Are you a recycler?

[russau]

I used to be a scrapper years back when I had my weld shop. I had some 55 gallon steal drums out back and as I had scrap ,I would toss it into the drum and sell when the value was hi ! I hardly ever tossed any metal that I could use in my next project unless it was just to small. Now I just recycle my trash.

 

[UnderMiner]

I just bought one of these. I’m going to do some recycling!View attachment 2206096

I have a lot of scrap copper, and I purchased some tin. I’m going to cast bronze.View attachment 2206097

I made my own mold out of fire brick. View attachment 2206099

My first project is to make a copper celt like the one found with Otzi in the alps.View attachment 2206101

I’m waiting on some better tongs to handle the crucible. Should be here this week.View attachment 2206102

Make a cast of your own face, bury it, then when people find it in hundreds of years they'll wonder who you were and put it in a museum.

 

[KYgotGOLD]

I used to be a scrapper years back when I had my weld shop. I had some 55 gallon steal drums out back and as I had scrap ,I would toss it into the drum and sell when the value was hi ! I hardly ever tossed any metal that I could use in my next project unless it was just to small. Now I just recycle my trash.

Make a cast of your own face, bury it, then when people find it in hundreds of years they'll wonder who you were and put it in a museum.

That’s 1 way to be remembered haha.

 

[Blackfoot58]

My detecting scrap iron goes to a guy who is a scrapper. It gives him a little extra income.
I repurpose or recycle whatever I can. We are allowed 2 trash cans (street-side) per week which is 4 large trash bags. We put out one bag per week and it is never full.
I look at packaging when purchasing. I refuse to buy some items because of the container waste.

 

[pepperj]

My detecting scrap iron goes to a guy who is a scrapper. It gives him a little extra income.
I repurpose or recycle whatever I can. We are allowed 2 trash cans (street-side) per week which is 4 large trash bags. We put out one bag per week and it is never full.
I look at packaging when purchasing. I refuse to buy some items because of the container waste.

I have lived the life of the guy that bought the scrap from the guys that collected bits and pieces around the area.
Some did ok, more than ok actually.
When steel was st $400+ a ton guys were making $600-1200 a day CASH.
Oh the 🤣 were on the look @ the lowly struggling guy picking the bones to make ends meet.
Granted when prices dropped to $ 20-40 a ton then the guys were crying.

If a person has the simple basic understanding of metals.
They'll never starve in life.

I find something like a brass tap/valve I smile as I just found $ ☺️

In running my company for the years I did. I had customers that were over the 6 figures in money from just the scrap.
Tax free $$$
But through regulations that is getting more difficult to do.

 

[RatherBeDigging]

I have a lead pail for all the sinkers and lead junk I find, and then a separate bin for the brass and copper. Most of it I find in the water. I separate the brass and copper over the summer and take it all to the scrap yard by my job. Usually put it towards summer trip. Covers a dinner. Since i find less scrap in non summer months.

 

[xr7ator]

I wait for over 100 pounds on the cans as they pay a couple cents more per pound. I recycle all metals except iron and I donate all the money I make recycling to Shriners or St Judes Childrens.

 

[GirlWithWolf]

I started stomping on the aluminum cans and tossing them in a big plastic garbage can. When it's full I take it up to my daughters house in Ft Collins and the grandson and I go to a large metal scrapyard to cash them in. That garbage can when full of flattened cans is around 16 pounds. You only get 50 cents a pound, so that's 8 dollars for the grandsons piggy bank. The effort is more about taking a visit to the scrapyard, because the grandson likes machinery of all kinds. One thing I noticed when looking online at the prices payed for aluminum cans by each state is different and California pays way above most all the other states.

Aluminum Can Prices by State 2025

worldpopulationreview.com

A couple of years ago my friend had the idea to trade in aluminum so we collected and crushed cans and went all over base finding scraps and sliced them down into can sized bits. Several cut fingers and weeks later we had 4 large outdoor trash bags full, so we loaded them up in her little sister’s wagon with corners poking out everywhere, and off to the recycling place we went, which was precisely 5.3 miles.

It was about 20 degrees and the wind chill half that, then an MP stopped us at the gate to give us a hard time, then it started sleeting on us about half way there. When we arrived two and a half hours later we were literally walking popsicles. My friend has red hair and her pigtails had frozen while being blown by the wind and she looked like Wendy. The guy working there seemed to get a huge kick out of that.

He didn’t even weigh the bags, he just pulled out $6 and handed it to us, $3 each. 😩

She got tired of my complaining as we got back to the gate and told me to shut up, so I called her Wendy, which started a fight. Not an argument, I mean a full blown fist throwing hair pulling fight. In the process she dropped her money and it blew away, and the MP that came out in the freezing rain to break us up wouldn’t let us chase it down. It might come as a surprise but MPs aren’t known for their patience or tolerance and he didn’t even give it any consideration.

So we ended up banking $1.50 each after we made up and I split my cut with her. 🙄

Sorry for the long story but I’ll still complain about it to anyone who will listen and just the thought of collecting cans again gives me anxiety.

 

[tamrock]

A couple of years ago my friend had the idea to trade in aluminum so we collected and crushed cans and went all over base finding scraps and sliced them down into can sized bits. Several cut fingers and weeks later we had 4 large outdoor trash bags full, so we loaded them up in her little sister’s wagon with corners poking out everywhere, and off to the recycling place we went, which was precisely 5.3 miles.

It was about 20 degrees and the wind chill half that, then an MP stopped us at the gate to give us a hard time, then it started sleeting on us about half way there. When we arrived two and a half hours later we were literally walking popsicles. My friend has red hair and her pigtails had frozen while being blown by the wind and she looked like Wendy. The guy working there seemed to get a huge kick out of that.

