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just spent the morning cleaning out a deceased plumbers basement. the family had a estate sale, and apparently nobody (nobody interested in scrap metal) came to the sale.........I spent 3 hours hauling out over 300 lbs. of scrap copper, white brass, yellow brass, red and yellow bronze, and aluminum, and maybe 50 lbs. of iron pipes.....here is the kicker the estate sale company was more than happy to have me hauling it out, they charged me only 50 cents a box full. I also got about 50 lbs. of insulated wire. And I got a crap load of tools as well. WOW! I will spend the week sorting it, and maybe post some pictures. Some of the copper pipe I got is soooo big and thick, I have never seen copper this massive before, amazing!

here is the first of the pictures......this is chrome plated brass. Should I separate it from the faucets and handles, or just leave it like it is. It is all chrome plated brass, no steel, or aluminum. Some of the faucets have a little plastic or copper fittings, and or screws, should I remove those from everything else that is "just" chrome plated brass. thanks



the next photo below is MOST of what the chrome plated brass consists of.....Probably have 10 more just like that one, and some smaller ones. Should I remove it from the rest and scrap it separately from the rest of the chrome plated brass.



the next photo below is some of the scrap copper I hauled out, but there is more not photoed, and some boxes I have yet to dig through. This isnt much copper but it is all clean and still usable so I probably wont scrap it yet.

Nice score Right place at the right time

nice score.

BULLY!

Excellent!

WOW!! What a haul!

nice score!!!

I love to hear stories like this one! Way to go! The harder you try, the luckier you get!

Unicorns and Skittles.

Nice score! Happy for you bro. Sounds like a fun day.

shinnosuke wrote:Note to self: Kill all the plumbers in town.

LMAO!

i am going to have to have you all help me on identifying some of this stuff, as to how to scrap it as, i want to get the most $$ possible.......after I get a bunch sorted, I am going to have some questions.......for example How does chrome plated brass go as at the scrapyard? & is there a difference between chrome plated copper and chrome plated brass? Once I get a bunch sorted I will have you all identify some of the unknown scrap I cant identify, so far I am sorting by what I know to be copper, brass, lead, and aluminum. And also anything that sticks to a magnet goes into a separate pile, but I have some stuff that doesnt stick to a magnet, but I dont think it is lead or aluminum, so I will need some help. I will post pics later this week of everything, and the stuff in question as well.

frugi wrote:i am going to have to have you all help me on identifying some of this stuff, as to how to scrap it as, i want to get the most $$ possible.......after I get a bunch sorted, I am going to have some questions.......for example How does chrome plated brass go as at the scrapyard? & is there a difference between chrome plated copper and chrome plated brass? Once I get a bunch sorted I will have you all identify some of the unknown scrap I cant identify, so far I am sorting by what I know to be copper, brass, lead, and aluminum. And also anything that sticks to a magnet goes into a separate pile, but I have some stuff that doesnt stick to a magnet, but I dont think it is lead or aluminum, so I will need some help. I will post pics later this week of everything, and the stuff in question as well.

Sometimes the bathroom faucets that look like chrome, if they are light might be Diecast - which is alum. Pictures would be the first place to start.

pictures will be up in a couple of days.....until then my main concern/question is should I separate the chrome plated brass from the yellow (unplated) brass, and the white brass, or should I just put it all in one box?......I want to know if there will be a price difference on what they pay when I scrap it?

I have the pictures, and am uploading them now. If anyone can help me ASAP that would be great I want to take the Chrome Plated Brass in today, and probably the yellow brass as well. Need some have some questions, check out my first post with the new pictures.

more pictures................

the next one is mostly a project that I wont take on anytime in the next month or so, so it doesnt matter as much, but it consists of things that need wires cut off of or very heavy old ballasts, I want to open up, and also heavy steel items with wire wrapped around the inside.



the next one is all Aluminum...



the next one here is Yellow Brass.....Should I separate it into brass that is pure 100%, and other yellow brass that has non brass attachments. It is mostly valves without handles, some screws, fittings, etc. a few pieces do have extra stuff on them, what should I do?

the next photo is most of the insulated wire......Much of it is really thick copper wire, so I will probably strip most of it over the next couple of months,, and scrap it as bare bright or might even just add it to the hoard.



the next one here is non ferrous, some of the have iron screws in them but are easily removed with a hammer, some of these items are really soft like lead (especially those with the copper plated iron screws), some items are really brittle and grey colored under the silver color plating. Neither stick to a magnet, any help.?



the next one is more aluminum....I busted the brass air valve and the pressure release off and removed the handle from the pressure cooker so it was 100% aluminum, I thing that matters at the scrapyard?? The other piece is a really thick section from the flooring under a door, perhaps from a commercial building it is super thick and heavy.

The cleaner the better price wise ( clean meaning only one kind of metal )

scrapman1077 wrote:The cleaner the better price wise ( clean meaning only one kind of metal )

do I need to know, or will the for the most part pay me they most they can if I separate it out? I can easily separate into better piles, but do I need to know what grade the stuff is (and tell them so)? I just dont want them to see I am unprepared and take advantage of me because I dont know..

Crome plated brass goes with your yellow brass by me, clean no screws, etc

frugi wrote:

scrapman1077 wrote:The cleaner the better price wise ( clean meaning only one kind of metal )

do I need to know, or will the for the most part pay me they most they can if I separate it out? I can easily separate into better piles, but do I need to know what grade the stuff is (and tell them so)? I just dont want them to see I am unprepared and take advantage of me because I dont know..

They don't want any steel or anything that smokes in your clean brass. Crome plated is OK. My yard buys silverplate as clean brass.

As far as the valves you'll have to unscrew the ends and pull the plastic bushings out and any steel that's in the stem. Solder will get you downgraded. The ball inside ball valves is chrome plated brass.

I would grind the edge of one to show the brass, as an example. In case they don't know this.

As far as the aluminun, unless its a big piece it's not worth cleaning it up. But there is a huge downgrade for irony Al or painted Al.

You're brittle/grey stuff is probably pot metal (or cast aluminum) if its not to time consuming it's worth removing the iron collars screws etc

As you are sorting this stuff, use buckets or boxes to make it easy. Clean brass bucket, dirty brass bucket and a bucket for what you may break down later. Do this with each type of metal, Alum, Copper, etc. Save all your steel that you remove from items as it all adds up, and you will be going to the yard anyway!

nice