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Hi i am new to scraping and i have some questions.
I was wondering if stainless steel can be scraped and for how much? I find alot of spoons and plates that are stainless steel.
Also can i scrap brass and how does that go for?
Also is it worth keeping copper and silver plated stuff?
Also should i keep tin cans and how much do they go for?
Thanks for your help Chris.

chris819 wrote:Hi i am new to scraping and i have some questions.
I was wondering if stainless steel can be scraped and for how much? I find alot of spoons and plates that are stainless steel.
Also can i scrap brass and how does that go for?
Also is it worth keeping copper and silver plated stuff?
Also should i keep tin cans and how much do they go for?
Thanks for your help Chris.

Stainless steel by me is getting .55 a pound for non magnetic stainless
Brass 1.50 lb
Copper 2.55 lb
Steel .07 lb

Most of the spoons and plates labeled stainless steel will be magnetic and not worth any more than regular steel. Non magnetic is worth much more. Tin cans can go in with the rest of your steel load and all they are is coated steel. Basically separate your metals into ferrous and non ferrous piles. Keep all of your different non-ferrous types of metals (brass, copper, aluminum, lead) separated, as they are worth much more than ferrous, and each of them should be kept separated, as copper is going for around 3.00 a pound right now, and aluminum is around 60 cents a pound, etc.

The best thing to do when trying to figure out this type of thing out, is to call the scrap yard you are planning on visiting. They will most likely tell you exactly what they want and what they will pay for it. When I started out, I had too many questions I thought. But every time I went to the yard, I learned something new. Your scrap yard wants to tell you what the value of your metal is, because they want you to bring it in!

One tip I can pass along is when your breaking down things and end up with small brackets, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.; throw them in your tin cans and crush it and mix it in with your load of steel.

Edited to add: Nice little site you have set up theirrationalist. You mentioned cordless sawzalls don't have enough "power". Well my friend, my Milwaukee 28V will shred through just about anything I feed it, and with 2 charged batteries I've never had it die on me when out doing a pickup. Definitely worth the money and it'll pay for itself eventually.

I have to say, the sawzall is definitely the way to go then. I had the idea of buying one a while ago, but couldn't part with the idea of using my old giant bolt cutter. It was my dad's, and he got it when he was a volunteer fireman some years ago. They're big and bulky, and I love my plug in sawzall, so I think I'll be making the switch as soon as I find a good deal on craigslist.

Heartkill wrote:One tip I can pass along is when your breaking down things and end up with small brackets, nuts, bolts, screws, etc.; throw them in your tin cans and crush it and mix it in with your load of steel.

Ever needed a nut and bolt and had to go to the local hardware store to pay $2.69 for 10 and you only needed one? Any fasteners and small brackets I haven't boogered while separating metals go into cans for future use. Consider the useability versus the 50 cents you would get for a coffee can full of nuts and bolts!

Heartkill wrote:Edited to add: Nice little site you have set up theirrationalist. You mentioned cordless sawzalls don't have enough "power". Well my friend, my Milwaukee 28V will shred through just about anything I feed it, and with 2 charged batteries I've never had it die on me when out doing a pickup. Definitely worth the money and it'll pay for itself eventually.

Agreed, Nice site theirrationalist. Keep up the blog, this could become the all in one site that scrappers have been looking for.