He didn’t even weigh the bags, he just pulled out $6 and handed it to us, $3 each. 😩

She got tired of my complaining as we got back to the gate and told me to shut up, so I called her Wendy, which started a fight. Not an argument, I mean a full blown fist throwing hair pulling fight. In the process she dropped her money and it blew away, and the MP that came out in the freezing rain to break us up wouldn’t let us chase it down. It might come as a surprise but MPs aren’t known for their patience or tolerance and he didn’t even give it any consideration.

So we ended up banking $1.50 each after we made up and I split my cut with her. 🙄

Sorry for the long story but I’ll still complain about it to anyone who will listen and just the thought of collecting cans again gives me anxiety.

I'll bet it does after all that. 😬

 

[KYgotGOLD]

A couple of years ago my friend had the idea to trade in aluminum so we collected and crushed cans and went all over base finding scraps and sliced them down into can sized bits. Several cut fingers and weeks later we had 4 large outdoor trash bags full, so we loaded them up in her little sister’s wagon with corners poking out everywhere, and off to the recycling place we went, which was precisely 5.3 miles.

It was about 20 degrees and the wind chill half that, then an MP stopped us at the gate to give us a hard time, then it started sleeting on us about half way there. When we arrived two and a half hours later we were literally walking popsicles. My friend has red hair and her pigtails had frozen while being blown by the wind and she looked like Wendy. The guy working there seemed to get a huge kick out of that.

He didn’t even weigh the bags, he just pulled out $6 and handed it to us, $3 each. 😩

She got tired of my complaining as we got back to the gate and told me to shut up, so I called her Wendy, which started a fight. Not an argument, I mean a full blown fist throwing hair pulling fight. In the process she dropped her money and it blew away, and the MP that came out in the freezing rain to break us up wouldn’t let us chase it down. It might come as a surprise but MPs aren’t known for their patience or tolerance and he didn’t even give it any consideration.

So we ended up banking $1.50 each after we made up and I split my cut with her. 🙄

Sorry for the long story but I’ll still complain about it to anyone who will listen and just the thought of collecting cans again gives me anxiety.

For sure not worth the space they take up.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I save any brass and copper I find metal detecting to scrap later on. I also grab scrap metal off of trash in my neighborhood. Mainly aluminum ladders and brass and copper pipes. I used to pick up vacuum cleaners and fans for their motors, but don't bother any more because most of the newer motors have copper plated aluminum wire, which isn't worth jack squat.

 

[log2lumber]

I recycle using kitty litter buckets

 

[Loco-Digger]

I have three 5 gallon buckets for scrap metals (brass, copper and lead) the pull tabs, bottle caps, cans, and iron I dig just goes in the trash can at the end of each hunt.,

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I recycle using kitty litter buckets

I use them to hold the hundreds of oxen shoes I've found over the years. Why I save them is a mystery! Probably too rusty and grungy to sell as scrap.

 

[pepperj]

I use them to hold the hundreds of oxen shoes I've found over the years. Why I save them is a mystery! Probably too rusty and grungy to sell as scrap.

As long as the greater part of the mud is off they're very recyclable.
Fill a barrel full then try to move it.

 

[jimther]

About 30 years ago, I started a scrap metals collection project for MTHA, the club I belong to near Boston. I limited it to copper, brass and lead. Club members brought in their detected and non-detected scraps of those metals. I was using my darkroom to sort the metals, by type, as I wasn't using the darkroom much any more. Proceeds from the sale to the scrap yard benefited the club treasury, paid for club library additions, prizes at club hunts, member-only outings etc. We still do this, but I’ve turned over the collection agent job to another member.

 

[Rock Sinders]

I just bought one of these. I’m going to do some recycling!View attachment 2206096

I have a lot of scrap copper, and I purchased some tin. I’m going to cast bronze.View attachment 2206097

I made my own mold out of fire brick. View attachment 2206099

My first project is to make a copper celt like the one found with Otzi in the alps.View attachment 2206101

I’m waiting on some better tongs to handle the crucible. Should be here this week.View attachment 2206102

Fantastic. What a setup! Good luck and have fun

 

[Rock Sinders]

I recycle all metal I find, and waste metal from my welding. I also recycle pallets and either turn them into furnitureView attachment 2206104View attachment 2206105 or items I burn with my laser engraver

You guys are awesome!

 

[Rock Sinders]

About 30 years ago, I started a scrap metals collection project for MTHA, the club I belong to near Boston. I limited it to copper, brass and lead. Club members brought in their detected and non-detected scraps of those metals. I was using my darkroom to sort the metals, by type, as I wasn't using the darkroom much any more. Proceeds from the sale to the scrap yard benefited the club treasury, paid for club library additions, prizes at club hunts, member-only outings etc. We still do this, but I’ve turned over the collection agent job to another member.

That's another cool story of howit should be to do all this stuff. It just seemed like the natural process for Metal Detectorists, by preserving all metals. The brand myth around this was centered around precious metals and they really sell that with their machines, but what I find is it's more about utilizing all the metals, and how I can reuse or recycle them. Glad you're still doing it.

 

[Rock Sinders]

I have a pile of copper from home upgrades, about 75#, and another 50# of misc aluminum. I also tear apart free junk ceiling fans for the motors, also old vacuum cleaners, power washers, etc. For cans and glass, my town shut down their recycling center years ago. We get 10c ea. for all carbonated beverage containers, I earn 1-$2 per walk, that’s just around home and these containers are everywhere in ditches here so between what we generate at home and walks, $30-$40/month.

Good for you! This forum has really helped me see I'm not the only one thinking about doing this. The guys at our local recycle plant are class acts and always give me top dollar for the scrap I bring in. Plus it makes me feel good to clean up around the place.