pound. You could see his blood pressure begin to rise as he told me I was wasting his time and needed to get back to town and buy my damned 80 cent brass.

Like a number of local scrap guys, he bought metal while the prices were at nose bleed levels in hopes of moving it quickly for a profit. When the bottom dropped out of the market, he was stuck with metal he needs to sell at $5.00 per pound to make even a small profit. A bit of empathizing and some sincere commiseration finally got me back in the old guy's good graces and an unexpected invitation to come on back for a visit. "Red" is not a happy scrapper right now.

Today I visited another  scrap yard that has mostly been a dry well since my friendly yard guy was fired. Their prices were always good ($1.25/pound for brass even at the top of the market climb) but they seldom had much of anything usable. I've cultivated a couple of new friendships with the owner's grandson and the scale master by sharing one of my engines and a few polishing tricks with them. The grandson met me with a broad smile today and told me he had something for me to see. What he had was a nice barrel full of grade "A" end cuts of brass, bronze and copper in 3 inch rounds, 2 inch hex, some odds and ends of flat bar and heavy wall tube. He then offered the brass/bronze at 85 cents per and copper at $1.20 per.

I bought a combined 125 pounds, which is now on the shelf and waiting on me to get back in the shop. He still has about 500 pounds, which he is in no hurry to ship. I still plan to go back and buy the 8 inch diameter x 8 long piece  of brass tube he's saving for me.

David...
Having a small steam engine with you will often break the ice quite easily on that first visit.  I can't even begin to express the real value of a couple of boxes of jammie doughnuts.... somewhere along about your second or third visit. Treat those hard working yard guys well and they will take care of you in high style.

Steve

Offline Twinsquirrel

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 123
  • never rub another mans rhubarb
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2009, 09:20:38 AM »
Wow Cedge, you really seem to have a great relationship with your scrappies, will try again armed with your advice.

Unfortunatley I have no engines to show them anymore, I gave away my 1st engine (the LTD stirling) to an old boy who lives in my village who is suffering from the after effects of a stroke , I kind of miss having it around the place but hopefully he is getting some pleasure out of it.

Darren, I love to re-use stuff and have a great source for old car parts so I will certainly take your advice and try to look inside the old parts and see if there is something inside waiting to be set free.

Cheers

David
So many ideas, so little skill

Offline zeusrekning

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Jr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 74
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2009, 08:09:40 PM »
This guy is a real stereotypical hillbilly character who, it is said, has been known to express his displeasures with his trusty shootin' iron. To say he's a wee bit touchy would be akin to saying nitro-glycerin is just a wee bit explosive.
:offtopic: :offtopic: :offtopic:
Ol' Red, Steve I bet these guys think you are exaggerating, LOL. If only they knew. Guys Red is like that lil bitty chiuahua that the biggest of dogs just let be. But he's a good man for his age. He must be 112 years old. I know Im off topics sorry. LOL We could have a thread on this fella.
BTW, he aint shaking no bodies god D@#n hand, stupidest F#$%ing thing we do.  :lol:

Offline cedge

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 327
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2009, 10:12:14 PM »
Tim
There are two rough old characters I've met that just can't be exaggerated. One is Red, the other is a guy called Popcorn Sutton. If you honestly describe either one of them you sound like you are telling tall tales.

Popcorn is a bootlegger of the old school variety who, until recently, roamed the North Carolina / Tennessee border area. He got busted when one of his sheds caught fire while he was away from the farm. When the local fire brigade put out the fire, they discovered his creative plumbing. Popcorn arrived and tried to convince them it would make a good secret among friends, but alas, they took him into custody. He demanded a grand jury be convened which did not make the local government happy, since some of them were apparently customers who might have their names mentioned in the process.

He is now sitting in federal prison for the next few years. A google search will fetch quite a number of articles about the old guy. He is quite the rapscallion and has been all his life.

Steve

Offline jemglen

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 28
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #12 on: March 06, 2009, 04:02:59 AM »
The worst we get here (in the UK) is a surly bloke with a nice line in oaths and a nasty-looking dog...  maybe a bit easier than dealing with 'shootin' irons' though  :bugeye:

Not like my younger days (put in your 'middle-aged bloke reminiscing' ear plugs now) when I would spend many happy hours climbing over, under and between stacked scrapped cars looking for interesting gauges or else piercing fuel tanks with a screwdriver and draining off fuel for my field bike (ie no longer legal Honda C50)

Offline raynerd

  • Madmodder Committee
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2893
  • Country: gb
    • Raynerds Projects - Raynerd.co.uk
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2009, 10:38:53 PM »
Hi

I had a visit to the scrap metal yards with no success. I wasn`t shofered out of the door but they looked pretty uninterested and just pointed me towards a large brass bin and it was just full of piping, valves and taps, no bar at all. There was a little but of brass plate but it was only a couple of mm thick and I didn`t want to cause a fuss asking for a price and them wanting too much, I just left it. I also asked about ally and he just shook his head - what you don`t know what it is, never seen it, don`t have any? Either way, I gave up and walked out disappointed.

Chris

Offline sbwhart

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3530
  • Country: gb
  • Smile, Be Happy, Have Fun and Rock Until you Drop
Re: Scrap yards
« Reply #14 on: April 26, 2009, 01:52:45 AM »
Chris

10 squid at the scrap yard can buy you quite a bit of stuff, with scrap buiety is more than skin deep you have to think what can I make that into. Also the stock changes in scrap yards hour to hour regular visits pay off, and a bag a donuts for the not to helpful staff works wonders.

Stew


A little bit of clearance never got in the road
 :wave:

Location:- Crewe Cheshire