Where do you get your Scrap metal?

[Iplayfarmer]

I've got a welder now and a lot of ideas for projects. But, with steel prices as high as they are the materials often cost more than just buying the finished product.

Where are some good places to start to scrounge up scrap metal that can be "recycled" into projects?

 

[czechsonofagun]

In our landfill from the scrap metal container. Also people often leave in the Trash to Treasure area bed frames, thats a nice angle steel to work with - only hard to drill.

 

[PineRidge]

Summit Equipment Co. buys steel by the lot and sells it by the pound, pretty reasonably compared to everyone else in these parts.

Then again some of my good neighbors give it to me to get rid of it. They know I'm a pack rat.

 

[Renze]

My neighbor says, keep your eyes open or you'll have to pull your wallet open"

I buy old silage block cutters for about 35 Euro, the old fashioned spade type, the 1,5 meter long and 2" diameter hydr. cylinder is very easy to cut to the required length, and the frame usually has some strong beams in it. I sometimes use the complete 3pt attach with brackets and all.
Other good sources are the scrap bin of your employer, when something is zinc coated and powdercoated, it is cheaper to make new than to use first a chemical bath to bite the powdercoat, then another to bite off the old zinc layer and then re-zinc and re-powdercoat. When i use these, i only have to touch up my welds.

 

[RonMar]

IPLAYFARMER
Where are you at? If near Seattle, try Pacific industrial supply on 4th Ave. Pretty good prices for scrap depending on what area you pick materials from. Their prices on new steel tube, bar/rod and strap are pretty reasonable also.

If not near Seattle, Look for a surplus/salvage yard in your area, even the ones that take in metal. Many take in metal for free and make their money by reselling to a processor. Quite often, they will sell material from their yard at the per-pound rate that they would get for it when they sell it. I also keep my eye open around dumpsters, particualrly around appartment buildings. As mentioned, metal bed frames are a good source of small angle and I quite often find them leaning against the dumpster as they are too big to fit inside. I have used such scrap for many projects.

 

[knute_m]

I know this won't help IPLAYFARMER, but it may be of use to welding enthusiasts within a reasonable distance to Winchester, VA.

Zuckerman's on Route 11, just off I-81 Exit 317, will pay for scrap metal -- from aluminum cans, old furnaces, to old wiring you tear out of your next remodeling project.

But, you can also pick through their acres of scrap and buy it by the pound. At any one time, they must have many hundreds of tons of good project material. For a reasonable price you can easily get enough metal to need a serious alibi when you get home.

 

[Marine1]

You can try www.craigslist.com and go to the area of your choice. Some people sell it and some people give it away. At least in the austin area they do. To get anything free takes luck though because stuff goes quick. You can also post free ads there in the wanted section. People are usually willing to part with old clunkers that they just want to get rid of.
Just a thought.

 

[shepherd]

my dad!lol in other words the scarp bin out beehind the factory he works in AND all his past projects lol

 

[Ford960]

I was asking around for the same thing here in NC and a buddy told me about a place less than 5 miles away.
When I went there I ended up buying a 20' length of virgin 1.5x1.5x1/4" angle iron for $30. For some reason I had in my mind that it should have cost me about double that. But I'm not complaining. I used 9' of it and have 11' for the next project.

 

[KYErik]

Steel is sold for 25 cents a pound at our local scap metal yard. They buy it for 2.5 cents a pound. Sometimes they get scraps from a metalworking shop (cut off ends up to 5 feet, but most are 2-4 ft)- on those days, its just like hitting the the jackpot.