(obtaining steel) tools, files, railroad spikes, axe heads in Minnesota

[Tom from Minnesota]

Hello all,  I am looking to get my hands on some rusty steel for refinishing or forging into other items.  In particular I am looking for tools, files, railroad spikes, axe heads.  We have Amble's salvage her in Minneapolis but I cleaned them out of axe heads and I don't think they have railroad spikes. 

 

Where do you folks find old rusty materials to bring back to life?  Anyone have a spot in Minnesota where I can find this sort of thing?  Axe heads in particular.  Antique stores have too nice of stuff and I am looking for cheap and rusty.  I get lucky occasionally at garage sales.

 

Thanks,

Tom

[macbruce]

Hone your rubbernecking skills while driving, I've found tons of stuff that way....be carefull... :)

[ThomasPowers]

MY local small rural scrapyard has been getting tons of RR stuff lately. I prefer to buy it "second hand" anyway.

Old farm scrap piles can be a gold mine, I've seen them go for pennies at auctions though nowadays most farm auctions will have a scrapper attending to buy up stuff.

Finding a local RR repair company and making friends with the workers---here is where a RR spike letter opener for the front office can be *dangerous* to you as you can suffer a hernia or disk issue from the weight of stuff you may be given. (Doesn't always work; but...)

I used to be give several hundred pounds of clean new scrap every time I visited a medium sized ornamental iron company. I made trinkets for the front office, wore PPE, *always* asked *first* and left their scrap bin cleaner and neater than before I came---they were having to pay to have it hauled off so my visits were saving them money!

[Stephen Olivo]

Well welcome fellow minnesotan :D  Normally just make your friends and family aware of your habbits and what you want.  I have been given so much steel over the years from people who just find what I do interesting.

[joegroe]

Head out of the cities a little ways into farm country and you will find a lot more. Every farm has a scrap pile and most smaller towns have a scrap yard hidden somewhere. Worn out tools and farm implements make up a huge portion of the yard and are great for steel of all kinds. Some yards throw the old tools in with everything else but if you're lucky they separate them for you. Ask nicely and you'll find treasures everywhere.

[CaptainSpaulding]

I live in Toronto and I found myself in a situation similar to yours.  The best piece of advice I got from the fine people here at IFI was to find metal dealers in the area and just walk in and introduce myself as a blacksmith and ask them if they have any material that they can't sell to their "regular" customers.  There's a place here who sells steel in all shapes and sizes to all kinds of customers - from plumbing supply stores to tool and die makers, but the buyers expect clean, straight material.  If anything has started to rust or is bent or twisted in any way they discard it (throw it in a pile behind the warehouse) along with end cuts and mis-measured cuts.  I don't know if I really got a deal or not (I think I did) but just last week I got 3 feet of 3" black pipe, 8 feet of 1" angle, 12 feet of 1/2" square and about 20 feet of 1/2" x 1/4" all for $25.  They even cut it into 3 foot lengths for me so I could fit it all into my little Toyota.  I didn't even know that place existed until I walked into a plumbing shop and asked if they had any waste they wanted to get rid of.  I suspect they have "a guy" because they were hesitant to even answer me but they did suggest this other place right away.  I also once walked into a tool maker's shop and started talking to the guys in there and they suggested some other great locations too.  One guy mentioned tool auctions, where old shops go out of business or retire and they have 5 - 55 years worth of accumulated stuff.  If nothing else, getting into smithing has taught me to build my social skills and become a lot more resourseful.

 

 

The other thing I've started doing is to search for flea/antique markets in the area but rather than spend all weekend driving around the province looking for this and that I just call them up and explain exactly what you said.  If they don't sell what you're looking for ask them if they know someone who deals with that stuff. You'll strike out 99% of the time but when you make contact, it's usually a home run. Someone always knows someone who knows someone.  While you're working on getting specifically what you're looking for, you may come across equally important materials that you don't even know you need yet.

 

Good luck!
 

[Fatfudd]

During the summer I wander around to garage sales in the country and always ask if they have any scrap metal. If they do they ether give it away or only ask

a small amount for it. I also know of a few metal pickers that resale things like farm equipment they break down. The other places I hit are the ornamental iron manufacturers and

buy their scrape at scrape prices.

[george m.]

Dear Toggy,

This may be a long shot but you may have some surprising success if you drive up to the Iron Range country in northern MN. I'd check out any scrap/salvage yards in Hibbing. Also, I'd check around the harbor in Duluth but marine stuff can be WAY to big to repurpose.

It would take a couple of days from the Twin Cities but there is some pretty country up there and you could combine iron hunting with tourism. If you have never done it the drive up the North Shore of Lake Superior is a bucket list check off.

Remember to familiarize yourself with the local dialect so that you can talk like a netive. "You bet! That was a heck of a deal. Uff da!"

George M.

[Tom from Minnesota]

Thanks all for the good advice.  I was off the forum for a little.

 

I can head up to the iron range!  I could combine steel hunting with animal hunting.  I'll hit the pavement CaptainSpaulding.

[Wombat01]

Auto shops often have coil springs off of cars just for the asking.  They are great for punches and chisels.

[shoelessjoek]

I know this is an old topic, but I was reading it and have some input for those reading it also!

A great place to find old files/tools are Estate Sales. If they have files, they tend to sell them for $1-$2 a piece (Sundays are typically half-off too) I just got into the whole blacksmith game and got 3 very nice/barely used hammers, 6 files and a couple rasps for under $15. They are just trying to get rid of everything at estate sales and usually don't know what they are selling.

Happy Hunting!