Melting copper

[BrewCitySilver]

I was wondering, taking the legal aspect away, would it be practical to melt "disks" of copper into bars so you could sell them to a scrap yard for closer to melt value?

[Kurr]

If you take away the "legal aspect", then no. You would just take them in and get current scrap prices.

[Thogey]

The current scrap price here is 3.10 per pound.

[Thogey]

How many cents per pound?

What is the going rate for Cu cents?

[copperpennies]

1.5 cents delivered is 2.25 per pound which leaves 27% profit margin ..

[natsb88]

No point in melting them into bars just to take them to the scrap yard. If you do that, you're taking copper of known purity and turning it into a block of metal that you'll have to somehow prove is 95% copper. Not to mention the expense of equipment (furnace, molds), consumables (fuel, mold release), and time.

[theirrationalist]

You don't need to really prove 95% copper. If it comes down to a question of purity, every scrap yard should have an hand held XRF analyzer on hand. Those things are amazing! Although I understand that selling copper of know purity is important when selling as bullion, that's not the case here.

But I think the question was even though it is illegal would somebody still make a profit from selling said "disks?" The answer is yes. You would be making a 100% profit on the copper by selling it at 3 dollars per pound...But thats not including the cost of melting.

[mightyhunter]

The scrap yards around here will not take copper bars unless they are grounding bars(buss) or I should say they will not pay for copper bars of any kind without sending them off to be tested and you have to pay for the testing of such so it would be a waste of time and money to even try to make them to sell to a scrap yard.

[copperpennies]

Thats a valid point about the "gun" devise, the scrap yards would have no reason not to buy the bars since they could tell that they are 95% copper. However what is the flat rate cost for the furnace and how much does it cost to melt the copper into bars per pound and how much time does it take?

[mightyhunter]

copperpennies,
I have seen refactories sell on the bay for around 200.00-250.00 plus shipping in the past. I have also built one myself using a popcorn tin and some fireplace clay. You need a good crucible and I mean a good one,not some cheapo wannabe for half price or less. The most important thing needed is safty equipment as in gloves safty goggles and boots and fire proof clothing of some sort. This is very dangerous to do. When you take the crucible out of the furnace to pour into the mold there is always a chance of the crucible exploding or spilling if not handled correctly. There is a site called backyardmetalcasting.com that can get you started but by all means, be very careful and read all info throughly.

[misteroman]

cool site mighty. Learned a few things for sure

[jasmatk]

made myself one of those flowerpot furnaces mighty is talking about cost about $50 for all materials works great i mostly use it for casting aluminium but i have melted copper in it no disks only pipe i use charcoal as fuel but have used scrap wood 2x4s wood burns alot hotter heres a link to mine from build to testing excuse the mold at the end didnt feel like making a sand mould and this was just a test run http://www.youtube.com/user/jasmatk?feature=mhum#p/u/0/xWj6aVeN4bE my crucibe is a stainless steel tumbler like the kind they make milkshakes in and it works great

[BrewCitySilver]

Definitely a cool website by the way (backyardmetalcasting.com)

Jasmatk, good thinking on the DIY methods seems like that would be hypothetically the smarter option, anyone else on DIY vs. Purchasing equipment?...

[mightyhunter]

Yes it is a cool site, learned alot about cooking some metals on this site. Me and my kid's have had a blast in the past melting aluminum cans and making ingots out of them.Bought a graphite mold off the bay, it's a one ounce size and have made hundreds of bars out of the mold.You guy's that are thinking about doing this just please be careful. It only takes a split second to cause serious injury or death by doing something stupid or by not paying complete attention to what's going on around you while doing this and please buy the best equipment that you can afford to buy, it could save your life!
Hey jasmatk, Watched your video, didn't get to see the finished product on you ingots or the pour itself but still a good video.

[jasmatk]

mighty you are very right about the sereous injury all it takes is one drop of metal to hit your skin and you could loose function of a limb or a drop of sweat to fall in the molten metal and it could explode in your face so ill repeat what mighty said be careful safety first.as for the pour from that video the camera fell over so thats why its not in that vid ill have to record my next pour for a new vid. btw next pour is gonna be these little skulls i got that are plastic gotta fill them with something so i can cut em in half for the sand casting process gonna make some aluminium and some copper another good site with some good diy info is http://sites.google.com/site/ksinsect/